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In an instant, the world completely shattered.
Last thing he had heard was the loud and clear scream of his captain. Last thing he had seen was the robotic face of his enemy.
He woke up in an uncomfortable position: he was tangled up in a large and tall tree, vines holding his body. Usopp stared at the ocean of branches and leaves that covered the entire ground below the branch he was laying on. He deeply inhaled and then exhaled, and repeated the timing breath as he tried to comprehend what was happening. He didn't know what his enemy had done to him, but one thing was clear: he wasn't on Sabaody anymore.
That was a problem, however, it wasn't his priority for the moment. Usopp hissed, feeling the vines tightening their grip around his body. The young pirate certainly didn't know how it was possible, but this was Grandline, so he shouldn't give it too much thought. He grabbed one vine and tried to rip it with his bare hands. A screech was heard, almost surprising him; however, Usopp continued his task until he broke it. The vines let him go, and he fell on the ground. He swore and quickly stood up, looking around him, knowing that there was nobody to back him up if something went wrong. The vines suddenly tried to grab him but Usopp managed to dodge them, running blindly through the forest. After a few minutes, he came to a stop and took a look around him.
Usopp deeply inhaled, filling his lungs with air, and then he slowly exhaled. Creepers continued to come after him, crawling on the ground, just wanting to squeeze his body. He grabbed his slingshot and aimed at them with a few of his products.
Explosion. He burnt them, he crippled them, he cut them, he did everything to destroy them. But his munitions were running low. He stepped back, watching the creepers screeching as they slowly died. Usopp turned his back and started once more running through the forest. He made sure to avoid the hidden holes and the other vines. That island was creeping him out. It almost seemed like it was out to kill him by any means. He dodged a gigantic animal, a bear if he had seen it correctly, moving away as fast as he could.
Usopp kept moving because nowhere was safe. His munitions were almost all gone, and he couldn't keep fighting the plants or the animals with his slingshot. His bag was becoming lighter as time passed. When night came, the pirate found himself a nice spot on the beach, away from the dangerous forest. Sleep didn't come, and the sand was as dangerous as the forest. He ran most of the night avoiding the quicksand. Usopp succeeded in sleeping in the wreck of a ship.
He woke up near noon. The pirate slowly sat up, finally seeing what the ship looked like. Usopp almost gagged at the sight of a corpse facing him.
"Shit."
He stood up and looked around him.
Usopp knew about the pirate code. A sailor body never rests on land, but is forever with the sea. The young man didn't know about this man, but he would get a sea burial so his spirit might rest forever with Davy Jones. He was glad to have some of his tools with him. He spent one hour repairing a small vessel he had found attached to the wrecked ship. He struggled to put the corpse inside the vessel, then he pushed the latter towards the sea. He took his slingshot and aimed at the vessel, wishing the dead man to find the peace he deserved to get, and shot. Fire was born of it, and it began to consume the small vessel as it went forward.
"May you sail with Davy Jones," and the wind carried his words to whoever was listening.
He knew so well about the pirate code, compared to his crew. If Luffy remembered a bit from his childhood memories with Shanks, the others never had that much of knowledge apart from Brook and Robin.
The wrecked ship still held treasures. Not the treasure that Nami certainly would like. Usopp found a forgotten gun, a box in which contained bullets, and a few books. He felt like a stranger or a thief, just like with Merry, he felt the burning spirit still luring on this ship, slowly dying.
"I'm sorry," he said aloud as he sat down on the deck, watching the gray sky, "I'm scared."
He wasn't Franky, he couldn't build a ship in a matter of hours or days. He wasn't a shipwright, so the best course would be to wait for someone to come by. Or perhaps, building a ship that could last on the sea. But Usopp doubted it, already pondering where he had landed. Was he still on Grandline? Certainly.
The second day slowly passed. Usopp explored the island searching for any kind of civilization but was disappointed with the many ruins he came across. He avoided the vines and only encountered a few deadly branches that scratched his arms. When coming through wrecked camps, he found a few useful items and put them inside his bag. Knives were useful like swords. Unlike most of his crew, the pirate was able to easily find his way back. That was why most members stuck with him when exploring an island. His opposite was without doubt Zoro. That man truly had an orientation problem. On his way back though, he wasn't lucky however he didn't fail to stumble on the wreck ship. Injuries hurt, but Usopp didn't mind them. He just washed them and wrapped them in a tight bandage.
The following night was quiet. Too quiet, he thought unable to sleep correctly. Nothing happened, and in the end he got a few hours of sleep.
Usopp worked during the morning, searching for food. He was hungry, and couldn't ignore his hunger anymore. The young man felt like back at Syrup when out late trying to get a rabbit. Traveling with his crew had advantages and disadvantages, often with his captain's hunger, they were left with no food. Despite Sanji's and Nami's willingness to make that didn't happen, nothing really changed. When landing at an island, Usopp would hunt with Zoro. The green-haired swordsman had stumbled on him hunting once and had never left his side ever since. It was easier to retrieve the beasts with Zoro around. The swordsman saw hunting as a way of training.
The island however was determined to kill him. Hunting was harder, he had to be better if he wanted to eat. And he couldn't exactly trust the food hanging in the trees and the bushes too.
Usopp couldn't really afford to leave the island; it was impossible. There were only wrecked ships longing the beach when they weren't swallowed by the quicksand. The pirate still tried, thinking of the moments he had spent with Franky those last months working on things, on upgrading the Thousand Sunny. It was frustrating and tiring, and…
Somehow, he almost died the seventh day when he came upon some weird looking fruit. Discarding what he knew about the island, he ate the fruit. Usopp didn't really remember what happened next. It was fuzzy. But somehow, he survived. He laid for hours in his small camp, losing touch with reality and vomiting blood. Usopp felt weak and going weaker as time passed, as the sun died and rose once more the following day, and so on. He almost could hear Chopping berating him for eating unknown fruit. The pirate laughed until he sobbed, until he fell asleep.
