It was a bright day in the East Blue. The waves lapped peacefully against each other, shimmering in the suns radiant glow. Every so often the sound of birds chirping their high-pitched songs would echo over the ocean and towards the surrounding islands. It was one of those days which carried blissful hope throughout the air. Dawn Island was unusually peaceful, the beasts in the forest serenely enjoying the sun and little violence were upholding. A black pirate flag with the letters 'ASL' flapped gracefully in the wind up top a tree house which hadn't been occupied for three years. Windmill village was flourishing with people waving morning greetings and children skipping in the rays of the sun as they busked in the innocence of their childhoods and this bright day. It was surely a day fit for a king, as if the ocean, the sun and sky knew that this was meant to be the day that the future pirate king would finally set sail from Dawn Island and begin his pirate journey.

Unbeknown to the world, the 'future pirate king' sat in a bar on the other side of the East blue. Cobblestone coated the walls of the small bar trapping out the world, barring the small, barred window which allowed sun rays to loosely shine on the cold floor. The bar hosted no one else other than a young teen which looked no older than 15 or 16 based on his height. The teen sat in the corner furthest from the window on a wooden stall at the dust ridden bar. He wore a dishevelled marine's uniform but didn't look like a typical ecstatic marine boy. He sat with his shoulders slumped, almost as if they held the weight of the world atop them, his elbows leaned on the surface of the dusty bar and his head sunken as he stared at the bottom of his empty cup which his fingers loosely gripped.

Two bar tenders stood at the opposite side of the bar whispering to each other in hushed tones. The younger one whispered frantic words which the teen sitting at the bar made out as something about upholding rules and underage drinking. The second bar tender took a quick glance at the teen sitting at the bar, a dark aura shrouded him which in conjointly with the small scar under his eye practically screamed to not provoke him. The bar tender turned back to the younger tender with sweat building up on his forehead. He had seen all types of people at his bar from violent pirates to boastful marines to celebrating citizens. He had also witnessed many fights and didn't feel the need to provoke this obviously not in the mood marine. He then whispered to 'let it pass, and hand him another bottle while your at it', which the younger tender did reluctantly without spearing any eye contact at the young teen, scared that if he did the teen would pounce at him.

Luffy didn't pay the tender any mind just continuing to stare back down at his empty glass thinking about everything and nothing at all. If you looked closer at the brunettes amber eyes you would see just how miserable he truly was, the reason being: It was Luffy's 17th Birthday, the day he was meant to be free and set sail after his childhood dream, but instead he was sitting in a dark bar a few islands away from his home island, dressed in an unbearable marines outfit he had been forced to wear for 3 long years. All while, engulfing himself in bottles of booze, attempting to make the day skid past and go into the back of his mind.

He subconsciously tugged at his marine uniform. It felt as if each year it got more constricting especially around his neck almost as if he would be strangled if he remained a marine for another year. Luffy craves the feeling of his baggy shirts, denim shorts, sandals and especially his straw hat. It had been ages since he had felt the bristles engulf his head, his head became itchy at the thought, but not in an uncomfortable way, more so a longing for the familiar feeling. The last time he wore that hat was three years ago on Aces 17th birthday. Dadan, Makino and the bandits surrounded Ace all with words of encouragement and farewell as his brother took off to the seas. The memory returns to Luffy as if it had happened just a day ago.

'Ace!, next time I see you I'll have a crew of my own with a swordsman, a chef, and a musician, and I'll be even stronger just wait and see'

'Ha I'm sure you will Luffy, but you still won't be as strong as me'

'Shishishi you wish, by that time my gum gum pistol will be mastered!

'Be careful Ace and good luck with your voyage, we will be waiting to see your face in the newspaper', Makino softly smiled.

A sob-broken speech from Dadan drew the attention of the other three, 'F-f-inal-ly o-one.. le-ss br-a-at.. to d-eal with….now'

Luffy frowned, he wondered how today could have gone if he was still on Dawn Island. 'Would Makino have packed me my favourite food and wished me a good voyage?', 'would Dadan sob for the rest of the night like she did for Ace?', 'Would I have met my first crew mate yet?'.

