Chapter 7 Aaron's Tale

Waking up isn't exactly a difficult task, most people manage it everyday and think nothing of it. Usually they wake up where they fell asleep, in a bed, on a couch, wherever. Aaron, much to his confusion, woke up at the bottom of a pit with rain hitting the leaves high above him.

Something tells me I'm not in Kansas anymore Toto, was his first thought. He pushed himself up right into a moderately more comfortable sitting position. As he did so his foot thunked against something that was down in the pit with him.

At first, due to the pit's rather poor lighting, he thought it was some kind of box. Only to realize that it was in fact a chest when he pulled it closer. A chest with a folded piece of paper resting on the lid, practically an invitation for someone to pick it up and read it.

Because curiosity killed the cat, and Aaron was very curious, he grabbed the paper and unfolded it, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline at the words even as his body tensed for an explosion.

When one didn't immediately occur Aaron carefully opened his eyes. When there was still no explosion Aaron felt safe enough to reread the words that had prompted the panic.

'"I prepared Explosive Runes this morning."'

Underneath that were more lines that Aaron was certain hadn't been there when he first looked at it. He was pretty sure he would have noticed them after all.

'"Just kidding! I'm not even a wizard! Just your average run of the mill ROB. You can call me A or just curse at me when I tell you that you're in the magical world of One Piece! You can now proceed to panic about the fact that much like a certain loudmouth and his snail, you're so far below the baseline that it's not even funny. Well, except for me. But my sense of humor is twisted."'

Weirdly, the next line was a completely different style of handwriting than the first part had been.

After that the styles switched back and forth like someone had started an argument and was using the piece of paper as a medium.

'"Great, now you've gone and scared him."

"Please, he's stronger than that, look he's already starting to calm down."'

Aaron wasn't totally sure that that part was actually true. Considering his heart was still beating like a jackrabbit's, eyes so wide that there was barely any white to be seen.

'"This is why you're not invited to dinner anymore."

"But I host the dinners?!"

"Exactly."

"...Whatever. What was I saying again?

Oh right, our captive audience! So Aaron, you've got two choices before you. You can go on an adventure like a normal person, get stronger the normal way, like a certain loudmouthed anarchist. Or… You can open the mystery chest, use the two items inside, and go on an adventure and actually be somebody.

Just remember that power brings its own troubles… anyways, good luck, and choose well! We'll enjoy watching the chaos that unfolds either way."

-A and V'

Aaron read through the note again, holding back a second wave of panic that threatened to drown him. That could wait until he wasn't in a pit, and somewhat safe. He didn't have a clue as to where in One Piece he was in after all. Well, other than a pit that is.

Opening the chest he couldn't help blinking at what he found inside. A large fruit, roughly the shape of an orange but half again as large, the skin a light brown with red swirls, sat innocently on top of a red covered book. A fruit that he recognized at once even if this was the first time he had ever seen one in person.

A Devil Fruit? I mean, I can, but… wait, the note said two things. He lifted the fruit out of the chest and set it down in his lap as he looked at the second item in the chest. It was a red binder with an emblazoned white T crossed with an F. One that he recognized from his group of friends. He grabbed the binder and set it down on the Devil Fruit before attempting to open it.

Guess I'm not allowed to look in the book until I make a choice about the Devil Fruit. This is a big moment. I take this, and I can never swim again. But the power boost will be worth it… Probably. Well here goes nothing.

A decision having been made Aaron took a bite out of the fruit. It wasn't so bad, almost like biting into an incredibly overripe fruit. Then the taste hit.

"Oh god it's the worst! I thought they were joking about how bad the taste was! WHYYY?!"

After that particular episode- ugh, he could still taste it- He picked up the red binder. It opened without issue this time to reveal a stack of paper. Curious, Aaron started to read the first page. He was only a few sentences in when the impossibility of what he was reading caught up to him.

It was all just too much for Aaron to process. He could feel his conscious slip away as his body slumped against the earthen wall of the pit. A moment later the chest and the fruit flickered out of existence right before someone peered down into the pit.

Hard to say if that was a bad thing or a good thing as moments later a bushy, emphasis on bush, head appeared peering down into the pit. "Well, this is new. Suppose I should bring him up. Now where did I put my rope."

The smell, and sound, of meat sizzling over an open flame brought Aaron back to consciousness. Eyes opening to see a small campfire with several speared fish roasting over the flames. If he hadn't been told he was in the world of One Piece he probably would have been seriously wondering at the size of those sat up, peering around the clearing that he now found himself in. Outside of the fire light and the flickering shadows that it cast upon the trees the clearing was dark. The sky having taken on that darkish cast that meant the sun had just slipped below the horizon, along with it the pattering of rain could no longer be heard hitting the leaves of the tree.

