Hey everyone and welcome to my One Piece Fanfiction. This next chapter won't be as long as the last two, but it'll cover all the necessary plot points it needs to for now and I'm pretty sure you'll be entertained.
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, One Piece is owned by Funimation, Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, and Fuji TV. Please support the official release.
"Pirate" Regular speech.
"Pirate" Thoughts.
Finger Pistol Attack names.
(Pirate) Words said previously.
"PIRATE!" Shouting speech.
[Pirate!] people talking at the same time.
"Pirate" people talking over communication
To Stand On Your Own Feet
The sun had started to rise over the horizon and it was now daybreak over Mt Corvo. It was the day after Light, Ace, and Sabo had fought Porchemy and his men, and just as they had decided they had gone back to the Mountain Bandits' hideout, Ace and Light took Sabo with them as a way to hide him. And the three of them were still sound asleep in a triangle of blankets, sprawled over the floor.
Dadan had come to wake up Ace and Light but noticed the strange appearance of a third child she didn't recognize. At first, she was confused and kept looking at them back and forth until she started gaping at what she was seeing.
"What the hell is going on!? ACE! LIGHT! Who is that?!" She yelled loud enough to wake the whole Island. "Why is there another of you brats here!?"
Light groaned sleepily, sitting up and looking around. "Leave me alone, geezer." Light muttered hazily, still half asleep, before laying back down. "I don't train until after dawn."
Ace forced himself to sit up as he looked up to see who it was. "You're so noisy in the morning." He grumbled and fell back down on the floor like Light had while asking. "Don't you know what time it is?"
Sabo sat up almost immediately after that but just looked ahead of him for a few seconds before he fell back down with a groan.
After the events of yesterday, all three of them wanted to do was just laze the day away. But Dadan obviously wasn't having that.
"Why's there suddenly a third kid here!?" She yelled at them, glaring at Sabo. "Who are you?"
The three boys opened their eyes again, a little more awake now. "Who me?" Sabo asked, standing up and rubbing his tired eyes. When he was a little more wide awake he put on a huge grin while Ace and Light stood back to watch.
"I'm Sabo." He said brightly, now fully awake. "Hi! you're Dadan, right?"
"Sabo?" Dadan repeated slowly. "I know I've heard that name before."
"Really?" He asked cheerfully. "Well, that makes it easier for me then." He took her hand and shook it merrily. "Let's try to get along starting today!"
She pulled her hand away and barked. "Get along? Don't think you'll be staying here!"
Instead of answering he merely farted, which only made Dadan angrier.
"Don't answer with a fart!" Dadan screamed as Sabo laughed. "You've gotta be kidding me!" She went on. "If you're the Sabo I've heard about, then you're supposed to be one hell of a brat."
Sabo grinned and asked. "Really? And I've heard you're an old hag!"
"Where'd he hear that from?" Light asked, looking at Ace.
Ace merely shrugged, not having an answer.
"You shouldn't say things like that!" Dadan yelled as the bandits fell over with what Sabo had just said. "I don't want to deal with any more unruly kids!"
Sabo just kept grinning. "But you're a nice old hag who can't turn down a request from other people too, right? I heard that you're an old hag who's like a man among men."
Light face-palmed and muttered. "Seriously, where is he getting this information?"
"To be fair, it is kinda hard to be sure." Ace reasoned.
"I'm a WOMAN!" Dadan shouted, glaring down at the blonde. "Can't you tell?"
After a long moment, Dadan let out a defeated sigh before she turned away and called them by name before snapping. "Since you're all under my care, you'd better hurry up and get to work!"
The three boys grinned at each other happily.
"Thanks, Dadan!" Sabo said gratefully before they all turned and went running out the door. "Then, we're off!"
"HEY!" Dadan yelled. "Light you're supposed to do laundry and clean the house!"
"I'll take care of it later!" Light called out, running along with Ace and Sabo.
"Oh, right!" Sabo said, stopping so suddenly he took the other two by surprise. Sabo turned back to look at the bandits. "I forgot to say…" He then yelled out loudly. "Hey, Dadan! While we're out, Bluejam's crew might come around. So be careful!"
"Bluejam might be coming…?" Dogra repeated in a stunned voice. "Why?"
"We got mixed up with one of their crew and beat him up!" Sabo yelled. "See ya later!"
As they ran off again, they didn't notice the horror-struck looks on the faces of the bandits.
"Dadan sure is an understanding old hag." Sabo said to Ace as they were running through the woods.
"But she's still an old hag." Ace told him firmly.
"So what now?" Sabo asked.
Light answered that by running in between them and saying. "Let's go hunt for some treasure."
Ace looked interested. "Heh, why not? That is what we do."
"Alright! Let's go!" Sabo said as they all ran faster.
Later that day, after the sun was high in the sky and it was now the afternoon, they were now sitting by a large river. Ace and Sabo were sitting by a large campfire with a giant fish's skeleton that was just picked clean. While they ate, Light was drying off his wet shirt, having been the one who just in the river to catch the fish he was soaking wet.
Sabo then turned to Light and asked. "Say Light, how come you just jumped in to catch the fish instead of using a pole?"
"It's how the geezer taught how to catch fish." Light answered, finished with his shirt. "Plus swimming against the currents is good muscle training."
"It's almost crazy how you always focus on training." Sabo said, despite his grin. "You even do it when your Granddad's not around."
"I prefer to look at it this way if I become as strong as I can as fast as possible, then the geezer won't have to train me as much." Light explained, believing the logic behind his idea. "And without his training all the time, I'll have more time for myself."
"Hmph, I wouldn't bet on that." Ace brushed off his idea. "The old man will keep "training" someone as long as they're weaker than him, I'm pretty sure he just does it 'cause he thinks it's fun to knock people around."
"Probably." Light shrugged, knowing Ace had a point. "But regardless, if I'm going to be the Strongest in the world, I can't slack off on my training."
"Heh, you can't become the Strongest with just muscle training." Ace taunted, standing up. "Besides, I don't need a crazy training regimen and I'm sure I can still beat you."
"You think so huh?" Light taunted back, smirking at him. "You can try it if you want, but don't whine after I clobber you."
Before the two of them got to go any further though Sabo got between them and threw his hands out. "Stop, Stop! You guys don't have to turn everything into a fight, you know?" He told them.
Ace just sighed and sat back down. "You're too soft, Sabo."
Light shrugged and reached down to pick up a small knife that was nearby on the ground, Sabo noticed this and asked. "Hey, isn't that the same knife you used on Porchemy's leg?"
"Yeah, I found it at the Gray Terminal." Light told him while putting the knife in his pocket. "I was gonna get rid of it after that, but I decided to keep it around. Who knows, maybe it's lucky."