Forced out of his camp one night because of a storm, he stumbled in the forest barely avoiding the vicious attack of the forest and succeeded in finding a new spot.
Somehow, he felt safe enough to actually fall asleep the moment he laid down. He spent the next morning to grab what remained of his stuff and settled a new camp. Weirdly enough, the island didn't try to attack him despite being in the open. Burn marks surrounded the spot he had found, there were also the ruins of another camp. It was located in the front of a cave. Inside, there was nothing apart from the scraps of cloth. He was sitting on the ground cleaning the injuries he kept getting, knowing that if he didn't do it, they would get infected.
The pirate was an hour away from the beach. He made his way to the beach the following day and spent time watching the waves crashing down the sand. He also walked around, hunting for small sea animals hiding between the rocks. However, his mind was somewhere else, focusing on the faces of his friends. He wondered if he would ever see them again. Usopp tried to reassure himself, but the behavior of the island made things harder for him to deal with. To leave the island he needed wood. Trees were sharp, creepers were vicious, and he still had to deal with the rest.
Usopp was a marksman, not a swordsman. There was no ax in the small collection of weapons he had been building since his arrival. He had gotten his hands on a few swords, but they weren't in good shape. He fell into a routine of survival. Exploring the island was difficult, so he only spent one morning or one afternoon walking through the dangerous forest. Carrying a dagger with him was the best weapon, it was easier to cut off the vines. He often lost himself because of the constant attacks and he always tried to avoid fighting.
Weirdly enough, the pirate ceased to speak at once. At first, it was because during the hunts he needed to be silent, and then because he had no one to talk with. Usopp learned to properly use a sword, remembering the stance that Zoro used even though he wasn't doing the right thing, and he spent time sharpening the sword. It took a few weeks to find the best sword. He often read a log at night talking about a pirate crew, their notorious members, fighting style, and other things. But the log itself was older than he had originally thought. It came from a time before Gol D. Roger. Such a thing was worrisome to say the least. However, it was a good source of information.
His sleep pattern worsened. If he wasn't attacked because of the burn mark surrounding his camp, it didn't really mean that it was always the case, animals still came to find him. One night he had almost lost his right hand to a gigantic lion. Usopp had had the idea of violently slapping his head against the lion's head before plunging his knife in the fur, piercing the skin and causing the animal to bleed.
The pirate cut the fur off the animal. He removed the good parts and used it as food while the rest of the corpse could lay elsewhere. Using the fur as a sort of cloak, it protected him from the coldness of the night. He also used it as clothes for a replacement of his original and destroyed clothes. With time, he began to be efficient at hunting on this island. But Usopp unfortunately lost track of time despite knowing how to tell time. He mostly tried his best to overcome whatever the island threw his way.
His fighting style improved. Or that was what he thought. Sharp senses told him if anything was off, with closed eyes he could feel the incoming danger and even aimed at the enemy. His worry for his crew was slowly pushed away in the deepest part of his mind as the young man focused on his survival, using guns when it was necessary. He even started making his own territory, beating down the animals to make sure they knew who the new prominent predator was, shooting them down from a high spot, burning them when they came too close to him. He kept an eye on the outside world, searching for any incoming ships that might help him get out of that situation.
Eventually, Usopp lost touch with the rest of the world, but kept his memories of his crew close to him. He also realized that speaking was something he could no longer do when he was severely hurt at the throat. The pirate was no doctor, all he could was to clean the wound and bandage it. However, since he hadn't been speaking weeks prior to that incident, it didn't really cause any worry to him. He stopped hoping for anyone to come helping him, but he continued to cherish the memories of his friends.
The island was located in the New World, it was hidden in one of the deepest parts and the most dangerous parts. It was said by neighboring islands that the island was cursed and forbidden to go. It was also said that most people that didn't have that knowledge often ended up washing the shore of that island, and so ended up dying. Every species that flourished on the island was described in the pirate log. However, it didn't mean that Usopp was able to avoid all deadly situations.
The pirate was standing in the ruins of a former camp. He had been looking at the forgotten items when a manticore came. The creature was looking at him, hunger shining in its eyes. It had the head of a human with black horns, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion. Usopp's eyes were hidden behind an orange tainted cloth while he held firmly his sword in his right hand and a gun in his other hand. The manticore attacked first, but Usopp hit it faster with a reinforced bullet that contained poison. Usopp rolled on the floor, trusting his senses, and jumped in the air falling on the creature's back. He raised his sword and plunged it inside the creature. The latter screamed in pain and threw him out of its back. Usopp fell and violently hit the ground. He aimed and perfectly touched the manticore with a bullet.
But the fight wasn't done. Other manticores walked inside the camp, screeching some non-understandable words. He counted three manticores, all of different sizes, and none of them were bigger than the first one. Grinning, the pirate rose on his feet and attacked the one on his right, slashing the flesh in one go. Then, a haki reinforced bullet went through the head, instantly killing it.
The island raged. The ground trembled, and Usopp was quick to climb a tree. He plunged his sword covered in a black substance in the core of the said tree to make sure that it didn't attempt to attack him and then he waited for whatever was coming.
Danger, he sensed the moment a powerful roar was heard throughout the entire island. The voice of the island sprouted words he didn't fully comprehend as he tried to focus on his safety. There was a sudden crack on the ground where he had been standing, and then, it became a large hole that aspirated the two remaining creatures. Usopp started moving out of the way, basically jumping from branch to branch while he kept hearing the screeching of the island. He stumbled upon a den of wolves causing panic and began to run through the darkest part of the forest as the ground still violently shook. Danger, he still sensed, running faster.