"Good, you're awake." Aaron's head swiveled to look at the person that was just stepping into the clearing. Aaron stared in surprise, brain-clicking into place for a visual that he hadn't seen in over a decade, and as the pieces finally settled, all that came out of his mouth was, "... A boxed son? No wait, a man in a box?"

"A chest but close enough. The name's Gaimon, and frankly I'm surprised you're awake already."

"Why's that?"

"'Why's that', he says. You must have hit your head when you fell into that pit. You were barely out 20 minutes. From the bump you had on your head, you should have been out twice that. How did you get into that pit anyways?"

Aaron blinked, brain taking a moment to sort everything through the haze of waking up. How the hell did one explain getting sent into another world by bored gods? "I'm honestly not sure. My first memory was waking up in the pit, reading a note and opening the chest, and then the binder, and… uggh."

Aaron trailed off as he fought down a bout of nausea. Closing his eyes Aaron pressed a hand against his forehead as he waited for it to pass.

As he was bringing his hand back down it landed on something hard and metallic. Looking down, Aaron found that there was a red and green ring with a chain in his lap. But the ring was huge, as big around as his bicep. After several seconds of staring Aaron glanced up at Gaimon.

"Silly question, but did I have this when you found me earlier?"

Gaimon looked from the ring to Aaron then back to the ring. He did this several times before responding. "No, no you didn't. All I found was a man with feathers in a hole with a box and a… I guess you called it a binder? No, that wasn't there. Pretty sure it wasn't there a minute ago either."

Okay, seriously, where did this– what. "Feathers? What are you talking about?"

Gaimon raised part of his unibrow upwards incredulously. "Well they're gone now but when I found you were like a feathery man, had a beak and everything. Almost mistook you for one of the animals natural to this island at first." He looked like he was going to say more when a simultaneous pair of rumbles echoed across the clearing.

Aaron glanced around in confusion, stopping only when Gaimon started chuckling. Shuffling over to the fire he grabbed a pair of skewers, offering one to Aaron. " Let's leave the talking for later, since both of us sound hungry."

Piece apparently being said, Gaimon dropped down beside the fire and took a bite out of his fish. Aaron watched for almost half a minute before his stomach voiced its displeasure once more. Bringing the fish up to his mouth he spent a few seconds blowing on it before taking a bite. It wasn't seasoned in any way but compared to the taste of a Devil Fruit, it was heavenly.

Aaron hadn't realized how hungry he was until he was setting his fourth skewer down, the feeling of hunger that had been nipping at the edge of his thoughts fading. A glance across the fire at Gaimon revealed that the box man had his eyes closed, seemingly asleep after the meal. A good time as any for Aaron to think things over without interruption. One of the more pressing thoughts being what he had seen inside of the binder.

It was your standard hard plastic binder, and as he opened it, he was surprised to see… he blinked. What? Why? How?! Inside were pages and pages of character sheets for Dungeons and Dragons, all with his name and a different class on them. Aaron had never felt so confused and yet excited. There was one strange thing about some of the sheets however, while they had his name and a class listed on them, the rest was blank of details.

Okay, okay, I need to test this. He took a close look at the front page. Aaron, Human, of course, of course… Warlock? Why Warlock? Not my initial class of choice, I'd usually pick a Monk, or a Barbarian… And in front of his eyes the sheet blurred, swapping to Barbarian, and Aaron just stared. What the actual Fuck?

He heard a clang and looked over to see the ring he had left sitting by the fire shift into a large glaive. I… this is too much. What the hell is this power?!

It was early the next day, after Aaron had woken up beside the fire, body sore from sleeping on the hard ground, that Gaimon led him to one of the many island streams. The box man left to get breakfast while Aaron got himself cleaned up and got a proper look at himself.

He was wearing regular old jeans slightly worn from use, along with a dark blue t-shirt that proclaimed Blockbuster in bright yellow letters across the chest. Other than that he didn't look any different that what he usually saw in the mirror in the morning. Certainly not sporting feathers that was for sure.

He had taken a bite out of a Devil Fruit however before he had blacked out, and feathers probably meant Zoan Fruit. A quick glance around revealed a platypus-bunny bathing in the water a little ways downstream, not paying a bit of attention to him. So now assured that no one would see him if this didn't work, Aaron started to try and transform.

A warm, almost tingling, sensation started at the top of Aaron's head, slowly creeping down his body. As it traveled, he could feel and see his body beginning to change. Rich brown feathers sprouted across much of his body even as his face pushed forward, jaw, lips, and nose, fusing into a curved yellow beak that was so common to hawks. A wide stripe of white feathers, that stood out against the brown, extended down across his chest. Something almost like a cape of red feathers extending down his back. The feathers on his back then parted as a magnificent set of wings stretched out behind him.