"Well, it did help out a lot yesterday so, maybe your right." Sabo figured.
"Yeah well, it'll take more than luck to survive next time." Ace said, more serious. "Now that we've made an enemy of Bluejam we're going to have to fight against real Pirates and Bluejam is the worst of them all, he makes Porchemy look like an amateur."
"True, but as long as we lay low for a while, things should blow over for a bit." Sabo reasoned, more optimistic. "Besides, we made sure to move where we hide our 'Pirate funds' to another place."
"Well in the meantime, why don't we go to Edge Town?" Light suggested.
Ace threw away the small fishbone he was using as a toothpick and grinned. "Sounds like a plan."
"Yeah, I guess so." Sabo agreed. "Hopefully we'll have an easier time than yesterday."
With that decided they headed off in the direction of the large trash dump known as The Gray Terminal.
Ace, Light, and Sabo soon went back to the junkyard and quickly made their way closer up to the wall—silently keeping their eyes open for anyone who might be a part of Bluejam's crew. The three of them ended up piling up on top of each other like a totem pole behind a large pile of junk so that they could get a better look.
The part of the city on the other side of the wall was the lowest class city among all the cities within the wall. It was worn out, dirty, and broken down… Along with a small crooked sign labeled 'Edge Town'. It was a town where most criminals and drug dealers spawned, most people there probably couldn't leave their houses without fear of being mugged. Though at the very least there were some decent houses… Which made living here more bearable than all the mountains of trash across the wall.
Just then, some men who were more than likely members of Bluejam's crew were talking to some other Terminal residents; asking questions about where they last saw three young boys.
"This isn't good." Sabo said, his voice clearly anxious. "This place is swarming with Delinquents from town and Bluejam's crew. This is serious."
"We must've really made Bluejam mad." Ace said below him, on Light's shoulders. Light was surprisingly having little trouble holding up Ace and Sabo.
"We could always knock them out." Light suggested off-handed.
Ace thought about it. "That might solve our current problem."
"Are you two out of your minds?" Sabo clearly didn't agree with their line of thought. "We should just focus on escaping without being seen."
"Hey, guys!" A man behind them suddenly shouted and surprised the boys so much that they fell to the ground in a heap. "Somebody here is looking for you!"
As soon as the trio was spotted, they ran for their lives with four members of Bluejam's crew right behind them. After shifting to behind a hill of trash Light up a metal rode and threw it at one of the Pirates in the head. Which knocked him out.
He then followed up by rushing in and attacking the others. Ace soon decided to join in on the assault and Sabo, though reluctant would have preferred to have just fled, and joined the other two in the fight.
After the fight was over, the boys had defeated the Pirates and Light was currently pickpocketing them, while they were unconscious. Ace picked up anything that looked valuable while Sabo just looked annoyed at both of them.
"What were you thinking!?" Sabo shouted, clearly not pleased. "I told you we should have focused on escaping!"
"Yeah, but you also said without being seen." Light pointed out, not bothered by his actions. "They saw us, so that plan was out the window."
"He's right, now we've got more treasure for our fund." Ace added, agreeing with Light. "And there really wasn't a point in running from a winnable fight."
Sabo sighed in defeat, giving up on arguing with them. "I wonder if I'll survive staying with you two."
After leaving the Terminal the trio was back in the forest leaning beside some trees
"Looks like they got the guys from the Gray Terminal helping them." Sabo said in a depressed tone. "Guess we don't have a choice but to stay away from there for a while."
"It doesn't matter." Ace said firmly as he picked up his staff. "If we run into them, we'll just fight them."
"Well, sure we could…" Sabo said hesitantly. "But even if it worked out today, there's no point in picking a fight."
"What about you?" Ace turned to Light. "We're split, you be the tie-breaker in this argument."
Light stopped leaning by the tree and stepped forward. "I agree that it might be better to lay low but I don't want to run from a fight. So let's do this; We stay away from Bluejam's crew for the time being, but if we happen to run into them or if they find us, we'll fight." He compromised.
They both thought about that option, considering the ups and downs until they both decided.
"I guess that'll work." Ace shrugged. "It's better than running."
"And considering it's you guys, I suppose that's not a bad idea." Sabo stated, a bit relieved.
"Hey, you keep saying things like "you guys", you trying to say you think we're stupid or something!?" Ace barked at Sabo, though instead of answering Sabo just turned his head, pretending not to hear him, much only made Ace more pissed. "Why you!"
And another fight broke out.
Later they were standing in a large clearing. Ace and Light stood across from each other a few steps apart while Sabo stood a short distance away watching them and behind him was a medium-sized blackboard that appeared to be a scoreboard.
"This'll be the first fight of the day so try not to get to carried away." Sabo warned them.
However Ace and Light paid him no mind and just silently glared at one another preparing themselves for this fight.
"Hope you're ready to eat a face full of dirt." Ace taunted with a grin.
"I'll let my fists do the talking." Light smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Should warn you two though, they really hurt; These Knuckles o' mine."
Sabo sighed, realizing he was being ignored. "Now, Begin!" Sabo called, holding his hand up like how a referee would in a wrestling match.
By his call, they both charged at each other. In a second both Ace and Light reached each other and punched out, hitting each other in the cheek and this made both of the heads get knocked back. They skidded back a few feet and placed a hand on their cheeks, while at the same time thinking.
[Damn, he's strong!]
After that clash Light charged forward again while this time Ace stood and waited with his arms crossed over his chest as if he was blocking. This time when Light punched out, Ace quickly reached out both his arms and used one to grab Light's fist while the other arm hooked Light's forearm. Ace followed up before Light could break free and lifted Light upwards, flipping over his head and slamming him into the ground hard.
Ace thought he had one with that, but to his surprise Light counterattacked and wrapped his legs around Ace's legs, making Ace fall down. Light followed up by getting up and rushing to him, bringing down a strong punch into Ace's gut, knocking the air out of him. Light got on top of him and kept bringing down punches on Ace's face, but Ace reached out and picked up a small rock next to him, grabbed it, and smashed it onto Light's forehead with all his strength.
As Light was now stunned, dealing with the pain he was just hit with, Ace kicked him in the stomach, knocking Light away from him and freeing himself. Now they were at the same distance apart as when the fight started and breathing hard. While Ace had bruises around his face, Light had a streak of blood dripping from his forehead.
The fact was the amount of punching power a person has is something they are born with and training that power is what comes after. And the truth was that Ace had more powering power than Light, however thanks to all of Light's training he has more full-body strength than Ace, so by putting that to good use and using more than just the strength of his arms while punching, his blows can equal or even overpower Ace's.
