I Want to Be Free!
CHAPTER 1 - WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PIRATE?
Foosha Village - Dawn Island
A child bearing a scar on his cheek joyful enters Party's Bar. Behind the counter stands a young forest green-haired woman. "Makino! When will Shanks and the others come back!" The child shouts. Makino let off a soft sigh and gives a somber look to the child.
"He won't be back, Luffy. I understand you like him a lot, especially after he gave up his right arm and his straw hat up to you. But Luffy, keeping him here means keeping him from doing what he loves. Being a pirate." Makino calmly responds.
Luffy, who is listening very intently, looses his gleeful expression. He looks down at the floor, pondering why Shanks would have saved him like that. For all Shanks is concerned, Luffy was just a little kid who bugged him about being a pirate. The scar bearing child glances down, his tan straw hat covering his eyes and his ruffled black hair.
"Makino… What does it mean to be a pirate?" Makino was immediately taken aback. While this question was very simple in nature, the answer is subjective to each's experience. And Makino was never a pirate, so she wouldn't really know the first thing about it. However, seeing Luffy in such a sorrowful state left her without a choice to respond.
"Well… Luffy… There is no one answer to that question. Each pirate has their own experiences, and nature as human beings. Because of that, each pirate creates the answer to that question themself" Makino responds. Luffy looks up a Makino with a very dissatisfied sad look. Luffy had honestly expected the answer to not be an answer right now. While what Makino said was very profound, to a child, it sounds like she's sidestepping the question.
Makino sighed once again. She couldn't bear seeing Luffy so upset. So she gave him an answer. "Luffy, it's never to early to find out what being a pirate means to you. Do you want to pillage? Do you want to take from others? Do you want a group of friends? Do you want freedom?"
Luffy looks up at Makino with wide-eyes. The last word she said shook him to his core. He had no idea why, but something about the word "freedom" brought something primal out of him. A desire. A need. It was almost as if something in his body and mind was telling him his purpose.
Silence fills the room.
Luffy is the first to break the silence. "Makino… How do I become free?"
That was the last thing Makino expected to come out of Luffy's mouth. Freedom? Is that what Luffy wants?
"Hm… well Luffy. I guess the freest person in the world was Gold Roger, the former pirate king. A man of many great qualities, but most people don't think that. Roger was the strongest man on the seas, the only one being able to fight him was Garp the hero. So anyw-"
"JI-CHAN? JI-CHAN FOUGHT WITH THE PIRATE KING?" Luffy screams at the top of his lungs.
Makino just remembered that Luffy was Garp's grandson.
"Now Luffy… What would your grandfather think of you wanting to be a pirate. Let's get you some juice!" Luffy, instantly forgetting about the conversation, channeled his pent-up excitement into anticipating his juice.
"Here you are!" Makino hands Luffy a glass of fresh Orange Juice. Luffy drinks it, and for the time being, forgets all about that conversation.
A Week Later - Mt. Corvo
"LUFFYY WHERE ARE YOU?" An unexpectedly buff old man screams.
Right now, Luffy is in a green jungle forest, located in the mountains of Dawn Island. His "training" consisted of: Getting tied to balloons and flying, fighting monkeys until he passed out, and being thrown off of cliffs until he couldn't take it anymore. It was more like torture.
Luffy is currently getting beaten up by some monkeys in the forest, and by the time the old man finds him, Luffy is panting on the floor with the monkeys dancing over his bruised body.
"AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA. So Luffy, you still can't be the monkeys huh? I guess you're only four years old, so it makes sense. Most kids are still drinking their mommy's milk at this age HAHAHAHAHA" The old man quips.
"Ji-channnn, why do you have me come out here to be beaten up every day?" The battered child retorts, interrupted by intermittent groans of pain. "Luffy. You want to be a strong Marine right? The strongest there ever was?"
For whatever reason, this dialogue brought back Luffy's memory of what Makino had said in the bar. Luffy jolted up from his laying-down position. "WAIT JI-CHAN, YOU FOUGHT AGAINST THE PIRATE KING, RIGHT? GOLD ROGER? HOW STRONG WAS HE? WAS HE REALLY THE FREEST PERSON?"
Garp was furious.
"Luffy… who told you that…" Garp uttered menacingly as he cocked his fists, ready to give out a fist of love. Luffy froze, as Garp walked towards him. The monkeys all immediately passed out, as Luffy was left scared shitless."
"AHHHH I'M SORRYYYYY" Luffy screams, crying in fear. There was an immense pressure in the air that was frightening. When Garp made it to Luffy, the pressure immediately dissipated.