Aaron stared at his image reflected in the stream with something approaching awe. He'd gained at least a foot in height as he transformed, while his body had gained muscle mass in addition to the feathers and wings. He was still lean but now with every movement he could feel the tightly coiled muscles as they stretched. Each of his fingers now sported a curved 3 inch long talon that ended in a very sharp point. The shoes that he had been wearing were gone, replaced by bird-like feet.

He had become half human half hawk, red-tailed hawk if he wasn't mistaken. Most importantly of all however, he looked fucking awesome.

"There we go kid, that's about what you looked like when I fished you out of the hole." Aaron jumped in surprise before he whirled around to find that Gaimon had come up behind him while he was transforming. The box man carrying a basket full of fruits in his bushy afro.

"I'm not a kid, I'm 35."

Gaimon studied Aaron in silence for several seconds before responding. "You don't look 35… I'd say early 20s at best. Anyway I got distracted last night and forgot to ask you something, how did you end up in that pit? Heck, how did you end up on this island in the first place? There haven't been any ships visiting in months."

"I..uh…fell from the sky?" It came out as more of a question than a statement which made Gaimon's eyes narrow with suspicion. The man stared unblinkingly at Aaron for so long that he was starting to get nervous. Well, more nervous at least.

"Eh, I've heard stranger tales in my time. Plus I'm not one to talk, I'm stuck inside of a box after all. Anywho, I've got breakfast ready since you're still probably hungry. I know I am."

"Wait, wait, he really bought that you fell from the sky?" Vebulus couldn't help but ask, having shown remarkable strength in not interrupting before now.

"Yep."

Vebulus stared at Aaron.

"I keep forgetting that what would be weird or impossible back home is just kind of accepted here."

"Yep." Aaron said cheerfully. "So Gaimon and I had breakfast and then…"

Aaron couldn't really object to that statement as his stomach took that moment to rumble with hunger. So the pair of them had breakfast, the first of many that would become a habit for the pair. Usually they ended up being joined by any number of the rare animals that lived on the island. Due to the many years that Gaimon had spent protecting them from hunters.

After having breakfast Gaimon would head out on his patrol of the island, leaving Aaron free to do what he wanted with a promise to meet up with Gaimon for lunch. This left Aaron with several hours of free time and at first he didn't have any idea of what he was going to do. So he explored the island on his own, usually traveling in the opposite direction that Gaimon had headed.

During one of these early trips of wandering Aaron found himself down at a sandy shore experimenting, shifting from his human form into his hybrid form. Marveling at how sharp his eyesight got, he could see so much! Birds flying overhead, fish swimming beneath the waves, crabs scuttling along the shore, and an empty rowboat with the symbol of the world government painted prominently on its sides.

Aaron did a double take to confirm that yes it was an empty rowboat that he was seeing and not imagining. The question of how it was here though had Aaron scratching his head. There wasn't a ship in sight as far as he could, nor was there wreckage of a ship. Curious to see what might be on the boat Aaron took a step forward, above to wade out into the ocean and swim to the boat before the stupidity of that action mentally caught up to him.

"Right, ate a Devil Fruit, water bad. Suppose I could try flying over to the boat, it'd be good practice. But I should probably stay over land until I'm confident." Aaron muttered to himself even as he took several hasty steps away from the water. The transformation felt like it occurred faster than the first time, but it was probably because he wasn't as focused on the sensations this time, or because of his earlier practice.

A fair few false starts later, along with several faceplants, and Aaron was feeling pretty confident about his burgeoning flying ability. He had also discovered that flying was 'exhausting'. The constant flapping of his wings to take off and land proved to be better exercise than anything else he had ever tried. The good news on that front was that he was learning little tricks to make the process easier. Things like how to glide, how to catch the thermals to ascend higher, how to position his feathers to catch the most air. Thankfully most of that was instinctive, having to overthink about how his powers worked would be a huge pain.

He was confident enough to fly out across the water to reach the rowboat that was still bobbing amongst the waves. Landing on it was a little trickier to manage, with him nearly capsizing the boat during the attempt. Landing on a smallish moving target was hard, who could have ever guessed?

Thankfully with a completely dignified, and totally not panicked, flailing of limbs had Aaron steadying himself successfully. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting but a single backpack was not it.

