Chapter 6: Training,bandits and departure!
Another year went by fast,with Usopp bonding quickly with both Sabo and Ace in addition to and Shanks' crew drove the boys harder than ever after Luffy's declaration of wanting to find One Piece. Sabo had also followed up on his dream,revealing that he wants to join the Revolutionary Army when he's old enough. The boys also got a huge power-up when Garp revealed what he intended for the boys to do after dinner the evening Ussopp came to stay with them.
FLASHBACK:
"Boys,come here!" Garp said as they went out on the terrace after dinner,which had been consisting of an assortment of tiger,crocodile and bear meat along with an assortment of fruits and vegetables from Dawn Island and a few fried fish. The boys,curious as they were, followed him to the basked Rayleigh had arrived with.
"This is something I wish to give all of you,seeing as you will all be journeying to the most Dangerous sea in the world, for one purpose or another" he said as he looked over his three grandsons. Garp then opened the lid to reveal three weird-looking fruits.
"Cool! Dessert!" Luffy yelled as he went to snatch all three if Shanks hadn't stopped him by holding him back. "No, is not dessert,that is three Akuma no Mi. No one can survive eating more than one,because each fruit is different and can grant you different powers,but at the cost of you never being able to swim again!" Shanks said,causing the faces of all the boys to go long. Shanks then looked at Rayleigh. "Do you know which fruits you have?" he asked the older pirate. Rayleigh smiled. "I know what two of them are. The last one,however,is somewhat of a mystery" he pointed to the fruit which had red swirls on it. "That is the Mera-Mera no Mi. The user can turn their entire body into flames and can not be hit by ordinary weapons unless they're imbued with Armament Haki. It is a very powerful Logia -type" he then pointed to a light blue fruit with white swirls "That is the Kaze-kaze no mi. It gives the user the ability to control wind, along with other things. Like the Mera Mera no mi, it is also a powerful Logia -type." then he pointed to the last one, a dark orange fruit with a pattern that could resemble fox tail. "I am not certain,but I suspect that it could be the mythical Inu-Inu no Mi Model:Kyuubi no Kitsune. I do not know much about this fruit, aside from the fact that it is a very powerful Zoan-type and that whoever has it gains the ability to turn into a fox. I suspect there is more, but the user will have to find out by themselves." Rayleigh finished. Garp then said: "You each decide who gets which fruit,we are not pressuring anyone" as he looked each of his grandsons in the eyes. Luffy,Ace and Sabo all looked at each other as they each grabbed a fruit without looking and took a huge bite out of it. They almost had problems swallowing it,but they forced it down and continuing to eat the entire thing without taking eyes off each other. Only when there was nothing left, did they look away.
Ace lifted his arm,closed his eyes and it burst into flames. Sabo closed his eyes and braced himself as he soon became almost invisible,as if he was a part of the air itself.
Luffy, well he wondered why everyone was looking at him so funny. What he had failed to realize,was that he had shrunk and was currently on all fours. "Looks like you were right,Ray" came Shanks' voice. Garp smiled as he came forward with what Luffy recognized as the hallway mirror. "Look at yourself,kid" he said as he put the mirror in front of Luffy, who walked closer to it,only to back off in shock. "Hey,hey,hey, it's fine Lu" said Ace, smiling. "Just focus on turning back to human" said Rayleigh.
Luffy closed his eyes and tried to focus on turning back to normal,which proved to be a challenge when he noticed that not only was his eyesight loads better,although slightly different,but he noticed a lot more,like the sounds of a thousand crickets in his ears, although he knew that the crickets were a lot closer to the village than they were, or the smells of Makino the barmaids trademark sake. However,he also noticed a foul stench that was making its way to the village. He needed to bring that up, and Fast!
Luffy redoubled his efforts to turn normal, and soon enough he was back to his old self. He looked shocked at Garp. "There's some bad people heading towards the village,I think. I only say this because they smelled really bad! I mean,they smell worse than Ace after training, bad." Garp looked at Luffy. The boy was honest; he never had a doubt about that. Add to the fact that Kitsune could pick more up from smell alone than any human,and Garp had no doubt about it: bandits were heading towards the village.