It raged. At who? Usopp wasn't sure, nonetheless he didn't want to stay there. The pirate heard the piercing howl of a wolf. Panic was spreading through the animal kingdom. The young man came face to face with a sphinx, he avoided a sharp attack and went on his left. The sky was darkening quickly, and the air felt suddenly strange. He arrived at the center of the island, dodging the vicious vines that tried to squeeze him to the death every time he came across them. The pirate rolled on the floor when he lost his balance. Creepers wrapped themselves around his legs stopping him. Nevertheless, Usopp shattered the vines with his bare hands and stood up. He looked around, finally seeing where he was.
It was the ruins of a temple. The pirate walked inside, no longer giving attention to the shaking island. Drawings on the wall showed a different history of the island. It didn't make any sense. The temple was swallowed by the ground; it was impossible to visit most chambers and the entries were all blocked by the rocks. Waiting for the island to stop raging, the pirate pondered the past of the island. The log didn't tell him a different story, perhaps he should check the other books he owned. Half an hour later, the young man made his way back to his camp.
The earthquake had caused some damage to the island. It was prudent to walk around the two new large holes that were slowly filled with water.
The island was silent.
Usopp stopped, feeling another presence near his position. He passed some bushes slashing some leaves in passing and crouched down, looking at the small figure in a tiny hole.
It was not a threat, just a lone baby wolf. Or was it a dog? Usopp smiled — sharp dry bloodieth teeth that didn't really form a nice smile — for the first time in weeks and grabbed the small animal. He began to walk his way back to his base, his feet silent as ever as he walked around the burning corpses of other animals. Once back inside his territory, he patrolled for a while to see if anything felt odd, but there was nothing so he headed to his cave. He hid the pup inside his makeshift bed and started to make food. He first ate and then gave a bit of his food to the young pup.
Usopp spent some hours searching for a suitable name for his pet. In the end, he just named the female pup Nephele — it meant cloud — because he had found her on a cloudy day. Or perhaps, he just didn't have any ideas. Thankfully, his captain wasn't there with his weird ideas of name. The pup didn't leave his sight for the next couple of days, just watching him doing his usual routine of hunting and exploring the island. Wolves were stronger than on any other islands, he noticed, or at least on the others he had once landed on. Nephele didn't leave his side, growing taller and stronger as days passed. The pirate theorized that Nephele might come from the pack he had seen a few days prior. The pack never approached him, always watching him from afar.
Nephele left once and came back a few hours later with a gift to him. She stayed with him through the day, bringing company on this harsh island. There was no need to speak. They communicated through growls.
When coming to the beach as he wanted to show Nephele his work, Usopp noticed something that wasn't there the previous time.
Pirates, his mind supplied as he stared at the new wrecked ship.
There were a few corpses lying on the sand facing the burning sun. But he still could hear the weak voices of three people among the bodies. Still alive, the young pirate thought wary. However, he still brought the three people — two men and one woman that looked way too alike — to his camp and cleaned their wounds. He didn't know if they would wake up so he let them sleep in the back of his cave while he prepared proper sea burials for the fallen pirates. Staring at their Jolly Roger, Usopp could only think of his own crew. At the shining smile of his captain. At the money obsession of the navigator. At the sleepy face of the first mate. At the music the skeleton played. At the ideas the shipwright talked about. At the sweet doctor. At the weird archeologist. At the excellent cooking of a certain blond. He sighed and pushed those thoughts away.
Nephele sniffed the newcomers for a good while then moved to sleep on his makeshift bed. The pirate spent his time working on a new weapon, a gun to be more precise. As a kid, he always enjoyed spending time creating new weapons that no one would ever use. Nami was the first person to use one of his creations, the young woman still thanked him when he gave her some upgrades. To pay for the weapon, Nami paid for the material needed. Franky was his craft partner, they worked together to upgrade the Thousand Sunny.
He missed them so much. Did they also miss him? Were they searching for him? Usopp had no way of knowing. Slowly, he was losing hope.
It took another week for the newcomers to wake up. The three of them were siblings, all part of the same crew, and none of them were speaking the common language of Grandline, not that Usopp minded. The pirate did his own thing, hunting for dinner and cooking for himself, Nephele, and the three strangers still eyeing him warry. Sensing danger coming at their left, he drew his gun and aimed behind the older pirates and fired a few bullets, instantly killing the coming animal.
"Haki?" he heard the woman asking the two men.
"It's definitely that."
Language of lune, he finally realized with joy. He worked on removing the fur off the animal and then cut off some parts.
"You're mute, aren't ya?" the woman asked him with a strong Lunian accent.
Usopp nodded, not looking up from his work.
"Right. That island is fuckin' dangerous. We've got to get out of 'ere."
"How? Our ship is broken."
"Got to have some kind of shit like a town around 'ere."
The older pirates didn't stick out any longer because the next morning when Usopp woke up, they were completely gone. At least, they hadn't stolen anything. Usopp found them a few days later, all dead. He gave them a sea burial in the hours that followed that discovery.
The island was pleased.
That new wrecked ship had so much treasure. And it looked more possible to fix than any other ships. His current vessel wasn't much and not even finished. He found a lost newspaper speaking of a few events around the world, but it didn't know about the current date. The log, as interesting as it was, didn't help much. But from what Usopp could gather, it had been one year since his impromptu arrival on the island. He would try searching for other newspapers. Nephele was standing guard while he was looking at the things. There were maps and material to draw a map, which gave him an excellent idea. There were books, such things weren't really surprising. Marines tended to think that pirates were illiterate or stupid, instead it was the opposite. There was a room for weapons and such, which filled his heart with joy.
The food was wasted. Otherwise, everything was in good shape.
Observation Haki: presence, strength, intent, and emotion. That is what he had been using for quite a while along with Armament Haki. There was a journal that spoke of people's use of haki.
Focus.
The island sneered at him, but he kept trying. Focus.
He kept living. Focus.
He kept surviving no matter what. Focus.
Inside, Usopp burnt. He struggled, he screamed, he wished. He was slowly losing his mind nonetheless he kept trying, he kept pushing the damn island away from his whole being.
In an instant, the world completely shattered.
Last thing he had heard was the loud and clear scream of his captain. Last thing he had seen was the robotic face of his enemy.