A muffled buraburabura from his personal den den mushi snapped him out of his thoughts, a small smile tugged at Luffys face filling him with hope as he fished it out from his pocket. Picking it up he heard an all too familiar voice ring out.

"Oi brat"

Garp. The smile faltered on Luffys lips as soon as the voice met his ears, the hopefulness crumbling away with it and back into where it came from. 'Stupid' Luffy thought to himself, 'Its his fault I'm sitting in this shitty bar in the first place'.

"Answer me brat"

Luffy just sighed grabbing the new bottle, popping the cork off with his thumbs and filling his cup to the rim, beginning to drink again. Alcohol had become oddly soothing for luffy. It helped his nerves and made all the memories that kept coming back to settle down, even if it only settled for a few hours.

"Drinking again huh?" Garp sighed at the habit that Luffy picked up among others during his second year as a marine. The habit shocked Garp, Luffy was flourishing as a marine, becoming his first man only after one year of training, then unexpectedly he would spot small habits such as his total drinking issue. It began with Luffy stealing some booze from the marines' ship's cargo every so often to now needing to find a bar and drink till he couldn't walk properly anymore. Garp just hopes he caught Luffy before standing became an issue.

Silence filled the air which gave Garp all the clarification he needed. After a small pause he started speaking again.

"Brat I've got a mission for you. I'm too busy myself, got new brats like you to train. I need you to head to shells town in the East Blue, heard a rumour of a corrupted marine Captain. I need you to investigate and get back to me once you find anything out", Garp paused before quickly adding, " And remember boy, I've given you the freedom to carry out investigation missions on your own, but if you take over again then you won't leave my side for the rest of the year"

An irritated hum of recognition left Luffys mouth as he continued to swig the liquid down his throat, enjoying the burning sensation it carried with it.

"Also…" Garp paused, "I know you're in the East"

Luffy almost chocked on the liquid sliding down his throat but managed to hold in a cough to not appear as if the comment affected him. He wouldn't allow himself to seem weak Infront of his-, in front of Garp.

'He's tracking me again' Luffy thought his face looking agitated as he subconsciously brushed his hand over his right shoulder. He took a long swig of his drink knowing exactly what was coming next.

"You know damn well you are forbidden from stepping foot on Dawn Island. I hope you understand what the higher ups would do if you did".

Luffy just continued drinking down his glass as he lifted his other hand to hang up the den den mushi.

Ca Chang

A loud crash echoed through the bar making the two bar tenders jump as Luffy slammed his cup against the table. A shaky sigh left his lips as he pushed himself off the bar and stood up, attempting to push away the dizziness and the migraine pounding against his forehead. He collected his marine hat with unsteady hands, and a sneer as he began walking out of the bar. As he pushed the bar door open, he mumbled "thanks for the birthday wish Garp", the door flew back into place with a bang.

Luffy swayed side to side in a small wooden boat, now wishing he hadn't drunk as much as he did. He looked out at the sea which seemed to go out forever, was it a sign of freedom? Well, that's what he used to think but now all it felt like to him was loneliness. The sea seemed to stretch on forever, yet he was on his own, the only sound being the sound of waves crashing against the sides of hid boat. Luffy was grateful that Shells town was not too far away, at this speed he would reach the town in the next few hours as long as the wind held up. Only problem being his sloppy navigation skills. In the first year of Luffy's marine training he was taught basic survival skills such as basic danger analysis, basic fighting, basic island knowledge, and basic navigation skills. However, since majority of his training was spent relentlessly trying to escape the marines and his second-year sailing on Garp's ship, Luffy's navigation skills were more than imperfect. The alcohol wasn't helping either, and at this point Luffy was unbeknown to whether he was travelling North or South.

Luffy glared into the distance where he saw an outline of what looked like an island. A smile quickly appeared on his face.

"Finally, I was starting to get hungry".

With a grumble of his stomach pleading for food, he began rowing with all his might, growing more impatient with every grumble. The island looked narrow and tall almost like a shape of a volcano, if only a volcano was pink, and of that pink volcano was a boat.

"Captain Alvida, there's a small boat coming towards the ship!" a grubby looking man exclaimed from the front of the boat.

"Who dares to cross the fairest captain of all seas ship? sink the boat boys" A loud female voice ordered.

"Shit"