But another factor was; experience. Light has been fighting longer than Ace has and is better trained, but most of the time Light fights someone they are usually an animal and always bigger than him. While Ace has been fighting humans his whole life and does training fights with Sabo practically every day, so he's used to fighting someone his size, while this is a first for Light.
There were advantages and disadvantages for both of them, and neither one of them was able to get the upper hand, but it was clear to tell that even if one of them won this fight, it wouldn't prove they were stronger and the outcome of a second fight could be different.
After fighting for a few minutes, Ace landed a strong dropkick on Light and knocked him down.
Sabo raised his hand again. "It's over!" He announced, going to the scoreboard and writing a 1 beneath Ace's name and a 0 beneath Light's name.
"Damn it." Light cursed getting back up.
Ace crossed his arms and grinned. "Told ya, I'm the Strongest."
"You got lucky." Light argued. "I'll beat you the next fight."
"Hold up." Sabo stopped them. "It's my turn now."
"Oh, right." Light remember. He then stepped aside and stood beside the scoreboard as Ace and Sabo began their fight.
This next fight was much more evenly matched and more balanced compared to the last one—It seemed like Ace favored brute force while Sabo preferred finesse, however, they were moving as if they had seen each other moves plenty of times and were trying to set the pace both the other could. It became clear to see that they had fought often, both together and against each other.
Ultimately though, in the end, Ace was the winner again as so Light write down another point for Ace on the scoreboard while giving Sabo a 0. And now it was Light and Sabo's turn to fight, while this time Ace stood by the scoreboard.
Light smirked. "You ready?"
"Bring it." Sabo replied, confident.
Now Light and Sabo were fighting, this time Light rushed in while Sabo was preparing to counterattack once Light reached him. But this time Light lowers his speed slightly while running and when he was only a few feet away he quickly jumped at full speed catching Sabo off guard and messing up the timing of his attack, allowing Light to strike first and punching Sabo across his cheek.
Sabo tried to hit him back with a swiping kick to his legs but Light jumped and dodged it. However, Sabo took that chance to rush in and punch Light while he was open, but Light quickly put up a cross-arm block and stopped Sabo's punch. After feeling that punch Light could tell Sabo's hits weren't as strong as Ace's and thus he knew he had the power advantage this time. Light then followed up with a sharp kick that hit the right side of Sabo's body.
Unlike with Ace, things were more in Light's favor when fighting Sabo. For one thing, Sabo's way of fighting was more about skill than strength, but in a contest of skill, Light was clearly the best of the three of them. And while Sabo had the same experience as Ace, Light had not only just fought Ace, but he just saw Ace fight Sabo so he has a better idea of how they fight, in particular how to outfight them. Thus Light was a bad matchup for him.
After fighting for a bit, Light hit Sabo in the head with a strong blow and knocked him down, thus making Light the winner. Ace wrote down a point for Light and another 0 for Sabo. Now Ace went back to the front and was facing off against Light for the second time, while Sabo was behind the scoreboard again.
"We meet again." Light grinned, pumped up.
Ace grinned back. "This time, don't complain when I beat you."
This fight was different from their first fight. Both of them weren't worried about setting the pace or counterattack, Ace and Light just kept throwing heavy punches each with enough power to end the fight in a single blow if it landed, and were only focused on beating the other. But this time Light was a little more of an edge than Ace and gained the upper hand.
In the end, Light hit Ace was a fierce uppercut to the jaw and Ace hit the ground hard. With that, Light won this time, and Sabo gave him another 1 on the scoreboard and gave Ace his first 0.
"Ha, not much fun hitting the ground, is it Ace?" Light taunted.
"Don't get cocky." Ace warned him, getting up. "We're just getting started."
A long while had passed, and the three boys had been fighting one another back to back without rest. The fights kept having different outcomes with each of them getting more adept and capable with each fight, Light grew more used to fighting Ace and Sabo, while Ace was quickly able to overcome the other two with power. Even Sabo started to win with succession, the differences in all their fighting abilities were so small it was razor-thin.
In the end, all the fights ended with Sabo tallying up the final score. Ace had 27 wins and 23 losses, Light had 29 wins, and 21 losses Sabo had 24 wins and 26 losses. Sabo's jaw dropped when he saw the score and cried out. "I'm at the lowest!? Geer, I need to get stronger!"
"What the Hell!" Ace cursed, frustrated by the result. "How did I fall behind?"
"Hell yeah!" Light raised his fist with triumph. "I'm the real Strongest!"
"Hmph, just for today. We'll do this again tomorrow." Ace informed him, still upset.
After spending the day battling it out with each other, the trio was now back by the river, and they were currently fishing. They were trying to catch something, though considering they were by the crocodile river, it was obvious they were fishing for crocodiles.
"Looks like we'll be having crocodile for dinner." Ace decided as they observed the crocs, trying to figure out which one to eat.
"You know I could just jump in and grab one." Light offered.
"Yeah, don't do that." Sabo immediately rejected that idea. "It's better not to risk it, on the off chance that you get eaten."
Light shrugged. "I still say you worry too much."
"I see one." Ace pointed to a crocodile near the shore. "Let's grab it."
Ace picks up a spear with a rope attached to the end and hurled it at the crocodile just as it swam up to the surface, the spear pierced the crocodile's hard reptile skin and got wedged into its body. At that moment all three boys grabbed the rope and pulled the crocodile to the shore, they then jumped it and finished the job by killing it.
After getting the crocodile, the boys decided to head back to Edge Town.
Speaking of Edge Town, currently standing in front of the gate to the town was a large group of people who were all walking through the gate to enter the town and each one of them was carrying a bag of sorts. Among the rough-looking group was a cloaked figure who was stumbling around and pulling a long cart that was covered by a tarp.
The cloaked man was stumbling forward on unsteady legs and almost fell, only able to stay up by supporting himself against the cart to keep himself from going down. Others just assumed he was a drunkard, nothing unusual. Anyway, the figure was now talking to a guard who asked him what was underneath the tarp.
"Crocodile leather for sale." The figure said, pulling the cover back to show him.
After seeing the goods he had, the guard let the cloaked figure go. As he walked through the streets of Edge Town, it was just as bad as always. The buildings were rundown and dirty, and looking through the windows passed by were people who either looked timid or threatening. It seemed like the only good thing about this town was that it was better than living at the trash mountain.
It wasn't long until a group of thugs, some of them carrying weapons, came out of the alleyway and confronted the cloaked man.
"It seems you're carrying something valuable there." One of the muggers said as he walked forward with a smug grin on his face. "Answer, you bastard."
"Shut up if you know what's good for you." Came a familiar voice from underneath the hood.
"What?!" The thug shouted.