A plain brown leather backpack that by the way it bulged, looked like it had been stuffed in a hurry. Curious, Aaron bent down to pick it up, hearing something metal clinking against metal as the objects inside shifted. Pulling open the flap of the bag he found himself faced by a large folded piece of white paper that just screamed 'read me!' - actually, on second look it did have 'read me!' written on it. Seeing no reason to not follow instructions, after all what harm could a piece of paper ever do?

At that exact moment, across multiple universes several characters and one ROB suddenly sneezed. The characters shrugged and continued on with their lives while the ROB started laughing maniacally.

Unfolding the paper Aaron quickly scanned the words written on the top, reflexively flinching in alarm as he finished the first sentence.

'I prepared Explosive Runes this morning!'

The paper didn't explode, if anything it did something worse by spraying him with confetti and glitter, a long piece of paper with the word BANG! written on it fluttering down to land on his shoulders. Wondering how this had become his life Aaron proceeded to read the rest of the letter.

'Hello past me!

Did you know that with some creativity and a pair of open minded gods that you can use Prestidigitation to create confetti and glitter bombs?! Well you do now! Also, remember the teachings of Jester and the Mighty Nein!'

Below that line was a separate style of hand writing.

'I was the one who suggested the bang part.'

'Anyways, look, we both know we're smarter than we give ourselves credit for. Just remember to use your head… and only in the Hercules way if you have to, we've done enough damage in the past! Remember how faceted the Mighty Nein was, and how you have more than half the Classes at your fingertips. Also remember the Chaos Crew slogan! -Future Aaron
'

Well that wasn't concerning and confusing or anything! Least helpful note from the future ever.

"So you got one of those notes as well." Vebulus said as he interrupted again.

"Yeah, was yours as unhelpful as mine was?"

"Not really." After a moment of scrambling for his phone Vebulus handed it over to Aaron, the picture he'd taken of the note displayed on the screen.

"Well that's more helpful than mine."

Vebulus made an affirmative sound as Aaron handed the phone back to him.

"What did you find in the backpack?"

"Oh! Right hadn't gotten to that yet. It had a flint and steel, knife, pillow, blanket, incense, couple pens, a pouch full of spell components, and some waterproof paper."

Vebulus nodded along to each item that was listed until Aaron got to the last one.

"How'd you figure out it was waterproof?"

"Accidently dropped a sheet into the water at one point. Anyways after that discovering things started to…"

As the first rays of the sun rose over the horizon and crept their way into the clearing where he slept, Aaron woke up. After being on this island for a little over a month, rising with the sun had become almost a routine now. What followed waking up was almost as routine, getting cleaned up, meeting with Gaimon for breakfast, then practicing either with his Devil Fruit powers or his other abilities, usually with several of the rare animals stopping by to watch for a bit.

After training was lunch with Gaimon before the afternoon was spent helping Gaimon with various tasks around the island while keeping an eye out for any visitors that needed to be scared away. Everyday a test of Aaron's patience as he waited for Luffy and company to finally show up. But life is never quite that simple and the group that did show up would prove to be anything but friendly.

The ship sat low in the water, a sleek vessel of dark wood, sharp angles, three square sails, and the fluttering Jolly Roger of a hand clutching a bag of gold. The initial impression was of a dangerous predator of the sea ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey. It was only as the ship sailed closer to the island that Aaron could spot the flaws that it tried to conceal.

The dark coating over the wood to cover up the weathered and sometimes rotten planks, the way it listed to the side showing that water was leaking in somewhere, the frayed lines supporting salt heavy sails, the sharp angles caused by hasty repairs of battle damage.

Perhaps the worst part was the smell that carried on the wind that wafted from the ship. The smell of unwashed bodies blended with despair and misery. A ship full of slavers heading right towards an otherwise peaceful island in the West Blue. Aaron stopped watching the ship at that point, instead he leaped down from the branch he had been perched upon. Breaking his fall with a roll that had him off and running to find Gaimon moments later.

It was a path that Aaron had traveled a lot over the last month. So much so that he could move down the path going full tilt in the dark. He'd actually done that one night just to see if he could. During the day it required not even a bit of focus. Which was why only a couple minutes later he skated to a halt in the sheltered clearing that he and Gaimon met at for breakfast everyday.

"Gaimon! We've got a problem, a ship of pirates is approaching! One that I'm positive is a band of slavers!"

Gaimon didn't even question that declaration. Instead he hopped to his feet while snatching up an item that Aaron had given him as a gift. It was a 3ft long length of wood that ended in a fist sized knot, the entire thing polished until it shone. As weapons go it wasn't anything amazing but without access to proper tools it had been the best thing that he could manage.