"That, Luffy, is what Gold Roger was like. A man capable of instilling fear into those with the strongest hearts." "I understand, I understand…" Luffy said as he was gasping for air.
"So, Luffy, do you want to be a marine, to fight tha-" Garp started, but was interrupted by a now-excited Luffy. "JI-CHAN, HOW DID YOU DO THAT? I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE? AND ALL THESE MONKEYS ARE PASSED OUT?"
Garp looked at the boy plainly. He was aware of the boy's bipolarness… But to still be awake AND have recovered from that already was a feat that shocked the old man. "Luffy… What do you want in life? More than anything? Do you want to be rich? Do you want a hot girlfriend? Do you want to see the world? Luffy, what is your dream?"
Luffy gave it some thought. His dreams, right now, were just ideas. Bits and pieces of his desires attempt to accumulate into one idea. "Well... Ji-chan. I don't know. But, out of everything I want to be, I know I want to be the freest person in the world!"
Garp sat in silence. While it isn't the most noble or just dream, it also isn't the most evil and chaotic. Also, it's something Luffy would want.
"Alright, Luffy. You've convinced me. Today, we're going to be starting a new kind of training, to get you ready for your dream. To be honest, I hate the system too. But the only way to change it is through honor and hard work! That's why you WILL be a Marine! To change the world!"
Luffy has a very strange look on his face. His lips were puckered, and his eyes looked like he had just smoked a joint. "Yes, Ji-chan…" Luffy muttered.
Garp knows for a fact that Luffy is just incapable of lying, and makes faces like that to hide them. He figured that as he taught Luffy, he would come around to his side. The only issue with that is that Garp is the kind of person who makes the same mistake twice.
2 Hours Later
Luffy and Garp arrive at a clearing in the Mt. Corvo jungle.
"So Luffy, have you tried training your rubber powers yet?" Garp initiates as they both sit next to each other on a log. "No Ji-chan... No matter what I do, I can never get my arms to move where I want…" Luffy somberly replies.
Garp thinks the best idea would be to harshly train Luffy's strength and mobility for the next week, so Luffy has a better feeling of his own body before any training begins. Both for his rubber powers and for the secrets Luffy is about to be taught.
"So Luffy. You are going to be running as fast as you can, from Foosha Village to the top of the mountain EVERY DAY, for the next month. On top of that, You will also find heaving things to lift. I will teach you the forms today. Every day, you are to find something heavier to do these forms with, until I get back. I have work that, as a Marine, I can't ignore, but I'll be back before you know it."
"But what about my rubber powers, Ji-chan?"
"I've never had devil fruit powers, so I don't know what it's like to learn with one, so I guess you're on your own for that. But my advice would be to create your own form, like a special move. For now, make it very simple. From there, you can make new moves, or improve older ones. It may take you years to get a grip, but I'll come back with some ideas."
Garp shows Luffy the forms for various simple workouts. These forms were optimized for someone with high stamina and a small body by Garp. Other, more specific muscles would be worked on at a later age. He's still young, so he doesn't need to look like Hulk Hogan.
1 Hour Later
"Ji-chan, why are you training me so hard?"
"Well, Luffy… Do you want to be the freest person? This is how you do it. You become so strong that nobody can stop you."
Luffy's eyes opened in realization. He finally understood why Garp made him go through such messed up training! It wasn't for any other purpose than to make him the best person he could be! His eyes burned with desire, and from there, a month of training began.
"Luffy's Training Log D" - Page 1
Makino made me write this stupid thing. Anyways, to future me, here's how I started my training with Ji-chan!
Day 1
On my run, a bunch of wolves chased me, so I got scared and ran and ran. I didn't know where I ended up, but I got somewhere far! I ended up doing my exercises up there. I found a heavy rock to work with. After, I ran around till got back to Makino's place! She was so mad at me… she even hit me with a broom and wouldn't give me juice! Just because I came home late!? I'm tired and hurting in every single part of my body, and I just want juice :(((
Day 2
I made it to the top of the mountain! It took me about 9 hours to get up there, and 7 hours to get back, but I got up there and did my workouts! This time, with a slightly bigger rock! I got to have juice and a lot of meat today, so today was awesome :)
Day 10
Running is getting a lot easier than Day 1! I'm faster than any wolves or anything that tries to chase me now. Now it takes me about 5 hours to get to the top, and 4 to get down! I'm lifting a huge tree trunk now! In any case, today's my birthday! Makino made me a cake that said "Anchor" on it… I'll pay her back for that when I become King of the Pirates!