A pipe staff came from the cloak and tripped up the thug—The thing was, it came from much lower than where the man's arm was supposed to be
"Before you rob someone, you should choose your targets more carefully!" The voice said, reaching down and throwing off the cloak to see that it was Sabo, Light, and Ace stacked on top of each other again, all of them looking ready to fight.
"It's those brats!" One of the thugs cried out.
Before anyone could say or do anything more, the trio was on them starting with Ace sucker-punching the one that just spoke, and soon it was a brawl as the three kids took them all out.
Though they were only children and heavily outnumbered, they were more than a match for these guys as they knocked each one of them out. It was soon over, the three of them escaping with not even a few cuts or bruises—and once they found the cloak, they climbed up on top of each other's shoulders again— leaving as if nothing had happened, still dragging the cart of crocodile leather behind them.
"Hey, why are we sneaking around in the first place?" Light asked at the bottom of the stack.
"We'll make easy and safer money with the crocodile leather." Sabo answered him in the middle. "But we can't let ourselves be seen."
"But what are we going to use the money for?" Light asked, not sure why they were going through all the trouble. "Are you just going to put it with all the rest?"
"Not this time." Ace told him, on top. "This is one of the few times we send the money. Today, we'll feast on Ramen."
"What's Ramen?" Light asked, unaware.
"Just be patient, and you'll see." Ace answered as they walked uneasily on their feet through Edge Town, and towards another gate that led to a place called 'Town Center'. When they passed through this gate, the scenery was completely different.
This whole town around them couldn't have looked any more different than Edge Town… There were tall, brightly colored buildings on either side of them that were so clean that they shone like diamonds in the sunlight.
There were hundreds of stores on all sides, people dressed in fine clothes doing their shopping and enjoying the nice day, and not a speck of dirt could be seen anywhere. It was easy to see why the Goa Kingdom was known as the most beautiful in all the East Blue when in a town like this.
The boys traveled through Town Center for a few blocks before they met with some men and traded the crocodile leather for a decent amount of money before they headed on deeper into the City. In the center of the City was another wall that held a beautiful palace that rose higher than a mountain and looked down on them all.
"They paid us a good price for that crocodile leather." Sabo said underneath the cloak.
"There's the gate to High Town." Light whispered. "Are we going in?"
"No, we're saying in Town Center for this one." Ace told him. "It'll be too much trouble to get into High Town looking like this."
"Hmm." Light looked around, noticing something was off. "Hey, have either of you two noticed something weird about all the people in town?"
"What you much that they all look like horses?" Ace guessed.
In a way, he wasn't wrong. Everyone, man, woman, and child, even their pets, all had stuck-up and sour looks on their faces. Like they had permanent grins stuck to their faces, or their expressions were frozen the way they were, they could be compared to a horse on some levels. Though it was more simple to just call them ugly.
"True, but that's not what I was talking about." Light looked specifically at the people near them. "I mean, everyone seems like they're avoiding us as if we're infected or something?"
"You don't know?" Sabo questioned, confused. "I thought you've been here before, along with High Town?"
"I have, but I'm usually never seen." Light clarified. "I make sure I stay hidden, so I have an easier time stealing, sometimes a guard spots me but never civilians."
"That explains when you never noticed." Ace said, looking hatefully at the people who walked by. "This is what they're like. They act like everything, and everyone needs to be so clean that it sparkles, and if they see even a single piece of dirt, they act like it'll make them sick or something."
"Case in point; we're disguised in a cloak we got from the trash pile, and so they act like we're a plague." Sabo explained, and just as he said, people were moving away from them like they were afraid of getting their clothes dirt—Some women actually took out handkerchiefs and used them to cover their mouths.
"I get that in high society, how you look and what you wear means a lot to the people here. But isn't this taking it a bit too far?" Light looked at the people incredulously. "Seriously, are they so afraid of dirt that they had to make even the stone walls shiny?"
"Nobles are always like that, they think they're the greatest thing in the world, and everyone else is just lucky to breathe the same air as them." Sabo said, sounding bitter for once. "Nothing is ever good enough for them, and if they see something they don't like, they just get rid of it, never giving a damn about how others feel."
"They don't just get rid of things, though. They also throw away people." Ace finished with a frown.
"And that's where the Gray Terminal comes from." Light added, knowing what they were trying to say. "How long has it been there?"
Ace shrugged. "Who knows? I first found the place 5 years ago, and back then, the place already had mountains of trash piling up."
"You'd think they'd run out of them at some point." Light noted.
"Not really. All the people living there are able to use anything they can to try and make a living with it." Sabo pointed out, though not happily. "It doesn't make things better in the long run, and there's still a lot of crime and danger, but at least there are some uses for all that trash."
"Anyway, forget about all that stuff." After walking a little way, the boys reached one of the fanciest-looking restaurants in town, which were one of the nicest-looking buildings they had ever seen. It was huge, a good five stories at least, and they could tell Ace was smiling when he said. "This is the restaurant."
"Is this where they serve Ramen?" Light asked.
"What is Ramen anyway?" Sabo asked. "Is it really that good?"
"Trust me. You'll love it." Ace promised them.
As they walked inside, the host bowed and welcomed them in, but when he looked up and caught sight of who had just entered, he paled and became somewhat frantic as he tried to get them to leave. "W-Wait a minute!?" He stuttered out. "You can't come into my restaurant."
It was obvious that, like everyone else, this host was appalled by how they looked, mainly the dirt they had on them. But before the host could rant and rave more about this, there was some shifting around under the cloak, and Sabo's hand pulled out a round, golden pendant that bore the crest of a daisy.
"I'd like a private room." Sabo said, his voice much deeper than normal.
The host gawked for a moment with wide eyes as he stared at it. "T-That's… That's…!" He stuttered before he gave many bows and said in an oily voice. "It is an honor that a Noble would visit my restaurant. We'll serve you right away!"
And with that, the host started to lead them to a private room that was up a flight of stairs.
"Hey, that was great." Ace whispered as they followed the man. "Where'd you get it?"
"Oh, ah… It was something I found in the city." Sabo answered, unusually apprehensive.
"So… You stole it?" Light guessed off the top of his head.
"Uh, y-yeah." Sabo answered, hoping to end the topic.
The boys were soon to the private room somewhere on the upper floors. Once they arrived, the host opened the door and brought them to the room. The room alone was big enough to hold two dozen people and was beautifully carpeted with statues and crystal decorations on the wall with a sparkling chandelier that was over their heads.
As they sat awkwardly down at their table, Ace had ordered them three bowls of Ramen, and the host left to pass their order to the kitchen. A few minutes later, a waitress came in with the three bowls of Ramen and placed them on the table.
