Ace growled in his throat, clutching the pipe hard enough to whiten his knuckles. This was the worst outcome possible. He had been separated from Luffy while hunting for food, and was now stuck alone facing off three tigers. He couldn't help but worry over Luffy. Even though a whole three months had passed since he had returned, the pre-teen wasn't still back to his usual self. The way he was before he disappear. Deep down, Ace knew that Luffy would never be the same. Nights where Luffy slept without having a nightmare were rare, but the straw hat and nio-dasuki had helped to calm the boy down.
He shook his head to concentrate himself. If he made a single wrong move, he would get killed in a few minutes. And Luffy would be all alone again.
No. He wouldn't let that happen. Ever. With that in mind, he darted forward, swinging the pipe in a downward arc to hit the tiger's snout. The satisfying crunch signaled that his attack had hit home, and definitely left the tiger in a daze. Using his momentum from the swing, Ace jumped forward, using the dazed tiger's forehead as a springboard to rebound himself towards the two tigers that were halfway through a pounce.
Ace bit back a curse as the tiger's launched themselves simultaneously their paws outstretched to claw the teen's body. Seeing no choice, Ace bent his body in a backwards C, and letting it all release in a horizontal attack, hoping that he would move out of the way of the tiger's attack.
Ace did move from his previous trajectory, but he couldn't escape one of the tiger's claws. A huge amount of pain shot up from his arm and torso, huge cuts where the claws touched him. Ace winced as hit the ground, subconsciously curling into a ball to prevent further injuries. He blearily opened his eyes as he stopped rolling, only to be greeted by the form of three irate tigers, growling menacingly at him.
Ace closed his eyes, the pain too much, and hoped that Luffy had returned to the bandit camp safe. He kept his eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable, ready to join Sabo in the afterlife. When nothing happened for a few minutes, he opened his eyes again only to regret it. His little brother. his idiotic little Luffy was smiling as he dodged blow after blow from the three tigers attacking simultaneously. "Wha...?"
He watched as Luffy progressed forward towards him, as his smile erupted into the familiar giggles which Ace had been longing to hear. "Shishishishishi", Luffy giggled as dodged another paw swipe by jumping above it, without looking backwards. Ace lay there, dumbstruck and pain forgotten.
"What are you doing, Luffy? There's three of them. Even you take down one, there are still other two!", Ace screamed, trying to ignore the pain. "Forget about me and run!"
Hearing those words, Luffy stopped his giggles and let his straw hat shadow his face. "What did you say Ace?", Luffy asked in a low and cold voice which sent shivers down the teen's spine.
"I said leave me and run! I will-"
"SHUT UP! YOU ARE MY BROTHER! WE PROMISED THAT WE WILL NEVER ABANDON EACH OTHER!", Luffy screamed in anger and desperation while tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "I already lost Sabo! I can't lose you too!"
The words hit like a cannonball to Ace's stomach. Ace watched as Luffy turned around, and cocked his right arm back while the three tigers charged towards the pre-teen. "Leave this to me, Ace", Luffy said as he let out a breath calming himself. Ace could only watch in wonder as Luffy's right arm turned black, something he had seen only Garp do. "Fish Man Karate : Arabesque True Tile Punch!", Luffy called out as he punched the air in front of him.
Ace looked at Luffy comically for this action. How the hell was Luffy going to defeat the tigers by punching thin-... Ace swallowed his thought as a shockwave unleashed from Luffys punch which uprooted everything in its path towards the tigers. Ace's eyes popped out went the tigers went flying to the other end of the opening, blood leaking from their mouths.
"Wha...? What in the world was that?!"
Dadan looked at Ace in concern as he and Luffy brought in three tigers for lunch. Scratch that. That amount of meat was enough to last for three days.
"Wow! Ace you sure went overboard, didn't you?", Dogra asked in amusement as a few other bandits dragged the three carcasses away. Acce said nothing as he took a first aid kit and plopped down, tending to his own injuries.