He looked at Shanks. "Would you mind watching the kids for a while? I'm just going to show Ray the village I grew up in" he asked as he looked Shanks in the eyes. Shanks knew what the older man had in mind,so he just smiled and said: "No,me and the guys can deal with them. Just be careful you two,hmm? Wouldn't want two old fossils like yourselves trip over a root and hurt yourself,now would we?" Shanks said with a laugh.
Garp gestured for Rayleigh to go with him before he yelled back to Shanks: "I want a spar when we get back, Red-hair!" causing the younger man to slump his shoulders as all the kids and his crew started laughing,knowing that the red-haired pirate was going to be tossed around like a rag-doll by the older, yet more powerful how he was betrayed by his own crew, Shanks grinned evilly at them and said: "Well,seeing as you all want to see me get beaten-" here his crewmates paled,knowing what he's aiming for. "-Then you can train the kids in Haki yourselves! Ace and Sabo,you'll want to start on Armament Haki,Ussopp,You'll be a sniper like you old man,so Observation Haki is the first thing we'll start you up on. We're leaving in about 4 months, so Luffy and Ace will start your Conqueror's Haki training with me the week before then. For now,Luffy you're practising Armament With Benn. I have a call to make,so no one interrupt me!" with that,Shanks walked inside while Lucky gathered Sabo and Ace, Yassopp took Ussopp, and Benn lured Luffy into the woods.
3 HOURS LATER:
Garp and Rayleigh came back to the house when they noticed A: the kids weren't around, B:Shanks' Lieutenants were not to be seen and C: Shanks himself was on the terrace, drunk off his ass. Fuming as he saw this, Garp marched up to the porch,grabbed Shanks by his coat and THREW the man into the ocean! (AN: it's a distance of approx. the length of six full trailers parked in a straight line after each other) "WHAT THE HELL?!" was the first thing Shanks screamed as he resurfaced. "That's my line,Red-Hair. What the hell do you think you're doing? Sending off your men with the kids just so you can get drunk?! I did not invite you into my home for this!" growled Garp,causing Shanks to actually fear for his life. The red-haired captain then sighed. "I know,I'm sorry. I figured I'd punish the guys by having them train the kids instead of me since they laughed at me when you left.I had a call to make anyway,so it actually fit perfectly. Until after that call,I found myself with nothing to do,so I figured I'd enjoy my sake in peace and quiet until you returned" the red-haired man said with a look of shame on his features. "Who were you calling?" Garp asked.
"A contact of mine here in the East Blue. I called him about some supplies, which should be here in a week's time. I ordered some of the essentials for when the kids set sail,except for Sabo, of course,I figured you'd call Dragon about that anyway. But I'm giving them a Den-Den each, along with a Log Pose for Ace and Luffy. Also,since I've noticed the boys have been sparring each other with old lead pipes,I'm thinking of getting them a weapons,so they don't have to rely on their devil fruits in fights" Shanks finished with a small smile,getting nods of approval from the two elders.
"All right. I'll forgive you this time Shanks. But I'm warning you. One more slip-up like this,and you will leave this island before your crew can get the chance to pick you up. Understood?" Garp said with a glare,causing Shanks to swallow and nod his head shakily. Yonko or not,compared to Garp and Rayleigh,Shanks is still the apprentice.
Timeskip: 4 months later
Shanks and his crew were standing on the pier waiting for the Red Force to return. Ace,Sabo,Luffy,Ussopp and Garp were with them. "You're leaving for good this time?" Garp asked. Shanks nodded. "yeah. I'm getting land-sick of staying here any longer. Besides,I have to get back to the New World. The life of a Yonko is never peaceful,you know?" he finished with a lopsided grin. Garp smirked in return. " care of yourself Akagami.Until we meet again" he said as he stuck his hand out.
Shanks' eyes widened for a moment before sticking his own hand out to shake with the older man. "There it is!" called Luffy as he pointed to the horizon. Shanks and his men turned around, and sure enough, there was the Red Force. Shanks then turned to all the kids. "Now then,this isn't a permanent goodbye. Think of it more as a 'see you later',okay?" he said and the boys all nodded,even Ussopp. "And by the way" Shanks added as he looked to Luffy. "Since your ambition is to surpass me" he said as he took off his straw hat and put it on Luffy's head. "I entrust this to you. Return it when you've become a great pirate,alright?" he said as he stood up. Luffy tilted his head so that Shanks wouldn't see his tears of joy that someone has acknowledged his dream.