Day 20
I've been giving it my all every day, and it shows! I'm gonna be the greatest pirate king ever :P! I'm now lifting a humongous rock I found in a river, and it only takes me 2 hours to get to the top of the mountain! I'm getting so strong so fast! I wonder why? Instead of doing the run once, I do it twice, since I have the time. I also do 2 workouts, whenever I'm at the top of the mountain! I gotta keep pushing. For my dream!
Day 31
Well, that was the last day! Ji-chan should be back! It takes me about 1 hour to get up to the top, and less than that to get down! Today, I pushed with all my might. For just ONE go, I lifted a boulder! I do 4 runs and 4 workouts every day now! I had a feast with Makino tonight, so I enjoyed this. Well, bye-bye for now!
Back with Luffy
"LUFFYY? WHERE ARE YOU?" Garp screams as he walks to the peak of Mt. Corvo.
"Ahh Ji-Chan! Luffy yells at his grandfather while squatting with a massive boulder on his head. Garp turns his head towards Luffy, and his eyes struck open. What he saw was almost as if he was in a comic book. "Luffy! How much have you been training?"
"Every day! I eat lots and sleep lots, but I changed your training a little bit! You see, it was too easy to just do one run and one workout every day… So now, I do 4 runs and 4 workouts."
Garp's comic expression only becomes bigger. He was at a loss for words. Ace could barely do just one of those workouts in a day. Garp chopped it up to Luffy's sheer tenacity and mental fortitude like he had seen a month ago.
During Garp's mission, he'd been reading about the Gomu Gomu no mi to come up with new moves for Luffy. However, he'd found that there had been no users of it in the last 600 years, and before that, "nobody" knew what happened. So, how did the World Government know that the Gomu Gomu no mi was what it was? Since Garp was already very suspicious of the world government, he thought that maybe they didn't, and were hiding something secret about it. This whole ordeal just confirmed that thought for him.
Garp's expression calms then grows into a wide smile.
"Luffy. You're getting strong. Very strong."
"REALLY JI-CHAN? AM I READY FOR YOUR SECRET TRAINING?" Luffy screams at the top of his lungs, as he throws the boulder he was lifting next to him. Luffy of course was in a lot of pain from lifting that huge boulder, as it was only his second time.
"Yes, Luffy. You're strong enough to learn, but just to make sure, I want you to spar with me. Just so I can see how much you've grown. I'll go easy, AHAHAHAHAHAA."
Luffy gave him a side-eye. "Jiji, you don't know HOW to go easy."
Garp burst into laughter, "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're right. Now come at me with all you got!"
Luffy sighed, and his expression faded to one of seriousness. A glint in his eye that Garp had not seen from anyone in 8 years.
Luffy rushed Garp, immediately going for a low strike. Garp sees it coming but lets Luffy get the hit, It hurts more than he thought it would. Much more. Luffy had dealt a right punch straight to Garp's leg.
'I guess making him fight those monkeys taught him how to brawl' Garp thought.
However, he doesn't flinch for a second and immediately retaliates with a low smash to Luffy's face. If Garp had used his "secret technique", Luffy wouldn't HAVE a face anymore. Luffy flew back and smashed into the mountainside behind him.
"IS JIJI TRYING TO KILL ME?" Luffy immediately shouts. He then realizes that it doesn't hurt all that much. He's noticed that if something isn't sharp, it wouldn't hurt him. Anyone would be able to figure out that this was due to him being made of rubber. However, his soreness from lifting the boulder earlier really started to kick in, as he started feeling very sleepy.
"NOT BAD LUFFY! COME ON, SHOW ME SOME MORE!
This was enough to temporarily rejuvenate Luffy's body, as the adrenaline began surging through him. Luffy gets up shakily from his spot in the mountain. He figured that maybe his legs had become strong enough for him to jump and land an attack from above. Luffy was learning more and more as he fought, even though he was just 5 years old now.
Luffy bolted towards Garp, at a speed nobody would expect a toddler to be running at. He guesses Garp would predict another blow to the leg, so he would anticipate the counter.
He runs towards Garp, seemingly attempting to make the same attack as before. Garp looks down with a grin. He realizes that, no matter how physically strong he got, no matter what kind of strength training a kid could do, it wouldn't be any good without proper technique. Garp then launches another low smash at Luffy's face. But Garp swings right through with no connection. His mind went blank, thinking "uhh… what?" Garp looked around just in time to see Luffy right above his head with an axe kick prepared.
Garp smiled widely and took the hit. Garp's face recoiled from the attack. It hurt. 'Is this raw strength?' Garp thought.