"I didn't do anything, Dogra. Luffy took the three of them down in a single punch", Ace murmured still in shock. Every bandit snapped their head towards the pre-teen in shock.
"I thought you would keep me starving if I didn't get the lunch fast", Luffy mumbled in a low voice, ducking his head not able to meet their gazes. Dadan's and Ace's heart broke hearing the words. Was this the reason why Luffy didn't want to go hunting with Ace? Had he really thought that they would starve him for not getting the lunch faster? Was this how he had been treated for the past five years?
"You big, big idiot! No one's going to starve you here! I will beat them into a pulp if they do that!", Ace responded with a bit of annoyance.
"I am not sure whether I should feel happy or insulted at that", Dadan remarked with a laugh.
Luffy smiled a little as he took the kit from Ace and started to apply it to his brother. Dadan and Ace looked amazed at how professional Luffy looked, liked he had done it countless times before. The train of thoughts hit them hard. Of course Luffy would know how to tend to injuries. The two had seen the scars. Nobody other than them, Makino, Wood Slap, Ashiro and Garp knew about them. Only the huge, nearly healed wound on Luffy's left side of the neck was the one the others knew.
Ace smiled seeing Luffy diligent wrap a bandage around his left arm. "You know, I am your older brother. I should be the one taking care of you", Ace remarked causing Luffy to look up. "Well, you have surely grown up from that cry baby".
Luffy 'hmph'ed in triumph as he sat beside Ace while the other bandits served the cooked meat. Ace laughed shaking his head as he bit down into his own piece of served meat, salvaging the taste. Beside him Luffy did the same, albeit taking much smaller bites than the others. Something which didn't miss Ace's notice.
"Dadan, can we go down to Foosha? I heard that a travelling weapons dealer was going to come today. I-I wanted to buy a sword", Luffy asked ducking his head, and silently grabbing tightly on the nio-dasuki, which Luffy had reshaped into a belt. Dadan rose a brow at the request.
"Sure. Though I didn't think that you would ever want a sword", the bandit leader replied before going back into one of the room seeing that the lunch was over. Luffy grinned happily at the words.
"Thanks a lot Dadan!", Luffy practically shouted bowing a little to the woman.
"Wait a minute, Luffy! I am coming with you too!", Ace exclaimed, stopping his brother before he could dart out of the house. He winced in pain as he tried to stand up, the wound on his stomach being the main source. He slowly walked out of the house alongside Luffy, quietly taking in the fact had Luffy had changed a lot. He knew that everyday. But it was different seeing Luffy behave so much differently than before. The pair walked silently down to the Foosha village, either not knowing how to start the conversation.
"Hey Lu, I forgot to ask, but where did you your belt... is it, from?"
Luffy looked at Ace in surprise, before looking down and gently gripping the nio-dasuki. "It's a keepsake from a very important person I met there. Its a part of a promise I made him", Luffy replied with a soft smile on his face.
"Like Akagami no Shanks?", Ace asked looking at the straw hat. Luffy shook his head.
"Kind of. Shanks was like an older brother and idol, no offence. He cared for me like a father", Luffy answered. "He was the one who taught me how to wield a sword. Well, he taught me with a spoon since we didn't have any swords available".
Ace hummed quietly, happy that someone was there to look after his brother. And he had cared for him enough that Luffy considered him his father. "I.. I would like to meet him someday", Ace said quietly.
"'m sorry, Ace. H-He sacrificed himself so that I could live", Luffy said in sad and grief-laden voice. Ace quickly gave his brother a tight side hug, and decided to drop the topic.
Everybody in the village greeted Ace and Luffy jovially, as they passed through the streets. Luffy and Ace responded with a smile and a 'Hi' or 'Hello', as they made way to the docks. The pair mentally tried to compare the ship which would be the weapon dealer's.
"Luffy, Ace, I didn;t expect to see you here today", a familiar voice greeted them from behind the pair.