Shanks then turned to Ussopp. "Take care of your captain,eh? He's something special" he said as Ussopp nodded. He had a somewhat rocky relationship with the red-head,but understood that his father made his choice and was never forced away from Ussopp and his mother. Ussopp had made his own ambition clear: to surpass his father as a sniper, and to travel all the seas with Luffy as his captain.
Soon enough, the Red Force had departed Dawn Island and Garp ushered the kids to Makino's Bar for a meal before they went back to training.
Timeskip: 6 years later! Ace and Sabo:17 Luffy and Ussopp:14
Today was the day. The brothers would part ways. Ace would set sail on his own,while Sabo was being picked up by Dragon personally. They all had breakfast together, and sparred with each other until they noticed a small boat with three people in it were approaching. One was a man of a monstrous size, one of the Schischibukai, "Tyrant" Bartholomew Kuma. Another was a skinny,orange-haired girl, wearing black pants, a pink blouse and a crimson newspaper cap with gold goggles attached. She was the Fish-man karate assistant of the Revolutionaries,simply known as Koala. The leader,however walked in front of them was as tall as Garp,with semi-long,spiky black hair kept most prominent feature however,was a large red tattoo on the left side of his face. He was The World's Worst Criminal, leader of the Revolutionary army, Monkey D. Dragon. As the three approached,Luffy ran inside to get Garp while Ace and Sabo looked straight at the man,their heads held high. Ussopp had, unknown to everyone else, hidden on the roof, his trusty slingshot in his hand and was keeping a steady eye on the newcomers.
Then Luffy ran out and yelled: "Ussopp!There are people to meet!" causing Ussopp to swallow and he packed his things into his bag and climbed down as fast as he could before he ran up to Luffy, who was waiting with an appraising eye on the man that was supposed to be his father. When they got close enough, Dragon stopped and looked on the boys with a small smile.
"Now then,I know two of these boys,the other two however I do not. Can I assume one of you two is Sabo? My father was adamant that I came to pick him up personally" Dragon said. "With good reason,brat! Your own son has gone 14 years without knowing you,all he knows about you,he has from me" Garp said as he walked out to stop behind the boys with a stern look at his son,causing Dragon to flinch.
"Father,I-" "Am running a world wide criminal organization and do not have time, nor do you want your son to be hunted by the marines for being your son. Like it or not,brat, but your son will be hunted eventually anyway. In three years, your own offspring is setting sail to take over where my old captain left." Garp said,causing Dragon's eyes to widen before he set his eyes on Luffy, who was looking at him with an empty look in his eyes. Dragon sighed as he lowered himself to Luffy's level.
"Luffy. I regret not being there for you,and I realize I should've kept more in touch with family. Can you forgive me?" he asked honestly. Luffy, who had trained non-stop with his devil fruit powers, had trained his ears to detect when someone is lying to him,and the man in front of him was sincere. This caused a wide grin on Luffy's face as he looked his father in the eyes.
"I can forgive you,but only because I understand how important your work is. You'll have to work for my trust. Thanks to my devil fruit, I have become pretty good at detecting lies, and it's only the fact that I heard the truth, that I run this decision" Luffy said, his voice getting harder. Dragon was shocked as he looked at his father.
"You let him eat a devil fruit?" Garp nodded. "That's right, in fact three of the four boys in front of you have a devil fruit" the old man said. "I did this for them, they need the element of surprise considering they're all going to the Grand Line" causing Dragon to nod as he looked the boys over. He then looked at Luffy again. "So,care to let your old man know what devil fruit you have?" he asked with a smile.
Luffy grinned. As Dragon looked on,the grin became bigger,as teeth changed,along with the rest of the boy,who soon was covered in red-orange fur and had nine bushy tails swishing behind him. At this,Koala squeaked and hid partially behind the legs of Kuma,who was still standing,with his bible in his hands. Dragon looked the giant fox over before he started to laugh. "Gahahaha! How did you-no,don't tell me,it was your old pal Rayleigh,wasn't it?" Dragon asked his father,who smiled guilty at the statement.