But in one year of surviving on the deadly island, Usopp died. From the ashes of his former self, he rose as a different person. A survivor that would do anything to keep living. He held dear the memories of a former life, of something that he was almost scared of seeing again.
A low growl escaped his mouth as he stared Nephele down. The grown wolf bowed her head, pushing the dead animal she had brought from her hunt. He growled again as he approached the wolf because she had disobeyed him when he had wanted her to stay put because of the island throwing another tantrum. Nephele finally rolled on her back and showed her belly, whining a little. Usopp huffed and gently slapped the wolf. He growled again, warning the wolf from running off again.
Observation Haki was easier than Armament because he used it daily. He even discarded his own sight instead using Observation to do his routine. When fighting with the animals, the tall and large one, he would grab his bô and use Armament Haki.
Meanwhile, he had succeeded in fixing a ship so he and Nephele could get out of the island. But first, something had to be done against that island. Usopp spent so much time using his Observation Haki, and at some point he had noticed that the island had two voices instead of one, which was unusual since everything else had one voice. It almost sounded like it was some sort of possession. Being able to distinct the two voices, one weaker and another stronger, both full of hatred, was magic.
The pirate had made discovery after discovery when he had found the entrance of another temple at the center of the island. It had been once an island with a close community that didn't socialize with the outside world due to the terrible weather that surrounded the island. It had taken a few hundreds of years for the population to die off because of that isolation. Texts rumored that people had gone insane because of something. It seemed that in the past the island wasn't known as deadly, that was until someone had eaten a Devil Fruit.
A fuckin' Devil Fruit.
It didn't make any sense. How could a Devil Fruit make an island evil? But he didn't delve on such trivial questions, focusing on transferring his stuff from his camp to his boat. He growled softly at Nephele when she arrived with the last of his stuff. The ship was ready to sail.
However, Usopp didn't want to get out without a chance of getting back to the deadly island that had tried to kill him for a good while.
Thus, it had hurt Nephele, and that he couldn't let it slide.
The island mocked him when he came back at its core with his loyal wolf at his side. The pirate crouched on the ground, letting a small growl out as he was ready to attack. The forest reacted at once moving its arms in his direction, but he moved faster, running in the air as he shot down a few vicious creepers.
"You're the first person to survive him," a deep voice interrupted the fight as Usopp was thrown a few meters away.
The island went completely silent. Usopp tensed up as he waited for the mysterious newcomer to show themself.
"But luck isn't on your side, human. Give up!"
It wasn't, but the pirate would make sure to try anyway. There was laughter shaking the entire ground as the young man started running and avoiding the sharp attacks. He took the usual road to the temple, passing the first entrance, and slashing through the dangerous vegetation that seemed to get harder to kill. He couldn't give up so near to the end. Somehow Usopp felt that even without beating down the island, it would be impossible to leave.
"Human or did you regress to an animal state? Are you even sane? How about that?" the deep voice mocked him as darkness enveloped the pirate.
His eyes widened in shock.
He couldn't see anything apart from the dark mass that moved at a high pace towards him nor hear the least noise from the outside world. Instinctively, he closed his eyes and went still. Soon enough Usopp began to hear familiar voices that didn't seem quite right, he also started feeling someone ruffling his hair. He grabbed his bô and drew it. Running towards the nearest target, he bent his knees and jumped high, and then ran in the air. His Observation Haki spread, shattering the barrier that surrounded him, and the sniper swung his bô at his enemy. Black color covered the entire weapon as it smashed the head.
Stepping back as the curtain of blackness disappeared, he bent his knees and readied himself to his next attack. The trees rose pulling their roots off the ground, sending their vicious branches at him. Creepers reunited and formed one creature — and somehow it triggered a memory in his head.
There! The second entrance of the temple was just below the monster of vines.
"Enough! Enough both of you!" someone screamed loud and clear, distressed and enraged, as the two stronger voices continued to taunt him.
The world froze—
Hundreds of pirates navigate the waters of the New World, notorious for their number of crimes and their high bounties, going to war against an Empress. Hundreds of deaths fed the Sea Kings roaming the area when the Empress was viciously attacked from all parts by the Marines and Cipher-Pol agents just after the war was won. The image of hundreds of ships burning and drowning consumed his mind. The image of a powerful and enraged individual such as a late Empress waking up the second origin of her Devil Fruit was then replaced with the creation of the island. Her name was then forgotten so was her crew, all members killed by the marines. Images of the new owner of the Devil Fruit stumbling upon the island and nearly causing its destruction, instead—
"Clever," the deep voice of the powerful creature of the island interrupted, "but you won't win, Empress."
Grandline bullshit, the pirate thought, struggling to understand what he was seeing. The island had two voices, had once been two different individuals, and was at war with a creature. And said creature was no joke. It was a gigantic animal resembling a dragon from the myths.
Again, time froze—
Whoever was showing him the images continued to tell the past of the island — and never revealing its name — through time. Civilisations raised and died. Death became a common feature around there. And the war behind the three voices still went on—
Usopp ignored the rest of the story as he jumped on the ground and ran past the second entrance of the temple. The Empress was smarter than the two others thought, actually showing him what he needed to do to end the bloody history of the island for once. Bizarrely, he felt like some heroes finally meeting the end of their quest. It made him laugh as he fell inside a large hole. To be honest, he didn't even understand why he was standing on her side.
"Power always comes price, Yasei no musuko."
Nephele came to his mind as he ran through the deepest parts of the temple as the story was finally coming to an end. The Devil Fruit that the Empress possessed was one of the most powerful along the Nika Nika and most Devil Fruits. Something that apparently the World Government — monstrous bastards that enslaved the others for their own pleasure — wanted the fruit. Usopp had sent his loyal wolf to their boat because she would be safer than with him.
Right. He turned on his right and stopped in the middle of a circular room. Hundreds of dead candles surrounded some sort of a crest graved into the stony ground. Dozens of torches illuminated the room.