"Ah! Makino-san! Well, Luffy wanted a sword for himself, so here we are", Ace replied with a smile. "What brings you to the docks today?"
"Well, one of the merchant's had some sake from the West Blue, and I thought to try it in the bar", the woman answered before turning to Luffy. "I have to admit, I didn't expect you to take a sword".
Something dark passed in Luffy's eyes. "Well, Gomu Gomu no Mi isn't going to always be helpful in all situations, is it?", Luffy asked, wincing himself at how cold he sounded. "I-I am sorry for t-that".
Makino shook her head with a smile. "No worries".
"Ah! I thought I heard someone talking about buying a sword here. Would like to see some of the swords, young man?", a middle-aged man suddenly asked standing in front of Ace.
"No. My brother want one", Ace replied jerking a thumb in Luffy's direction. The merchant nodded to himself as he led the three onto his ship.
"Well, I have a huge collection of different kind of swords. Which one do you prefer? Nodachi? Short-blades? Long-Blades? Straight swords? Katanas?", the merchant asked as he pointed to the different stacks. "Or if you want a custom one, I bring it to you the next time I visit"
Ace took a look around, fancying himself with one the many weapons. He could ponder on that later. He wanted to see what Luffy chose. He watched with the merchant and Makino as Luffy completely disregarded the other swords and went to check the katanas. He could feel the excitement flowing from Makino beside him. Even he was excited and curious as to which katana (of all the choices? Well, the one Luffy mentioned may have wielded a katana if he is choosing one) Luffy would chose.
Luffy's eyes fell on a katana with a white tsuka(handle), whose thread wrapping extended down into two short piece, each one having a small face of a dragon tied to them. He picked up the sword, marveling the beauty of the sheath. If the sheath itself was this wonderful, he wondered how the blade looked.
"Ahem! I wouldn't take that sword if I were you young man. That sword eats Haki at a rate which has even killed a Marine Vice-Admiral while he was taking a trial. You can say that in a way it's cursed. Considering the quality, Amayori is considered one of the twelve Supreme Grade blades. The same rank which has Gold Roger's blade Ace", Ace looked bewildered at that, "Whitebeard's Murakumogiri, the Shichibukai Dracule Mihawk's Yoru and the Shodai Kitetsu (Kitetsu I)".
Luffy nodded at the information. "Can I try this?"
"DID YOU NOT LISTEN TO WHAT I/HE JUST SAID NOW?!", the three shouted in exasperation.
Luffy then pulled out his ace card. He looked puppy-eyed at his older brother. Ace pinched the bridge of his nose, as he felt a headache rearing it head. "Fine", he grunted out, shaking his head at the shout of joy from his brother.
"Young man, are you sure about this?", the merchant asked again, pleading Ace to rethink the decision to try out the blade.
Ace stood beside the merchant and Makino again, this time on a cliff where Luffy had decided to test out Amayori. He was ready to save his brother's life the moment he felt it was in danger. Makino held her hands close to her in worry, while the merchant was pleading Ace the whole time to rethink his decision.
"I am telling you, that blade has taken the life of a Vice-Admiral!"
Ace paid him no mind as Luffy unsheathed blade, silently observing the blade's quality. Ace's mind went haywire seeing the blade. It was the most beautiful blade he had ever seen. The entire blade was white in color, the guard, the handle, the pommel, the grip. Everything. And the slightly pinkish shade of the skillfully carved dragon in the blade was something else. Hands down it was the most beautiful blade he had ever seen.
"You're beautiful", he heard Luffy mumble.
He watched silently as Luffy held the blade tightly with both of his hands, and closed his eyes to concentrate.
"Luffy, remember that every named blade has its on spirit. And each spirit has its personality. The Kitetsus have a lot of bloodlust, while Enma had a bad habit of sucking away Haki the moment you tried to imbue it with. If you have so-called cursed blade, reach out to its spirit!"