Dragon then looked at Ace,Ussopp and Sabo. "So, what devilfruits do you have?" he asked. Ace smirked as he became covered in flames, while Sabo was becoming nigh invisible. "We ate the Mera-Mera no mi and the Kaze-kaze no mi!" Ace said. Dragon nodded. "Useful fruits you have. I hope you have been trained in Haki to counter the weaknesses?" he asked Ace,who nodded. Sabo cut in.
"We were trained by Gramps along with Akagami no Shanks and his top lieutenants. Haki is only one of the things they trained us in" the blonde said. Dragon looked at him with an appraising eye. "I take it you are Sabo?" he asked,gaining a sharp nod from the blonde boy.
Dragon then fixed his eyes on Ussopp. "Then who are you?" to his credit,Usopp did not resort to his previously cowardly ways. Rather, he looked Dragon straight in the eye and said: "I am Ussopp,son of Yassopp. My father left me here after my mother passed away. I was lucky enough to be taken in by Garp-san to train with the others. I am the second-in command to Luffy,and our future crew's head sniper."
To say Dragon was impressed was an understatement. Instead,he addressed Sabo. "Gather your belongings and say your goodbyes. We don't have much time until the marines get news that I was in the East Blue" Sabo nodded and ran inside to get his backpack.
Dragon then looked at Ace. "What are you setting sail for?" Ace smiled and said: "Adventure. Whether or not I'll end up as a pirate,is yet to be decided. I need a crew anyway, but I guess I'll find that while sailing"
Dragon smiled at him. "If you want,you can sail with us until we reach an island where you can buy a boat of your own. We devil's spawn ought to stick together,eh?" Dragon said in a joking manner as he winked at his old man.
Garp just huffed,while Ace grinned. After hearing about his father's prowess in battle and how several described him as a devil,Ace had learned to see the humor in that particular statement, and he graciously nodded his thanks.
Then Sabo came running back, carrying both his and Ace's backpacks. "I heard what you said,so I took the liberty of gathering your stuff for you" Sabo said with a smile at Ace,who thanked him as he grabbed his bag from Sabo.
The older brothers turned to Luffy and Ussopp. "Remember,you have our Den-Den numbers,so give us a call when you reach Reverse Mountain,okay? I'll see if I can't meet up with you in Paradise" Ace said. "Same for me,unless I have an assignment,but then you'll always be able to reach me anyway" Sabo said.
"Be careful guys. We'll miss you" Luffy said as he hugged both his brothers at the same time and they did the same with Ussopp. Dragon walked up to Luffy and Ussopp and handed a bag to Luffy. "A pirate can't be flat broke,now can they? Here's your starting capital, 20 million Beri. That should be enough to get a decent size ship good enough to last you until Water 7, at least. I wish you both good luck. Here's my Den-Den number,in case you need our help,or vice versa. Judging from your goal,we have the same ambition. What do you say?" Luffy looked at Ussopp briefly before looking Dragon in his eyes and nodded ass he wrote down his own Den-Den number and gave it to Dragon, who smiled. "Take care of Sabo,will you?" Luffy asked.
Dragon put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'll do my best,Luffy. I'll see you later son" he then waved to Garp. "Don't die,old man! We need you alive for many years yet!" he yelled,causing Garp to go red in the face as the group of five went into the small boat and disappear. Garp then sighed as he put a hand on each of the two teen's shoulders. "Come on. It's nearly dinner time" he said as he lead the two boys inside.
Final Timeskip: 3 years later Luffy and Ussopp: 17
Both Ace and Sabo had called Luffy,Garp and Ussopp on a number of times since they left the island. Sabo had reported an astounding amount of progress while training in the revolutionary army, and was quickly on his way to become a commander, while Ace had his own pirate crew, who later managed to be a part of a greater crew: The Whitebeard Pirates. Ace was reluctant to let his crew be forgotten like that,so to compromise,Whitebeard himself had let Ace form his own Division with his former crew and a couple of the older crewmates. Garp laughed hard when he talked to Ace that day. After a small argument over the Den-Den, Ace had reluctantly handed the snail over to Whitebeard with a small look of shame on his face. To say that the giant man was surprised to hear the voice of one of the people he least expected to ever see or hear from again was an understatement.