There was a deafening roar sounding through the entire place and its roar was even heard further in the New World as the island began to shake, screaming.
The pirate fell onto his knees almost blasted away by the wind that forced its way into the temple. Left. A rock nearly smashed his head. He sat on the center of the crest, grabbing his leg as his world became so loud.
Piercing sounds went through his head as the temple began to crumble on his body. All light went out, and soon enough the entrance was blocked by some rocks. Usopp's eyes widened when a branch went through his chest. Blood was spilled over his figure and on the ground. It wasn't just a branch, he realized a few seconds later when pain paralyzed his entire being.
It was poison.
("Be aware of what lay inside you, child.")
He didn't want to die. His friends— Were they waiting for him? He never found his response in the newspapers. Did they give up on him? Usopp didn't want to die yet.
He hadn't met his uncle yet.
("I… I want to be…" he stuttered, struggling with his words while his friends patiently waited for him with beaming smiles on their faces, "I want to be the best marksman in the world.")
The poison was strong, it spread quickly and added more blood to his collection. He focused on his haki, on his difficult breathing, and he—
("Usopp!" someone was calling as he stood among the corpses of dozens of people, "Usopp! We're fine, we're fine!")
He growled. The crest started trembling as it finally woke up from its long sleep. Its power rose and wrapped itself around the core of the young pirate, forever changing his life.
(The crew encountered a situation that never presented itself before. It made them realize that their current strength or reckless doing weren't doing any good to them. Nami, that day, like the rest of their crewmates and their captain, discovered a side of him she never thought to be possible. The marksman had been silent like a killer moving from roof to roof, shooting down the people trying to kill them without even being seen.)
His crew; he missed them so much. His friends, or dared he say his family, would never give up on him. Ever since the Strawhats nearly died at the hands of people, they had gotten closer. Less friendly with the outsiders and more prudent around the enemies.
Usopp instantly knew what had to be done. The warning of the Empress still rang through his head as power was granted to him. The crest went silent after a dozen seconds. Burning power emanated from his body and spread around him, and then formed a protected bubble around him.
He slowly stood up and spread his arms.
In an instant, the world shattered.
His soul burnt as he roared, sending the obstacles away from his figure. The temple was completely destroyed, its remains laying out everywhere.
"Yasei no musuko, live free my child."
Her last words echoed his soul. It suddenly made sense.
The Empress, once a child of nature from the unheard union of Nature and a human, once a Queen, had been a real threat to the World Government. When weakened by the last war, and nearly captured by the marines, she had decided to let go of her human nature, becoming a common feature of their world. Her Devil Fruit would forever remain as a permanent feature of their world, to never be eaten again.
"No!" the dragon quickly flew towards him, its eyes narrowing in anger, and threw him some balls of fire.
Usopp didn't move out of the way. He could hear Nephele howling in the distance, probably worrying that he wasn't back yet. The Empress' voice was silent, so was the other voice of the island, as if Death finally came to take their due.
However, it didn't mean that the island wasn't going to be destroyed.
At once, the entire vegetation became one arm. At the end, two hands grew and grabbed the flying creature. It screeched, sprouting hateful things towards the young man. Usopp stared watching the dragon being ripped apart by the island.
"Curse you Davy Jones!"
Finally, it went silent.
The hands gently took the pirate off the ground and deposed him on his ship. Waving at the Yasei no Musuko, wind rose and blew the ship away from the sinking island.
Davy Jones laughed.
In an instant, the world shattered.
W I L D
In an instant, the world shattered, and one crew disappeared at once. Such a thing wasn't common but wasn't uncommon either.
Sabaody was empty. It was a lie really, it was so busy at some places that Usopp even stopped in one place to calm himself. It didn't help that the archipelago was famous for its slave trades. He didn't recognize anyone from his crew.
And the Thousand Sunny wasn't even there.
Usopp had bought clothes the moment he had stepped a foot on a nameless island — just because he hadn't bothered learning its name — however he kept his cloak with him.
In two years, there was nothing on his crew, which was kind of strange when he knew the tendencies of his captain to always cause chaos. Usopp snorted at that; his captain wasn't the only one to cause chaos. Even the saner members of the Strawhats were insane in reality. They had been one little family traveling together, and compared to other crews, they didn't recruit much.
Usopp didn't dare to enter Shakky's bar. Not that he didn't want to. Just because there were a few powerful souls in the bar and he didn't want to make the conversation even more awkward than it would have been. He debated with himself for a while, then feeling braver the young pirate entered the bar and immediately felt all eyes on him. Shakky hadn't changed in a little more than two years, nor did Rayleigh even though his memory of the old man was a bit fuzzy. Both veterans seemed to recognize him, probably from his newest bounty.
He grabbed his notebook and focused on his writing. Then, like always, he showed it to the two older pirates. The other clients were watching him so closely that he felt so uncomfortable to be so much in the open. He gave the old man a small pouch containing the money and waited for an answer.
"Alright, what groove?"
Usopp responded in the same manner earning a few looks from the people. It was a bit annoying, the young man thought.
"Is it for your crew? We haven't seen or heard of the Strawhats for the past two years."
That was Shakky. He frowned pondering what he should say since there were pirates from the crew of an Emperor in the bar. He shook his head, instead writing on his notebook for a while and then he showed it to the entire place.
"Seriously?" a red-haired man with one of the strangest hairstyles he had ever seen exclaimed loudly.
"It explained so much," a dark-haired man wearing a kimono said, "if they got separated."
"Do you want to drink something, Usopp-kun?" Shakky asked, reaching for a glass as she waited for an answer.
But he shook his head. Having done what he wanted, the younger pirate bowed down in greetings and then left the bar. Rayleigh followed him a few minutes later at his ship. The old man spent a whole day working on the ship. Usopp and Nephele stood at the groove watching the man working, exchanging a few growls between each other earning concerned looks from the veteran.