"Here you are, Sir, three orders of Ramen." The waitress said politely, quickly backing away from them as if she was afraid she would be scolded for staying for too long. "Sorry for the wait. Please, enjoy." She then bowed her way out of the room.
That was when the other two poked their heads out of the cloak.
"So this is Ramen?!" Sabo exclaimed hungrily.
"You know, you think that one person ordering three helpings of food would seem more inconspicuous. And yet they didn't seem surprised at all." Light pondered, stretching his cheek. "Do they just think Nobles are always hungry or something?"
"Don't worry about it. They're too busy counting money that their brains have gone dull." Ace reasoned, throwing off the hood. "Now come on, eat it!"
He told them, and they had no problem doing what they were told. And soon they were eating it like they hadn't had food for days. Not caring about restraint, they just wolfed it all down.
Sabo was grinning, a satisfied look on his face. "You're right. It is delicious!"
"It's spicy and mouth-watering, plus the soup just slides down the throat." Light cried, loving it. "So good."
Soon enough, the boys finished the bowls and still wanted more, so Sabo cleared his throat and called out with his fake voice for three more orders of Ramen. They hid under their cloak again, and the waitress came back with another helping. And so once again they just eat more and more… They just kept bringing the food in, which was like adding fuel to a fire since the boys showed no clear signs of stopping.
As they inhaled bowl after bowl, they soon reached their 23rd helping when the door knocked, and the waitress came in with another helping. They weren't even done with the bowls they were currently eating and rushed to hide under their cloak before they were seen. The waitress was gasping for air as if she had run up here from the kitchen and placed the next order on the table before leaving.
Pausing from eating for a moment, Light came out of the cloak. "Hey guys, I think we should stop here."
"Hmm, how come?" Sabo asked, not seeing the problem.
"We were almost caught just now, and the Ramen is starting to show up faster than we can finish." Light pointed out, referring to the fact that they have a new helping before finishing the current one. "Besides, we've had more than 20 bowls. Pretty soon, they're gonna get suspicious."
"True, even brain-dead Nobles will think something is up at this rate." Ace pondered this before deciding. "We'll finish these last bowls on the table, then leave."
[Yeah!] Light and Sabo agreed.
And so they quickly wolfed down the remaining bowls of Ramen and hid back in the cloak. Afterward, they called the waitress to escort them back out. Now they were standing at the front entrance from where they first entered along with the host, and they handed him a small bag that was filled with money.
"T-Thank you, Sir. thank you very much!" The host kept bowing frantically after taking the money. "I am truly honored you enjoyed your meal, p-please feel free to come back anytime."
Ace, who was on top, just nodded under the cloak, and they began to leave. They kept walking until they were out of sight. Once the coast was clear, they came out of the cloak and jumped off each other's shoulders. All grinning at the success of their hoax.
"We got away." Sabo exclaimed. "Now we just need to get out of town unseen."
"Still wish we didn't have to spend all that money." Ace complained.
"It couldn't be helped." Sabo reminded him. "Now wasn't a good time to make a scene."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Ace turned away. "Let's just go."
"Wait." Light stopped them. "Let me. I know a route we can take without being seen."
After he said that, Ace and Sabo just looked at each other for a second, unsure if they should go with it. But decided to give him to benefit of the doubt in the end, so Light ran forward with Ace and Sabo close behind him.
After making their escape, the three boys were now standing by a grassy cliffside outside the forest with a perfect view of the ocean. Ace stood, Light sat down, and Sabo leaned down by a tree.
Light's escape route led them through a series of different alleyways where they would run through one that would lead to another one that followed in a downward pattern that led them to the town gate. Once they reached the gate, they rushed through without worry and made it back to Edge Town. Once there, they longer needed to sneak around since it didn't matter if they were seen or not anymore. And so they run straight through Edge Town, then the Gray Terminal, and finally the forest, which led them to reach here.
Ace breathed out a sigh of relief. "It actually worked."
"Where'd you discover an escape route like that?" Sabo asked Light, both interested and impressed.
"I sneak through the towns all the time, so I learned the different ways to get around without using the streets." Light explained. "Either the alleyways or the rooftops, I usually head for the harbor and sail back to the other side of the Island, but getting to the wall is easy too, and it's even easier at night."
Sabo paused for a second before snorting. "You really are like a Tom Cat."
Light smiled and turned to him. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead." Sabo replied nonchalantly.
"Where did you get that pendant?" Light asked, now serious.
Sabo immediately became wide-eyed and started to sweat. "Uh…, I told you I stole it." He attempted.
"Then why do you seem so nervous?" Light questioned, not believing him. "If you did steal it, you wouldn't be so worried about it. Hell, you'd probably even brag about it. But you didn't want us to know and just said you found it instead." He pointed out. "Plus, whenever we brought up the Nobles, you seemed unusually upset. Why is that?"
Sabo now looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Not knowing how he could get out of this, he just turned his head and said. "I… I can't tell you."
"Is there a reason you can't tell me?" Light asked.
"There is." Sabo answered, looking down. "A personal one."
"Okay then." Light turned away. "In that case, I won't ask."
Now Sabo was taken aback, not sure if he heard him right. "Eh, but you just asking about it. Why the sudden change."
"I admit I'm curious, but whatever you're hiding, it's your business, not mine." Light told him. "Besides, if it's something you feel like you can't tell me, then I don't want to force it out of you." Light stood up and smiled. "I just wait until you feel comfortable telling me."
Sabo was at first surprised by his words but then felt happy by them and stood up himself. "You know, Light, you're actually smarter than I first thought."
Light tilted his head a bit. "Um, thanks for saying so, but that basically means you thought I was stupid until now."
Sabo realized that himself and just chuckled while scratching the back of his head.
"Hey, you guys have been mumbling over there for a while." Ace approached them. "What's up?"
Light grinned. "We were just talking about how great that Raman tasted."
"Yeah, how come you never told me about it until now?" Sabo accused him.
Ace grinned back. "Heh, you just don't know enough about the world, unlike me."
"What are you talking about? You've never left this Island." Sabo reminded him.
"Shut up!" Ace barked.
"Still, though, I've never had Ramen before, but I have tasted better food." Light said, crossing his arms behind his head. "Makino's food was always the best."
"Makino?" Ace repeated, confused. "Who's that?"
"She's the person the geezer had looked after me before I met you." Light answered, remembering her. "She was great, and she even ran a bar."
"Hmm, that's pretty cool." Sabo noted, interested. "I wouldn't mind seeing that someday."
"Well, for now, let's head back." Light suggested. "I'd rather not let Dadan and the others think we're dead or something."
"Yeah, good point. It is getting late." Ace agreed, looking at the sky that was covering everything in the colors of orange, gold, and red. "Let's get some deer for dinner."