Flashback:
"Well,well,well. How's life as a Yonko, Newgate?" came the voice from the snail, causing the large man to take a false swallow on his sake and spit it back out. "How the bleeding hell are you alive,you old Monkey?" he growled into the snail. "Calm your ass down Newgate,you're scaring your own crew. Besides I want to talk to you about Ace" Garp said calmly. Whitebeard sneaked a look at Ace,who was glaring at the floor in shame. "I'm listening" he said, calmer than he had just been. And so,Garp had told the man everything that had happened since the Roger Pirates disbanded, including what he knew of Ace's heritage and his own family.
"One of these days,after he arrives in Paradise,my grandson will call you. Whether or not you'll listen to him yourself is up to you. His wish is to follow in my old captain's footprints, and I know,he'd be glad for your help when the time comes that his crew will cross the Red Line. That's all I have to say. Good luck Ace,don't fuck it up!"-Click!
Flashback End!
Since then,Garp had trained Luffy and Ussopp into the ground on a daily basis, either by sparring with both of them at once,one by one or simply by tossing their asses into the jungle to spar with either tigers,bears,gorillas or crocodiles. Needless to say,the small household made a small fortune on selling animal skins and some of the meat, considering Garp had a massive storage of all kinds of food and was nowhere near of running out any time soon. He had also started to help the boys build their own ship, so they would have a bit more than a dinghy when they would set sail. Ussopp also proved himself to be a capable artist,and had drawn a sketch that Luffy fell for immediately. "That's our flag! I want that drawn on all the sails and flags!Can you do it Ussopp?" the straw-hat wearing teen asked with a huge grin. "Of course I can,what do you take me for?" Ussopp asked with a teasing grin. "I'm also gonna have that as a tattoo!" Luffy suddenly said. "What are you gonna have as a tattoo?" came Garps voice from behind them. Luffy turned with a grin. "Hi gramps! Ussopp just made our sail! I want that as a tattoo!" Luffy said with a grin. Garp smirked. "Good Work Ussopp. This is way better than what this monkey would've been able to draw anyway"he said as he pointed his thumb towards Luffy,who pouted slightly. Garp then looked at Luffy and said: "If you want that as a tattoo,I suppose I can help you with that. There's a new tattoo studio open in the village,I was planning on checking out the owner there anyway,so I'll do that for you as a going away-present,how do that sound? I'll cover for you too Ussopp, after all,you're the designer of this" he finished as he looked at an ecstatic Luffy and a grinning Ussopp. "Yosh! Thank you,Garp-san!" Ussopp said as he bowed deeply to the old man. "Awesome,thanks,Gramps! Could I get my ears pierced too?" Luffy asked excitedly as the trio walked towards the village. "Gahahaha! you're two days from being 17,Luffy! You can do whatever the hell you want!" Garp laughed as they kept walking.
The tattoo artist proved to be a young woman, somewhere between 19-20 years old. When Garp placed their orders, she got interested. "Say,this looks like a pirate flag. You guys pirates?" she asked curiously with a raised eyebrow at Ussopp while she was doing Luffy's backpiece.
"Yeah,we're setting out in 2 days, so far it's only us,but I'm sure we'll be able to pick up some nakama before going to the Grand Line" Ussopp said as he leaned back with an excited grin on his face. She smiled at his excited face and grinned.
"Grand Line,eh? That's a lofty goal boys. Sounds like you could need some help,going to the Pirate graveyard. Not to mention if you don't get caught by the marines before that time either,I heard that there's a quite ruthless marine in place in Loguetown nowadays. Ever since he got placed there,no pirate has ever gotten across from the East Blue to Reverse Mountain. Say, could I interest you in an old friend of mine. His name is Roronoa 's a swordsman,and a damn good one at that. He's lazy as fuck at times,and his sense of direction is blown to shit, but either way,I get the sense that being with you guys might at least fix one of those two problems. Thing is,last I heard he managed to get into trouble in Shells town, a couple days sail from here. If you meet him, give him this,okay? It will tell him that you guys can be trusted." she said as she gave a slip of paper to Ussopp,who took it with a smile.