"You know the rules, don't you?" Rayleigh asked, ready to give the young man a few tips if needed.
Usopp nodded and thanked the man for his work. Rayleigh gave him a small piece of paper that contained a series of numbers.
"Shakky's number if you need anything, kid."
Useless, I can't talk at all, he thought, thanking the old man once more. He didn't dare to say anything to one of the legends of the world.
Traveling back to the New World was harder than he thought. It took a few tries to catch a Sea King to guide him to the other side. Handling the ship was easy, especially with Nephele helping from time to time that made him think that she was different from normal wolves. Coming back to the deadly waters of the New World was a relief.
I need information.
He knew Vivi's number, but would the woman understand morse code? He sighed and looked up, noticing a bird flying above his ship. The bird suddenly looked at him and made its way to him. Against a bit of money, he got the newest edition of the newspaper. He frowned when discovering an article on him and the possible return of his crew.
That's what I need to do.
A wild grin appeared on his face as he went to work inside the ship. The young man continued to sail on the waters of the New World, spreading messages across the islands he went to. He infiltrated marine bases as silently as possible and messed up with the marines' work. He stole some confidential documents and used them as money to get information in the main information network of the underground. Bit by bit the pirate worked on getting his own network. Communication through encrypted messages and morse code was certainly pleasing.
His bounty rose from a quite shocking 550 000 000 to 650 000 000, especially when he attacked the Navy Ships alone.
Usopp stayed away from the territories of the Emperors, if supplies needed, he would just avoid Big Mom's and Kaido's territories.
In the newspaper, he wrote a small message intended for one of his crewmates. He hoped that it was clear enough or that one crewmate would see it. Usopp never stayed on land too much, preferring to be out at sea, battling the terrible weather and the marines trying to get a hold of him.
He was no longer used to seeing so many people, to hearing so many people, or even to moving in a crowd. His ship was anchored at Rêve Bleu, a protected island of Whitebeard, and Nephele was back at the ship, making sure that no one got the idea of sneaking aboard. With the recent money he had gotten from a Navy Ship after testing his new power to see what he could do, he was shopping. Or at least, trying to not be touched by the people roaming the streets of the town. Every time someone would touch Usopp, he would flinch and move away as soon as possible.
Usopp ended up in a library. He wanted to get books on sign language since it would be complicated communicating with other people.
"Hello!" a cheerful man approached him, wearing a brown apron above his clothes, "May I help you?"
Too close, he thought as he took a few steps back. He shook his head and looked at the shelf that contained all language books.
"What language are you looking for?" the other man asked, not moving away.
Usopp almost sighed at the insistence of the seller. He grabbed his notebook and opened it to an empty page, he wrote something and showed it to the man.
"Ah, I see," he mumbled, looking at him with a new expression, finally understanding the lack of verbal response, "I have three books on sign language."
Usopp smiled, relieved that his stop at the bookstore was worth it.
"The first one is about the common sign language of Grandline with the common variations between Paradise and the New World. The second one is about the specific sign language used on most islands in the New World and Paradise. And the third one gives you more information about sign language in general."
'I'll take them.' Usopp wrote down his response and showed it to the seller who happily nodded. The older man grabbed the books and put them inside a nice small paper bag.
He paid forty-seven berries for the three books, then he bowed to the man and left the bookstore. Usopp continued his shopping going through the market of the town and when the sun started to fall, the young man headed up to the port. Nephele was fine and waiting for him, he ruffled her fur after climbing on board.
And sailed away, not caring if the sun started to descend.
Usopp didn't usually meet people, except when he was sought out. Like one of the allies of Whitebeard, the woman had an icebreaker as a ship. She had long flowing blue hair. Her clothes consisted of a short striped dress closed by laces that have flower-shaped buttons, with loose sleeves, and a scarf. She also wore a polka-dotted bandanna and over it a light blue and purple pirate hat with a Jolly Roger in the center. There was also a cape hanging from her back.
His ship was small compared to the icebreaker. Eyeing the Moby Dick sailing towards their direction, he thought that something was odd. He wondered what the Whitebeards wanted with him. He didn't look anything to the territories or to one of the members.
"Hey!" the captain of the icebreaker called from her prow.
Usopp just ignored her, working on maneuvering the ship in order to avoid the Moby Dick. The pirate narrowed his eyes when he noticed the few ships surrounding them. There was no way he could avoid Whitebeard's ship, but he tried anyway still ignoring the protestations from Whitey Bay's crew.
Nephele whined, her head bumping his leg. He tried to not panic— What do they want with me? I haven't done anything!
"Wait, we have to talk!"
He still ignored, working as fast as possible to maneuver the ship. Suddenly, a blue bird flew off the Moby Dick and reached his own ship in a few minutes. He gritted his teeth when the bird metamorphosed into a blond-haired man.
Marco, the First Commander of the Whitebeards.
"Yoi, I suggest you come quietly with us."
Us? he thought, focusing on his Observation Haki.
"Yo!"
Usopp bristled at the new voice. He turned his head and saw the Second Commander of the Whitebeards and also the Fifteen Commander. Nephele loudly whined, begging to have the permission to attack, but he let out a small growl, surprising the other pirates. He didn't want his only partner to be hurt.
"Oyaji just wants to talk with you, yoi," Marco said, crossing his arms.
Usopp sighed knowing full well that he couldn't refuse. He nodded and just continued to maneuver to instead meet the Moby Dick. The three Commanders stayed on the deck.
"He agrees then," Vista, the Fifth Commander, commented.
Weirdly enough, the man sounded familiar, but Usopp couldn't really remember where.
"Why don't you speak?" Hiken no Ace curiously asked.
"Rumors said that he's mute," Whitey Bay responded in place of Usopp.
It was expected.
It took barely less than one hour to reach the Moby Dick. The Whitebeards climbed onto their ship with Usopp, and Nephele, following. Whitebeard was sitting on his chair in the middle of the main deck with most of his crew surrounding him. His Commanders were all standing beside him. The Emperor looked pleased to see him.