"Cool, we can make venison with it." Sabo said excitedly.
"I know I where the deer and the antelope play." Light brought up.
After saying that, they all started laughing, and with that, the three of them marched down the hill into the forest and made their way back to the Mountain Bandits' hideout. On the way, they found a deer and hunted it down, bringing it with them to eat.
Next thing they knew, they were back at the bandit's hunt with a giant plate full of meat on the table, right off the bone.
There were hungry looks on everyone's faces, and they were all readying themselves to rush in. It was sheer chaos as the bandits all fought tooth and nail for the food. It was like watching a bunch of wild animals fighting over their newest kill. The three boys, however, had a much easier time and simply made a rush for the food; they showed no mercy to the other bandits and just sent them flying out of the way so they could eat as much as they could. Dadan just sat in the back of the room as they fought, drinking sake before the food came flying over and hit her in the head.
Finally, she had enough, screaming out and grabbing the boys before she threw them into the back room where they slept. "And don't come out until you count to ten thousand!" She yelled at them, slamming the door shut behind her as she spun around to look at the main room. It was a complete mess, and all the bandits were lying there, bruised and beaten, while there were sounds of laughter coming from the back room.
"Honestly." Dadan said angrily, looking at the mess. "Why is it that we have to do a major housecleaning after every meal? I'm going to kick those brats out at any cost!"
While she was at her wit's end, the other bandits, including Dogra and Magra, spoke.
"But, didn't we cause most of the mess this time?" Dogra whispered.
"Yeah, but I'm not telling her that." Magra whispered back.
After all the cleaning was done and the place was back to being spotless, they all decided to go to bed. The bandits were all out cold by that time, and they were all spread out on the floor, each with a blanket, but the boys who were still in their room were still up and ready for action. They all stood apart from each other, their fists held in front of them—looking ready for another fight.
"Last training session for today." Ace confirmed with both of them.
"Get ready to lose again." Light declared, holding his fists up.
"Hope you're ready for this." Sabo taunted with a laugh.
"Here we go!" Ace jumped forward like a jungle cat, and soon it was an all-out brawl. It didn't last too long, though, as one of their hits cracked some of the floors and made a chunk of the wooden floor break and fall down—Which resulted in a loud scream of pain from Dadan's voice.
The three of them looked down through the hole in the floor to see the damage below.
"What a crappy floor." Sabo commented.
"I agree, and it was made from crappy wood." Light added.
"Well, what do expect from a bunch of crappy bandits." Ace finished.
[Um, Hmm.] They all nodded in agreement.
"HEY!" Dadan screamed at all three of them.
"Should we go to sleep?" Ace asked them quickly.
"Yeah…" Sabo answered for both of them, and just like that, all three of them collapsed on top of each other like a great big nest.
The next morning it was bright and sunny outside, which was a given from the sunlight that shone through the cracks in the wooden walls, but all three boys were still fast asleep until Dogra came in and woke them up, telling Light that there were some people here to see him.
Wondering who it was while hoping it wasn't Garp, Light came up to the door sleepily. But when he saw who it was, he was awake at once and let out a surprised gasp, immediately going up to them. When Ace and Sabo came out to see who was waiting for Light outside, they saw two people they didn't recognize and who looked completely out of place here.
For standing, there was Makino and the Mayor, Wood Slap.
"Makino!" Light greeted her, happy to see her.
Makino smiled and hugged him, having missed seeing him. "Light!"
Light then looked to the Mayor. "And Mayor? I didn't think you'd show up."
"Well, I couldn't let Makino go alone." Wood Slap reasoned. "Besides, I wanted to see how you were doing since it's been six months now."
"But don't tell Garp-san." Makino said with a wink, putting a finger to her lips, silently telling him to keep quiet about this.
Light rolled his eyes. "Why would I tell that geezer anything."
They both laughed as she continued hugging him.
"So you're really living with bandits." Wood Slap observed, looking at Dadan with suspicion.
"You got a problem?" Dadan growled at him, coming out of nowhere—Dark bags were under her eyes, showing she hadn't slept right last night.
"Yes! A big one!" He snapped back, clearly unafraid of her. "You're a bandit, don't give me attitude!"
"Sounds like you're giving her plenty of attitude." Light thought, listening to them argue.
"What'd you say?" Dadan yelled, now angry. "Are all the people from Foosha Village this annoying?"
Back at the house, Ace and Sabo were standing by the doorway, clearly hiding and watching curiously.
"Who are those guys?" Sabo asked, loud enough only for Ace to hear.
"Beats me. I've never seen them." Ace answered, oblivious. "But looks like they've known Light for a while. She must be that Makino woman he was talking about the other day."
While the Mayor and Dadan continued to argue, Makino clapped her hands together as she talked with Light. "I have some presents for you!" She said, kneeling down to reach for the basket she that brought with her. "I assume Garp-san wouldn't think about these things…" She pulled out a small T-shirt that was his size. "Ta-da! New clothes!"
"That is something you'd do. And something he'd forget." Light said knowingly. "Honestly, I was just planning to go into town and steal some new clothes if I needed them."
"Would you quit acting like a bandit!" Wood Slap snapped at him.
"I'm not a bandit; I'm a Burglar!" Light snapped back, correcting him.
Makino giggled happily. "I'm glad you like them! I just need to adjust the length, so… I'll need you guys too." She said, looking past Light and at the house where Ace and Sabo were. The two boys looked startled, as if they couldn't believe she would think about them, especially since they had never met her before. "Okay?" Makino asked with that same smile.
Sabo hesitated, but soon he came out running to meet her with a big smile, as Ace still stood there tense as ever.
"You too." Makino encouraged while Light was looking over his new clothes, and Sabo was pulling over his dirty blue coat.
Reluctantly, Ace walked over to them, hands tucked into his pockets and his face a little red as she adjusted the sizes. As Light and Sabo were done, she had Ace stand there as she held up a shirt to make sure she got the right length.
"I heard that Ace-kun was rather mischievous." She said, smiling at him brightly. "But you seem like a good boy."
Ace turned a bright red and looked away. "N-no, I'm not…"
Light then called out. "Don't be fooled. He's terrible. He's almost like a wild animal!"
"I don't want to hear that from you, you damn Wildcat!" Ace yelled, holding up his fist.
"Oh hey." Makino said hurriedly. "You can't move."
Ace stood still but glared over at Light and warned him. "I'll get you later."
Like glared back and smirked while raising his fist. "Bring it on."
Sabo sighed but chuckled a bit. "They're both animals."