"We'll see if we can't make a pirate of him after we help him" he said as he pocketed the note. Luffy,who was still getting tattooed,had just as well dozed off while she was doing her thing,and he was awoken by the sudden stop of the buzzing tattoo needle. "Oh?I'm done?" he asked curiously.
The artist nodded. "Yup. That is one hell of a backpiece you there kid. What's your name?" she asked. "Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meetcha" he answered with a grin she just couldn't help but copy. "Monkey D.? I've heard of a Monkey D. that sailed the Grand Line years ago, you know who I'm talking about?" she asked. Luffy just laughed. "Shishishishishi,yep,that's my Gramps" he answered, causing her to almost trip over backwards if not for the man who was standing behind her. "Careful there miss,wouldn't want you to hurt yourself,now would we?" came the voice of Garp, who had just stepped inside to check on the boy's progress. "Yo,Gramps!Check it out!" said Luffy as he turned his back to him,letting Garp see the entire thing. The motive was amazing,a picture of a regular human skull with crossbones,but the skull had two fox-like ears with two gold rings through the left ear. The entire thing was amazingly colored and shaded in just the right places. Garp whistled.
"That is one hell of a tattoo Luffy. Now,let Ussopp take your place,I am sure he wants some changes to it to symbolize him,am I right Ussopp?" Garp said as he looked at Ussopp, who smirked slightly. "Nothing ever goes by you without notice,does it Garp-san? You are of course,correct" Ussopp said as he showed the artist a few changes to the skull. She looked sceptical at it,but got to work after Ussopp had told her he wanted it on his upper right arm. Luffy stepped up to his grandfather. "She knows you by name, and now also by face. I don't know why,but the reason she almost fell was because I said I was your grandson" Luffy muttered to Garp, who looked at the tattoo artist in confusion. She was decades younger than him,so how did she know him,and why did she turn so damn nervous when she heard his name?
He shrugged it off. He was a part of the Pirate King's crew,of course his name is famous. Moreso if people realized that Dragon was his son, and he'd probably be dragged back to the spotlight once Luffy had made his splash in the Grand Line,so he shrugged it off. It didn't matter. Then he remembered something.
"Luffy we have to go. There's something I must show you" Garp said to his grandson. "What?Can't we wait for Ussopp? Can't-?" Luffy's voice stopped as he looked at Garp,who looked to have aged thirty years in a moment. Luffy turned to Ussopp.
"OI,Ussopp!Me and gramps are going ahead to get started on dinner!" Luffy said as he looked Ussopp in the eyes, signaling something to him. Ussopp nodded as he said: "Okay!Don't finish eating before I get there,you hear me? I know how much of a glutton you can be Luffy!" he shouted as the duo walked back to the house.
When they got there,he told Luffy to sit on the couch in the living room while he went into his room to retrieve something. What he came out with, was a picture of a younger Garp, along with a woman and a kid. "This-"Garp said- "-is your grandmother,may she rest in peace, there is me,and that brat right there is your old man" Garp said,causing Luffy's eyes to widen.
"Really?" he said,excited of seeing some of his family's past. He then looked closer at the picture. "This doesn't look like anywhere near Dawn Island" he commented. Garp nodded. "It isn't. When your father was younger,we used to live in the South Blue,on an island known as Baterilla. It was the home island of Ace's mother,Rouge. We lived there partially because it was a place no one would expect to find me, and partially in order to protect Rouge from the marines. When the time came that the marines came to look for any clues as to whether or not Roger had any descendants,we fled the island and came here,back to my home island. It was on the very beach outside here that Roger and I first met" Garp said with a nostalgic smile.