As if I had a choice, Usopp thought bitterly, wishing that the conversation was already over.
"He hasn't changed since last time."
Fourth Commander, Thatch.
"Is he really mute?"
Eighth Commander, Namur.
"He hasn't spoken a word."
Second Commander, Ace.
"Gurararara. Brat, you're not easy to catch!" the Emperor exclaimed, silencing his Commanders in one go.
Usopp shrugged.
"Does anyone know sign language?" Whitebeard asked his crew, and a dozen hands raised, so the man chose one of his daughters.
One that didn't even raise her hand. Chuckles followed when the woman loudly sighed, and the Emperor just grinned. Usopp recognized her because her bounty was still fresh — there was only dead written on her bounty — in his memory. He didn't know that she was part of the Whitebeards.
"Brat, I heard that you were searching for your crew."
'Yes.'
"We do have some information. Nico Robin was seen with the revolutionaries, and some rumors said that she lost her memories as well."
'Why are you telling me this?'
Usopp wasn't trusting anything that the Emperor said. The man would not just give free information like that. There was a catch.
"He got it so easily."
That was the Twelve Commander, Haruta.
"Gurararara. You've been building quite a reputation in the New World, and moreover a quite good network according to Haruta. Even more, you have information that everyone would want."
Fuck, he thought, tensing up.
"What I offer is an exchange of information."
'What's the catch?'
"There's none."
Yasei no musuko, or known as Usopp in the New World with a bounty of 600 000 000 berry over his head, accepted the deal after a while.
"He refuses to stay on the ship!" Thatch complained having offered the younger pirate a meal on the Moby Dick.
"At least, he's sailing with us for a moment," Haruta commented, pleased with the turn of events.
Ambre ignored the rest of the conversation as she closed her eyes laying on the main deck among her siblings. The interest of her captain in the young adult was clear. But alas for the Emperor, Usopp was already part of a crew and so desperate to find it again.
The world whispered interesting things about the young man. She found herself drawn to him for some reason. However, as always the woman wouldn't do anything. What she knew wasn't her business to investigate, what happened to that guy was insane and something that she would not tell to anyone.
"What do you think of him, Ambre?" the Sixteenth Commander, Izou, asked as he sat beside her.
"Mistrustful, wild, hurt, desperate."
"And sentences don't exist in your language yoi?" Marco asked with annoyance.
"Good luck on recruiting 'im."
"We ain't recruit— Oyaji!"
"Gurararara."
For weeks, they had followed with eagerness the new source of their interest passing through scenes of destruction of marines underestimating the odd pair. His wolf was quite a surprise, but it was liked by Stephan and Kotetsu. Soon enough, to Usopp's worry, the three of them were playing together. It took a while to convince the younger pirate to sail on the Moby Dick for the duration of his stay. Soon after he agreed, Haruta led him to her division rooms to discuss details concerning some information.
Robin was safe with the revolutionaries, but she was amnesiac. Haruta assured him that Sabo — whoever that was — was working to help her get her memories back. Nami had been on Fishman Island, and had become the protegee of Namur ever since she was brought to the island after an incident that had saved her life somehow. The orange-haired woman however was short of an arm.
That was all he could have for now. Haruta started firing questions that he easily answered because the information wasn't something he needed, it was more likely related to the Emperors and their territories. A plan formulated by the World Government to erase the existence of the pirates.
The session ended with the announcement of a party. Usopp sighed as he was led to the main deck, where the allies and the Whitebeards were already starting to party. He found himself a nice spot away from the crowd. As he began to relax listening to the songs that were played by the musicians of all crews, he was startled by a familiar voice.
"Yasei no musuko, well met. King of the Wild."
It was the woman that translated his conversation with Whitebeard.
'King of the Wild?' he pondered, looking at the woman completely confused.
"That power… is what makes you King of the Wild," she paused searching for her words, "If you focus on me, what do you feel? If you focus on Jiru, what do you feel?"
He didn't answer, pondering the questions. She offered him a bottle of sake and took one for herself.
"Enjoy yourself, King of the Wild."
She never told him her name. It didn't really matter except he felt that he wanted to know more about this person. The woman felt so powerful, there was something that made him wary of that pirate. It sounded so familiar though. His Observation Haki wasn't really helping. The woman walked away crossing the crowd and sitting near the Commanders.
King of the Wild? Yasei no musuko? Why do people give me those nicknames? What do I feel? He pondered the questions while taking a sip of his bottle of sake. Nephele came to him whining a little bit then she went to sleep.
Grandline wasn't merciful, especially in the New World.
It was easier to sail with the Whitebeards.
The more time he spent with the Whitebeards, the more he found himself liking these individuals. Working alongside Haruta was a totally new experience.
Haruta had called the Chief Revolutionary — he really needed to remember their name — to speak with Robin. The woman was pleased to hear from him. But she wasn't the Robin he knew. It complicated everything.
Nami didn't want to talk to him despite Namur's prompting.
It saddened him.
Sitting with Nephele on the deck, the man thought about his current life wondering if it was worth it to continue his search for his crew. His message in the newspaper didn't reach anyone beside Robin or Nami.
"I haven't seen Luffy since that meeting in Alabasta," Ace had once told him, sadness filling his voice, "I hope he's okay though."
There were rumors in Paradise about a certain green-haired swordsman that kept getting lost whenever he went. The Thousand Sunny was the source of entertainment since it was seen a few times across Paradise as well. There was no sign of Sanji or Chopper, but Vivi was working on it. The princess had been overjoyed when he had called her, with the help of Haruta.
"I have been speaking with Nami as well, but she refuses to tell me anything. I don't know what happened, but this must be terrible," Vivi had told him at some point.
Nephele was playing with Stefan and Kotetsu. He loved watching them while enjoying the quiet day on the Moby Dick.