However, Garp didn't let it stall him, as he launched a right-handed straight directly into Luffy's abdomen, seemingly pushing through his body a little bit (due to his rubber properties)
Luffy then flies back like a catapult and lands in the same crater he was in the first time.
"That's enough Luffy!" Garp shouted, a few seconds after Luffy made impact with the mountain.
"JI-CHAN, YOU'RE JUST SCARED-"
"No Luffy, I seriously was holding back a lot. I let you have that kick to my face. But you're REALLY good. I've seen many pirates and bandits that would lose to you in a second."
"Really Ji-chan!?" Luffy excitedly yelled, pushing himself out of the mountain. Garp once again thought it was strange. Luffy had such vitality even after such a strong blow to his body, and such a blow to his ego.
"Yes. Luffy, it's time I teach you. Come with me."
"Yes sir!"
Cavern - Mt. Corvo
"Ji-chan, what are we doing in a cave?"
"What I'm going to teach you is a technique that only the strongest know, and only the strongest of wills should know. I needed to take us somewhere nobody could hear us."
Garp's new training regimen is one that nobody can know. Not mountain bandits, not villages, not any. This is a power only reserved for the noble of heart, and not anyone can learn it.
"Well Ji-chan, what's this secret power?"
"Well actually there are three, but they are all under a group called 'Haki'. The first type is called Busohoku Haki. It's the manifestation of willpower that allows you to create an armor around yourself. It has many different uses. Some devil fruits like yours make taking punches not hurt, but if the person hitting you has Haki on their hand, then it will hurt like it would a normal person. Also, when using Haki, the strength of your physical attacks or devil fruit attacks increases, hurting your opponent much more. Lastly, the final version of this allows you to destroy your opponents from the inside without even touching them! You following this Luffy?"
"…yes…"
"So what is Busoshoku Haki?"
"Uh…. It's a mystery power I guess!"
...
"AHHHAHAHAHAA" Could be heard from grandfather and grandson, until Garp swiftly delivers a haki-coated first directly into Luffy's face.
"OWWWW" Could be heard from the squealing child. As Luffy sits there crying and holding his face, he begins to understand, not the words his grandfather said, but what the power is. The punches with a lot more force behind them he was given by his grandfather earlier hurt significantly less than this little fist of love did.
When Luffy calmed down, he asked his grandfather, "So normal punches don't hurt me, but these do?"
"YES LUFFY AHAHAHAHAHA" Garp squealed.
"You have more aptitude than I thought, and trust me I thought you had a lot before. Alright. Next up is Kenbunshoku Haki. To show you this one, I'll close my eyes completely and turn around so I can't see you. Now I want you to hit me anywhere you choose.
"You sure Ji-chan? It might hurt?"
"No, it won't, AHAHAHAHHA"
Garp turns around and covers his eyes, as Luffy begins tip-toeing to Garp's left side. He grabbed a small rock and decided to throw it at Garp since it was the last thing he would expect. Luffy winds up his shot and throws it extremely fast, but even Luffy notices that right before it leaves his hands, Garp is already moving. The shot directed at Garp's head shot straight past him, and out of the cavern. Garp was found leaning to the left. Luffy had a jaw-dropped expression, which faded into excitement.
"JI-CHAN! HOW DID YOU DO THAT? CAN YOU SEE THE FUTURE? HOW DO YOU DO THAT?"
"Well Luffy, great guess! Because that's exactly what I'm going to teach you!"
"YAYYYY" Shouts the child.
A brief pause in both of their conversation, as Garp begins talking with a more grim tone.
"The last one is called Haoshoku Haki. Luffy, you've experienced it already." Garp states as he activates a large amount of unrestrained Haoshoku Haki. Every single animal on Mt. Corvo immediately passed out. Luffy was barely staying conscious, eyes wide with fear.
After a few seconds, Garp ceases. "Do you understand Luffy? These are all powers of the human feelings. Busoshoku is willpower, Kenbunshoku is tranquility, Conquerors is pressure."
"Y-y-y-es. I und-der-rstand" Luffy muttered. "AHAHAHAHAHA" Could be heard from the old man, as he goes to take Luffy into a parental hug.
"Luffy, that's it for today, go home and get some rest. I'll be here tomorrow, where we'll start training."
"Y-y-es Ji-c-cha-" Luffy said before he passed out. All of the exhaustion from his training, his fight with Garp, and his getting a fist of love were all multiplied by the blast of Haoshoku Haki.
Garp carried Luffy back to Foosha village before he tucked him to sleep in Makino's house.
Luffy's ready to begin his Haki Training!
CHAPTER 1 - END