The pair then set off towards where they believed the pirates would come ashore. Aaron was in the lead because of his longer stride, though Gaimon kept up pretty well. As they ran Aaron shifted into his hybrid form, vision sharpening as his eyes changed.

As the pair drew close to the beach they abandoned running, instead stalking forward while using the dense underbrush for cover. Aaron lost sight of Gaimon as the box man crept forward, indistinguishable from the bushes around him. The pirates could be heard well before Aaron got close enough to see them, gleeful shouts and swears mixing to create a cacophony of noise.

A pair of large dinghies had been beached on the shore, pirates swarming like ants around the crafts, as they unloaded barrels and crates under the watchful eyes of what was probably the captain and his first mate. The captain was about a head shorter than most of his men with hair that was streaked with grey, at his sides he carried a cutlass and a knife. The handle of a pistol peeking out from beneath his sleeveless vest. The same image as the Jolly Roger tattooed on his upper right arm, a tattoo that seemed to be shared by all of the men.

The man beside the captain was slender to the point of ganglyness, his high-pitched voice barking orders to the rest of the crew. A kusarigama hung on his belt alongside a curled whip which he ran his fingers over, as if tempted to use it. The rest of the crew, around 20 some men, were a mixed lot unified by the fact that they all wore vests, and had the Jolly Roger on their upper right shoulder.

If Aaron was being honest with himself outside of the captain and first mate, the rest of the pirates qualified as little more than mooks. Panicky mooks as Gaimon, probably, roared from somewhere off to Aaron's left, the pirates jerking heads up to stare at the jungle in fear. It lasted only a moment though as the first mate's whip cracked through the air.

"Ignore the jungle and get back to work! Anyone caught slacking will get a taste of my whip!" The pirates were clearly more afraid of the first mate and his whip than the forest judging by how fast they got back to work.

Well since fear doesn't seem like it's going to work, it's time for more direct methods. Aaron thought as he changed over into Fighter, a matched pair of shortswords forming in his hands. Each class that he changed into had its own weapon that changed whenever he changed class. They're just no-name mooks after all. How hard can it be?

The answer as it turned out was a lot harder than expected. Aaron, it seemed, had overestimated how powerful he was with the combination of Zoan Fruit and whatever class he could think of. While the common pirates were little more than mooks, they were pirate mooks who fought dirty. Ganging up, low blows, cheap shots, thrown and kicked up sand, any and all underhanded tactics were fair game to them.

The dirty fighting combined with the number of foes forced Aaron to start thinking about retreat options. That was easier said than done of course as Aaron snapped up a kick that caught one of the pirates in the chest. The man flew through the air before landing with a splash in the water. His sudden departure gave Aaron just enough of a breathing space to try something.

The shortswords vanished from his hands as he class changed, a long staff of wood replacing them. Gripping the staff in both hands Aaron swung it around himself in a wide arc, forcing the pirates to back off. Perfect, he thought, as a different kind of transformation then his Zoan one occurred.

The power of a Druid's Wild Shape turned him from a hawk man into a smaller but much faster Raven. Aaron launched himself into the air, managing a trio of quick wingbeats before something clipped his head. Sending him crashing into the sand while also not being enough damage to break the Wild Shape.

Dazed from the blow, Aaron wasn't able to resist as someone grabbed him before getting stuffed into a sturdy birdcage. The sound of a lock snapping closed broke Aaron from the daze. He found himself staring through the bars at the face of the captain. The man bore a nasty looking scar across his face that left him with a lopsided grin.

"So you're the supposed guardian of this island huh? Never would have thought that you had a Devil Fruit of all things, a really fancy one at that. We only came to this island in the first place to refill our supplies and perform repairs after a bad run in with Krieg's fleet. But to capture such a prize as well? It seems like my luck is starting to turn. You'll sell for a nice little sum on the market."

This was bad, very, very bad. Aaron couldn't afford to get sold into slavery without ever even meeting with Luffy. He needed to think of something and fast. Wait, that's it!

"Wait, wait, I know where you can find a huge sum of treasure!" he croaked out, the rough vocal cords of a raven making his voice horse.

"Ooh? I'm listening." The captain drawled, eyes shining with avarice.

"Cocoyashi village, I'm not sure of the island name, but there are over 90 million berri! I even know where to get the treasure map that shows the exact spot."

The captain lowered the cage before he handed it off to one of his men. The captain and the first mate walked several feet away to discuss what Aaron had said. Far enough away that he couldn't hear their whispered conversation, one that appeared to be quite animated judging by the gestures.

Eventually the captain turned and accepted the cage from his man.

"Alright Guardian, I've decided to trust your word. You guide us to this treasure and I'll let you go, fail and you'll learn how creative me and my men can get when inflicting pain."