So many people worked to find out what happened to the Strawhats in exchange of information. Usopp still went to raid marine bases even though the marine forces were becoming more prepared to welcome him. He figured that infiltrating marine bases was good training on stealth, and it was so fun raiding all their supplies. His bounty was high enough for hunters to come after him, but his close ties with the Whitebeards provided him protection. His ship that he finally named Yasei — because everybody had been asking him for a while — and the ship itself was truly happy, especially when Usopp had paid some shipwrights from the Whitebeards to fix it.
"You know that Oyaji is trying to recruit ya."
'Wait, seriously?' The pirate asked the woman, 'it makes sense.'
Ambre was an individual he somehow didn't want to cross.
"He isn't aware of who you are though, King of the Wild. The only thing he knows is that you are similar to me and Jiru in some ways. Oyaji is really patient when it comes to recruiting people. Do you know how Ace ended up on the crew? He spent one hundred days trying to kill Oyaji and in the end he ended up joining."
'That's crazy.' Usopp signed to her wondering if Luffy would have done the same thing, but the other pirate wasn't really a killer type even though he had already killed, 'What are you?'
"Oh, so you really don't have the answer. I'm like you in some ways. You did get your power from a stele, right?"
His eyes widened.
"There are seven steles, and all of them are spread around the world. Each stele chooses whoever will inherit the power. If the World Government happens to know you have those seven powers, believe your bounty will go high. Haven't you seen mine or Jiru's?"
'Alright. So you know how to train it?'
"Of course. Unfortunately, I won't be able to help you since Jiru over-ranked me."
Crew hierarchy, and since Usopp wasn't part of Whitebeard's crew, it made it impossible for him to learn from either of the two Kings.
"You can always join our crew," Speed Jiru commented ruffling Ambre's hair, joining the conversation as he sat down next to them, "but it's better that you join it for a real reason."
'Makes sense.'
It was Roronoa Zoro that brought the answers of why the crew was so spread and unwilling to meet up.
They had been all separated by the Shichibukai Kuma. Within three days though Zoro had been able to meet up with Robin, Nami, and Luffy. However, they had been ambushed by the marines and nearly killed. Apparently, there was a killing on sight order that came from the World Government because they had assaulted a Celestial Dragon.
If Luffy hadn't punched one, they would have done it instead.
"I don't know about Luffy, I haven't seen him since that day, but I know that Nami has been captured. We might assume that she lost her left arm because of the marines. I was able to escape and I've been wondering ever since. I trained a bit, but that's all."
Trained a bit, huh? Usopp thought with amusement looking at his friend.
"Franky has hidden the Thousand Sunny for a while. He's been rebuilding himself ever since. And Brook is being the Soul King across the world. Chopper is apparently on an island with giant birds, so far he's been learning medicine with them."
"Damn, why aren't you meeting up then?" Haruta asked, confused.
The swordsman didn't answer. His eyes fell on Usopp, probably wondering why the sniper hadn't spoken a word since the beginning of the conversation.
"Robin is amnesiac. Speaking with her is useless, unless she gets her memories back, something that she seems to be unwilling to do. Nami refuses to speak with anyone. Brook and Franky are waiting. Chopper is busy doing whatever. Sanji is still missing, I haven't seen him. And until a few months ago, I thought that Usopp was still missing."
"It doesn't explain why you don't meet up."
"I know… I don't know… Okay?" Zoro trailed off, still staring at the sniper wanting him to talk, "What happened to you?"
'I can't talk anymore. I was stuck on a mortal island for two years.'
"What?"
"Right," Ace intervened with a cough, "He's mute and can't talk anymore. He was stuck on a mortal island for two years."
"Shit."
Usopp shrugged. He ruffled Nephele's fur while the swordsman accepted Whitebeard's invitation to stay on the ship for a while. To catch up. Zoro missed the knowing smile of the Emperor as he sat with Usopp.
"So, what have you been doing all these years?"
Usopp looked at Ace for help. The older man agreed on acting like the translator while Usopp finally told his own events. He started by explaining what happened to him for two years: from his arrival to his findings, from his selective muteness to his injuries, from his will to become stronger to his will of leaving the island, from finding Nephele as a pup to finally leaving the island. He spoke of the deadly plants and the gigantic animals. He spoke of the terrible story of the island, of a late Empress that had been a notorious individual back then. He even spoke of a power he had gotten before the island sank.
It baffled everyone on the ship, and Usopp just blushed at the praise he got from the green-haired swordsman and the Whitebeards.
"I heard you have a bounty. How is it?" Zoro curiously asked after Usopp talked about what he had done after leaving the island.
"600 000 000 berries on his head," Speed Jiru answered instead of Usopp, shocking the swordsman.
"How?!"
Usopp just laughed, signing something.
"He said that he went with the flow."
"Damn. I'm barely at 400 000 000 berries."
In the end, Zoro decided to travel with Usopp unaware of Whitebeard trying to recruit the sniper into his crew. And now that Zoro had sparked an interest, the Yonko wanted the swordsman as well into his crew and counted on his Commanders to convince the man to join.
Usopp?
He was just amused by the whole thing.
The Strawhats never reunited. But they all remained close friends, keeping an eye in order to find Luffy, the only one that was still missing.
Sanji was staying on Fishman Island with Nami while Robin still worked on her memories, a bit more willing to discuss with their former crewmates. Franky spent time with Brook because the skeleton needed to safely travel during his music tour, and the cyborg found it fun to mess with the marines. Chopper was traveling back and forth between the island with gigantic birds and Drum, sometimes meeting Brook and Franky.
Time passed, but no Luffy.
Despite all help from information brokers, it almost seemed like the Strawhat disappeared from the surface of the world.
Usopp ended up joining Whitebeard's crew.
Five years after their separation at Sabaody, an article was brought to the world's attention, to the former Strawhat crew.
EXECUTION OF MUGIWARA NO LUFFY
SON OF DRAGON THE REBEL