"He was barely a couple of years older than me,maybe in his twenties or so, when he met a slightly stupid young fucker who wanted nothing more than to join the marines to prove everyone wrong. He turned my life up-side down that night,and I haven't looked back since" he finished as he showed a picture of a group of people. "This is the Roger Pirates a year or so before I retired" he said as he pointed at the different people in it. "In the middle of everyone there,there you see us; there's Rayleigh on the right side and me on the left and of course there's Roger in the middle along with Shanks and Buggy right in front of him" he said as he pointed to them before he chuckled. "I was not the second person Roger had picked up in the East Blue,but I ended up as third-in-command almost immediately. I don't really know why. Guess the old man saw something in me,but the hell if I know what it is,even after all these years. Anyway,there's something I want to give you,as an early birthday present" Garp said as he gestured to a small chest that Luffy had not seen him take out. Luffy looked questioningly at his grandpa. Garp smiled. "Open it" he said. Luffy did so carefully, and his eyes widened at the sight. "It's my old brass knuckles and throwing knives" Garp said. "I've lost count on how many times these knives have saved my life. The handle is bone of Seaking,and the blades are Seastone Prism. Extremely useful when fighting devil fruit users" Garp finished as he looked at the knives fondly. He looked at Luffy.
"Take the knives, they will come in handy. Remember, only use them if you're sure it's a kill, and only use them towards Devil fruit users" Garp said strictly. Luffy looked determined at his grandfather. "I will, though I'll avoid killing if possible. That doesn't mean I will leave every bastard that stands against me alive,but not unless I see any other option" Luffy said as he picked up the knives.
Garp then reached into the chest to pick up something that lay underneath the brass knuckles. "Take this too. It's a little weary,but it should still serve you well"he said as he put a weapon belt around Luffy's waist. Luffy's eyes gleamed as he put the knives in their holsters. They quickly started to fill with tears as he looked at Garp. The old pirate seemed to have aged 30 years since they picked up the contents of the chest.
"You alright,Gramps?" he asked. The old man looked at Luffy, and his eyes was filled with emotion. "After you and Ussopp leave,I'll burn the house down. I'll destroy all evidence we were ever here and follow Rayleigh to Saobady Archipelago. Take everything you want as memory, cause everything else will be gone in a couple of days" Garp said as he sat down. Luffy walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do it tomorrow. You can sail with us until we reach Loguetown,and then you can go on ahead. I will not leave you alone with this burden,Gramps,no matter how much you want to" Luffy said as he walked outside on the porch and sat down on a chair to meditate until Ussopp showed up.
30 minutes later,Ussopp showed up to see Luffy sitting on a chair outside,meditating in an unusual serious pose. "Ussopp" he said as the long-nosed teen came closer. "What's up,Luffy?" he asked. "Bring all you want from the house outside. Tomorrow, we set sail. Gramps will join us until Loguetown,and then he'll go ahead to Saobady Archipelago. Before we sail, we will burn the house down to not give the marines any idea that we were ever here" Luffy said. Ussopp's eyes widened and he was about to say something until he noticed Luffy was silently crying,and he understood why. This island had been Luffy's entire life, and it was probably killing him inside to have to say that sentence. Ussopp then looked up. "A pirate's life for me" he mumbled as he walked inside to collect his weapons and gear. The boys proceeded to fill up their ship with everything they needed,including personal effects that Luffy put into the captain's cabin and Ussopp put into the male shipmates' room. After a while,Garp,came out with his own stuff and put it in the male's room with Ussopp. He then walked into the forest and came back half an hour later with firewood and proceeded to make a bonfire. Luffy then walked into the house, fished out the remaining meat from the pantry,and walked out to where Garp and Ussopp was standing. "Do we have any barrels of salt?" he asked. Ussopp nodded. "Yeah. We already put them down in the cargo hold" he said. Luffy nodded. "We'll have one last meal here on the beach. Tomorrow-" Luffy said as he looked at the house that had been his home for 17 years. "-we set sail!" he exclaimed,getting solemn nods from his vice-captain and grandfather as they walked on board the ship to fill the barrels. "That reminds me!" Garp said and ran up to the house. He returned carrying a crate. "No pirate ship is complete without booze. We can go to Makino's tomorrow to buy more before we leave" Garp said with a grin,which was quickly copied by the two youngsters before they started to work on their last dinner at Dawn island.