"Lend me your strength, Amayori!", Luffy thought as he sent his Armament Haki into the blade, turning it completely black, except for the craved dragon which now turned red.
Behind him, the three let out a gasp as a white aura surrounded Luffy and took the shape of a flat-headed dragon with six appendage like ears sprouting from the back of its head and wingspan which spread over three tall men across.
"This hadn't happened with the Vice-Admiral...", the merchant said in a breathless voice.
Ace watched in interest as Luffy swung down his blade to cut a tree before him. He amazement at his brother's fluid form turned to shock when the swing sliced off the entire cliff, and made it fall into the sea below. He gulped as Luffy panted heavily, retracting his Armament Haki back without any problem.
Ace wasn't sure what to think of his brother now. Especially after the tiger incident in the afternoon and this! He had to begrudgingly accept that Luffy was far stronger than him. Beside him Makino and the merchant were gobsmacked seeing the sheer strength of the slice.
"Damn, you really like to cut more than needed, don't you?", Luffy asked with a chuckle looking at the white blade.
Finally finding his voice, the merchant walked over to the pre-teen. "Well, I hadn't expected any that. But, it seems you can wield the sword and imbue it with Haki without eh... dying. And normally... seeing that it is a Supreme Grade Blade worth over a few hundred million berries, but... it has been lying around since no one can wield it. No one has wielded it in the twenty years since it was forged. So, seeing that you can wield Amayori, I am gifting it to you", the merchant said with a smile causing Luffy's face to light up in 'D' shaped grin.
"Thanks a lot, Os-san", Luffy thanked as he sheathed the blade in the sheath held by his nio-dasuki belt.
"Ne, young man, what do you want to become?", the merchant asked with a smile.
"I am gonna become the Kinig of Pirates and become the freest man in the World!"
It had been two years since Luffy had return and a month since Ace's seventeenth birthday. In the past two years, Ace had come to know about bits and pieces about Luffy's lost five years, and none of it had painted a good picture. He still didn't know the name of Luffy's adoptive father, nor what his promise was to the man.
His little brother had been beaten, tortured and had suffered much more which Ace could never imagine. He also had come to know, that his little brother had been forced to kill people so that he could live. He didn't want to know anything else Luffy had been forced to do after that. And that was more than a year ago.
For the past month, Ace knew that he had been avoiding the conversation. He didn't want to leave Luffy alone when he knew that he still hadn't fully recovered. He wanted to be there for his little brother, and fill up for the five years he had lost.
And knew the time had come when he had been kicked out of the hut in his sleep on a fine peaceful morning.
"ACE! We had decided to set out when we turned seventeen. And your birthday was a month ago. You're setting sail today! Your boat is ready at the Foosha docks", Luffy announced as he threw a bag towards Ace with all the necessities he would need for the voyage.
"Luffy!", Ace pleaded. "I am going to set out. Just not now".
"I am not going to take any excuses! You're are setting out at sea, forming your own crew and then meet me at the top in the New World", Luffy ordered as he shooed Ace away.
"But-"
"If you stay a day longer, I will send a message of Gramps that you want to become a Marine. And don't worry about me. I have Shanks' straw hat to keep the nightmares away"
"Y-You wouldn't! That's cruel"
"Try me"
"Fine", Ace conceded seeing that Luffy would very well go with the threat. And he absolutely didn't want that. They walked quietly towards the docks in the early morning air, the village still quiet as its residents slept.
"Ace! You came!", Makino exclaimed from the docks. "I thought Luffy was joking when he said that you were setting sail today"
"That brat threatened me to tell the geezer that I wanted to become a Marine"
Dadan chuckled at that. The brother's knew how to annoy each other.
They small group of four bid each other goodbyes as Luffy pushed a reluctant Ace's boat to sea.
"Dadan, thanks for everything you have done for me!", Ace shouted after going some distance in. "And Luffy, I will be waiting for you in the Grand Line!"