As the day went by, the boys spent their time with Makino and the Mayor. They talked about what life was like living with Mountain Bandits and how they roamed and hunted in the forest all day, along with how they spent their free time fighting every day. Makino merely smiled at them while Wood Slap shook his head incredulously—As if unable to believe that anyone could leave a bunch of kids to run wild like this. After a bit of time passed, the sun began going down. Makino headed back into the hut and soon made dinner, enough for everyone.
"I hope you like it!" She said, with a beautiful set out that made some of the bandits drool just looking at it.
Surprisingly enough, this time, rather than jumping into their meal and wolfing it down like savage animals as usual. The bandits eat their food much calmer and well-mannered for a change. Supposedly they wanted to make a good impression around Makino and the Mayor until they left, considering they made the food. What some of them failed to notice was that there was a large, oppressive shadow right behind Ace and Light.
"Meals should be good on a ship." Sabo said as he inhaled the food. "I'm gonna get the best cook first thing when I set out to sea."
"I'm gonna become a Pirate before you, so forget it." Ace informed him.
"Who cares who goes first." Light interjected. "All that matters is how far you go."
Just then, the rest of them noticed the figure as well and paled when they realized what it was it was—Or rather who—It was. When the bandits finally spotted the dark shadow of the man behind them, they spat out their drinks and backed away as far as they could.
Light and Ace blinked, clearly not understanding why they all looked so scared. Until they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind the two of them. Now having a pretty good idea who was behind them but hoping they were wrong, the two boys slowly turned around the see the terrifying face of none other than Garp towering above them.
"You're still spouting crap like that?!" Garp growled, and they spat out their drinks and moved back as fast as they could before Garp yelled out. "Can't you both understand that you must become Navy soldiers?!"
BOINK!
And then he punched both boys until they fell back on the floor with large bumps on their heads.
"Dadan?!" Garp yelled.
"Yes, Garp-san?" She asked, only to be hit as well and fall back as they did.
BOINK!
"You're not educating the brats well!" He yelled at her.
Makino was behind them, her hands over her mouth as Sabo sat there terrified. "He's Garp?" He asked himself in a croak. "He's Ace and Light's Grandfather?"
"Squirt." Garp said, turning his attention to Sabo. "You mentioned something about going out to sea too…?"
"Augh, that hurt you, damn geezer!" Light exclaimed, getting up. Fortunately, that was a relief for Sabo since that took Garp's attention away from him and back to Light, but it made the others pale since he was provoking Garp. "If all you did was come here to knock me upside the head, then you shouldn't have come at all. Nobody would have minded your absence!"
"What the Hell did you say, you damn brat!?" Garp snapped, looking streamed at Light's defiance. "I took time out of my rare vacation time to pay you a visit, and you can't even show a bit of happiness at seeing your Grandpa in so long!?"
"If you ask me, it wasn't long enough!" Light snapped back.
"He has such a big mouth." Ace grumbled on the floor as he rubbed his sore head.
"I think I see the family resemblance." Sabo grumbled, hoping not to be noticed. "If that's his Granddad, I can see why Light's not afraid of anything."
"Hmph, Looks like you need more training brat." Garp said, crackling his fists. "I don't want you getting rusty while I was away.
"Huh, have you started going senile, Methuselah?" Light questioned, narrowing his eyes, irked while insulting him. "Unlike you, who spends all his time sipping tea and sitting behind a desk, I've been busting my back training every day."
"Huh, I'm not old enough to still knock you around, squirt." Garp responded with a glare, now irked himself. "Looks like you need another workout." He turned to Ace and Sabo. "You two as well."
[EEHHH!]
They both gasped, horrified at what they'd just been told. Garp gained a sadistic grin. Seeing him raise his fist was enough for both of them to start screaming and make a break for it while Light stood his ground.
But just as Ace and Sabo reached a few steps outside, they stopped when something flew past them at a break-neck speed and slammed into a tree. To their horror, the thing that hit the tree was a dazed Light with a nasty bruise on his face.
They didn't have time to think about it, though, as they soon felt something was behind them. They didn't even need to turn around since the feeling of dread welling up inside them was all they needed to know Garp was there.
"That's it for today!" Garp yelled to them, his fist raised in farewell. "I'll be harsher tomorrow. You can't drop dead yet!"
As Garp dusted off his hands, he headed back into the house. Just leaving the three boys broken and bleeding on the ground. After he was gone, the three of them dragged themselves to their feet and went stumbling back to the house so they could bandage up their wounds.
They were now back in their room as Sabo pulled out bandages and wrapped them up.
"Why did you provoke him like that?" Ace asked tiredly.
"I wanted to show him where I stand." Light answered, not regretting his words. "And that I won't just do whatever he wants."
"But because of that, we got dragged into it." Ace reminded him, irritated.
"To him, being a Pirate is an unacceptable wish in his eyes. He would've gone for you either way, so why give him the satisfaction of thinking he can intimidate you?" Light reasoned before narrowing his eyes. "Besides, if you don't even have the nerve to stand up to the old man, don't go around saying you'll be a Pirate."
"Tch, you always act like some bigshot." Ace closed his eyes and rested his chin on his hand. "Pisses me off sometimes."
"You're on to talk." Light countered.
After they were done bandaging their wounds, Ace cautiously opened the door to peek out and see Gap was punched out drunk with all the other bandits.
"If nothing is done, that old man will kill us tomorrow." Ace hissed to the other two.
Sabo nodded, looking scared, and paled a little at the thought. He whispered back. "Even if we survive, he'll keep at it until e give up our dream."
"Which knowing us will take a while." Light added. "And there's no telling how long he'll stay this time, so he could keep at it for days."
"But by then, we'll be dead." Sabo exclaimed, panicked.
"Well then…" Ace said, turning a mischievous grin to the two of them. "It's time we make up our minds, men."
The next morning. It was early in the day, and they were standing up on a small hill overlooking the forget and a far distance from the Mountain Bandits' hut. After agreeing last night that it would be almost impossible to have any kind of freedom while Garp was around, they decided to leave that place and strive for themselves.
"We got away successfully." Light proclaimed, satisfied.
"They're not coming after us?" Sabo asked anxiously. "Dadan and the others?"
Ace turned back to look down the pathway before a smirk came over his face. "I can tell that she's happy now that her troubles have gone away."
"Pretty much what you'd expect from a trashy hag." Light agreed, uncaring. "She's probably laughing it up while chugging a bottle of booze."
"Heh, I can definitely see that." Ace added, amused.
But just like that, it had started to rain, and they bolted for the nearest bit of shelter they could find, which happened to be under the roots of a large and thick tree.
"Let's lay low until the rain stops." Sabo said as they watched the rainfall.
"Damn random weather." Light complained.
Before long, the three of them got tired of waiting and fell asleep beneath the tree.