The next day,the trio woke up early to head over to Makino's bar. To be honest, they knew the bar was closed,but Makino herself was always an early riser, so hopefully she would let them in without alerting any of the villagers. Garp rapped his knuckles on the door twice before they heard the sound of someone scurrying over to unlock it. "Garp?" she asked. "Luffy?Ussopp? What's going on?" she asked as she saw the grave expressions on their faces. "Sorry to bother you this early,Makino, but we need some alcohol for the boys' journey" Garp said with a light smile, that she copied a little nervously.
"Oh-Oh. Okay,Umm,please feel free to help yourselves. It's the least I could do" she said. "Don't be ridiculous,girl. We intend to pay you. After all,we need to close our tabs here while we're at it" Garp said. Makino's eyes widened. "Are-Are you going with them?" she asked. Garp sighed.
"I'm getting old,Makino. I am going to retire on Saobady Archipelago before anyone from the marines can sniff out that I am still alive. Luffy and Ussopp has been taught all I could teach them,they'll be fine" he said as he picked up a couple of crates of beer while Luffy came out carrying two crates of whisky and Ussopp carried a couple of crates of sake. Makino let out a slightly stressed sigh. "So,uh,I'll-I'll never see any of you again?" she asked. Luffy put down the crates he was carrying.
"You'll probably start seeing us on wanted posters, I mean, me and Ussopp are going as pirates after all,we'd be horrible if we didn't get a wanted poster!" Luffy said. He then proceeded to give Makino a hug. "Thank you for everything,Makino. Here,take this" he said as he released her and gave her a paper note. "That is my Den-Den number,so you can call me anytime,okay? And I'll send Shanks your way when I next see him" he finished with a smirk as she blushed deep crimson.
"Leave her alone Luffy,she doesn't need to hear your lame-ass jokes" Garp growled. Luffy grinned. "No joke, gramps. Far as I heard, Shanks had fallen hard for our dear Makino-chan here" Luffy said with a grin. Garp opened his mouth to speak,but changed his mind. "Hmmph,if that's the case,maybe I should take you with me and drop you off with him while I'm at it" Garp said,causing Makino to flush and her eyes to widen.
"Can-Can you do that?" she asked him,hopefully. Garp nodded. "I have the brat's Den-Den number, the moment we step foot on Saobady,I'll call him to the island, so he can pick you up. It's going to be dangerous,though,so you'll need something to protect yourself with" he said. Makino smiled before going into her apartment in the back of the bar and came back out with a backpack along with a small dagger and a crossbow.
"I've been practising every day between the opening hours of the bar. I couldn't let people get suspicious"she said. Garp smirked. "That's good. Well,if you're coming with us, you might as well know, we intend to set the house on fire before we go,to eradicate any trace of us ever being here. You understand why,don't you?" he asked her seriously. Makino's eyes widened as she understood exactly why they intended to do this.
"To prevent finding any clues to where Luffy and Ussopp came from, or you for that matter" she said,causing Garp to nod. "Right,well,we should get moving. The villagers will be up soon,and I want to be gone before they do" Garp said. The other three nodded,and soon enough,Makino,Garp,Ussopp and Luffy was standing there on the beach,watching their home through many years burn to the ground. Luffy and Ussopp,being the youngest, couldn't help but shedding a few tears over the home they just lost. Makino did not have the same connection to the house,but she knew,from what Garp had told her, that it was on this beach that Gol D. Roger had approached a 17-year old Monkey D. Garp. In one way she thought it fitting that they would set sail from here. Luffy then turned around and walked towards their ship.
It was a medium sized ship with two masts, 2 cannons on the port and starboard sides and a standard anchor. The wheel was placed over the captain's quarter,with the entry to the ladies' bedrooms on the left and the men's to the right. The galley was placed underneath the captains quarters, between the crew bedrooms. The kitchen was fully stocked, from utensils to spices, and the galley itself could room as many as 12. on the deck under the galley was the cargo hold and prison cells, in case they needed to take hostages. It had taken them three years to build it,with blood,sweat and tears(and a lot of cursing from Garp), but it was to become their new home for a foreseeable future.
"Alright,let's get moving he said. "So where's first stop,captain?" Makino asked. "To shells town. We have a swordsman to pick up!" he said as the ship, The Sea fox, left Dawn island,never to be seen around there ever again.