After some time had passed and the rain had stopped, Sabo was the first one to wake up. He opened his eyes sleepily and looked around at the outside world as he crawled out of the roots. He looked around, obviously wondering what to do before looking up at the tree. It had been hard to tell with all the rain, but now he had seen that it was one of the largest trees he had seen yet in this forest.
Sabo frowned as if thinking something over before he beamed at an idea. Reaching into his pocket to pull out a scrap of paper and after pulling off some bark from the tree, he started to draw on it.
Soon though, Ace and Light were also waking up, and he called them over to him, holding up a crude drawing. "Here, look at this!" He said, practically beaming with excitement."
"What is it?" Light asked, with a still drowsy yawn as Sabo put the paper down for all of them to see.
"I designed our hideout!" Sabo said proudly. "We can't sleep outdoors forever, right? So we'll build it right here!"
"A hideout…?" Light repeated, now more awake. "That's a great idea."
But Ace asked him. "But what about the materials?"
"We've got tonnes at you-know-where." Sabo smiled.
"Okay then, let's head to the Terminal!" Light exclaimed.
And so they did.
The boys went back to the Gray Terminal and found supplies—Like wood, rusty nails, ropes, and a collection of scrap metal—Before dragging them back to the tree in a makeshift cart. The trio passed the wood up the tree and began building their hideout. Over the course of the day, they continued building what appeared to be a treehouse… Which took a while, to say the least, considering it was their first time building anything. The whole time they were trying to build something even remotely stable, they were always in danger of falling off or arguing about where something should go.
And when they were done during the day, at night, they would make a small fire on the ground and laugh around it before they would crawl underneath the roots and fall back asleep.
Days went by, and the hideout was starting to look more like an actual base. Light was hammering a nail into a wall while the other two were tying some rope together. As they were building it, the hideout itself looked a great deal like part of a ship—They even put in a ship wheel that was used for steering a ship. Once they were done there, they climbed up some of the higher branches to add what looked like a crow's nest, connected by a rope ladder.
Once it was finished, they added the final touch; a Black flag with White crossbones with the large letters ASL printed on it. With that done, the boys were standing back so they could get a good look at it and really admire their work.
"Whoa, after all that work and toil, we finally finished it." Light admired their hideout. "It's a work of art."
Sabo grinned as he rubbed his nose with his finger and said proudly. "Great work, if I do say so myself." Then he noticed Ace frowning a little. "What's wrong, Ace?"
"This is a hideout." He said, looking back at him with a rather mischievous grin. "So, wouldn't it be good to set up some traps?"
"Traps?" Light repeated, thinking it was an interesting proposal.
"Not a bad idea." Sabo said, his hands on his hips as he thought. "Alright, I'll think about it!"
"If we're bringing up issues, I also have one." Light spoke out and pointed to Ace. "Why's your letter first on the flag when I'm stronger than you."
"Like Hell you are!" Ace barked back. "Besides, the letters are arranged alphabetically, so don't complain to me."
"Ah, but L comes before S in the alphabet, so that's wrong." Sabo pointed out awkwardly.
[It does?] Both Ace and Light asked, tilting their heads a bit.
"You didn't know!?" Sabo snapped at them. "You guys seriously don't even know the alphabet."
"Gah, forget about all that unnecessary stuff." Ace shook his hands while Sabo just grumbled at them. "In that case, it's arranged in the order of our ages, from oldest to youngest. I'm the oldest, then Sabo, then you."
Light shrugged. "Fine, I can live with that."
After that conversation was over, they all went inside their hideout. Ace was spinning the wheel around as if he was steering a ship while Light climbed all the way up the crow's nest and looked over the edge.
"I can see everything from up here." Light marveled at the view. "Gray Terminal, Foosha Village, and even the ocean."
"That's not so uncommon, is it?" Sabo called up. "We are on an Island, and this is the biggest tree here, isn't it?"
"It's not something you can really appreciate without seeing it." Light told him as if they didn't get it. "Come, look for yourselves." Curious to see what he meant, they both climbed up to the crow's nest.
When they looked, they saw a breathtaking sight. There was the Village Light came from to one side—And their view stretched over the forest and ended on the other side where all of the Goa Kingdom was… But right in front of them…Was a perfect view of the ocean that shined like jewels and stretched off into the far distance, all the way over the horizon.
They all stared out at the ocean with longing expressions. Their faces easily showed they couldn't wait until they set sail. The wind blew their hair around, and a seagull flew right passed them as they stood there enjoying it.
"Light!" Ace yelled, jumping down to the main house. "There's a tailwind! Set the sails!"
"On it!" Light shouted as he slid down the ladder to where the ship's wheel was.
Sabo was laughing. "Advance to the treasure!" He called out.
Ace was still in the crow's nest, pretending to hold a telescope as he looked around. "An enemy off the bow and starboard! It's Bluejam's ship! Prepare for action!" He then gasped dramatically. "They've started shooting! Take evasive actions!"
Light was up at the ship's wheel, as Sabo said. "Light, hard port!"
"Steady as she goes, Sabo!" Light responded, turning the wheel.
"She?" Sabo asked.
"You always call boats she." Light told him like it was obvious.
"Sabo, aim the cannons." Ace called out from the crow's nest.
Sabo ran to the side and pretended to aim. "Cannon's ready to go!"
"Ace, status on the enemy!" Light called out at the wheel.
"They're closing in!" Ace held up his pipe staff like a Sword and cried out. "Let's fight hand-to-hand! Lay aboard." He then slides down to join the others. "Wait for them to come aboard!"
"I got it!" Sabo laughed, holding up an imaginary gun.
"Let's send them flying!" Light exclaimed, bringing out his knife.
With that, they began their imaginary battle. They were swinging their weapons at thin air, pretending enemies were there, pretending to shoot guns, and pretending to fire cannons at other ships.
It finally ended when Ace hit a pumpkin with his staff and held it above his head, shouting. "We win!"
The three of them gathered together and laughed while raising their fists in the air and cheering. [VICTORY!]
That's the chapter. It was pretty straightforward. The boys got to know each other better, trained, ran from Garp, and built their hideout in the woods. Also, I wanted to point out the reason why Light didn't know about the wall until now, even though he's been to town, now you know.
When it came to fighting, I wanted them to all be around the same level, with Light having a sight leg up on the other two. I figured that, given his training, it only made sense, but Ace and Sabo could still keep up and win just as much.
And as most of you who watched the Anime would know. During the part where they went into town to eat Ramen, something important that was supposed to happen didn't happen. The reason for that is that I plan on making the outcome of this arc different from the canon, and so that was the start of the difference.
Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. If you want more, leave a review. If you like the story, click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.