Why, hello there, reader. I'm glad you've decided to click in on my fanfiction. It's an idea that's seriously been bugging me for over a month, so I finally decided to get it out of my head. Here are a few things that might be good to know before you read:

1- Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :)

2- I am NOT a native English speaker, so please be nice to me with the mistakes I will undoubtedly make. Of course, I pray my writing, vocabulary, and grammar will all get better as this story moves forward :D

3- This is in fact the first fanfiction I've decided to share with the fanfiction community, but not the first Onefic (one piece fanfiction) I have written. Please, if you feel updating takes too long, leave a review to pressure me to write the new chapter already. (My self-esteem isn't the greatest, so I assure you that's gonna work)

4- I will only change very few things from the canon storyline, and otherwise, try to capture the characters' personalities, as well as my abilities, allow me to.

-While Rob Lucci would originally already be working at Water 7 by now, that's not the case in this story.

-(Don't know if this is canon or not, but just another nice fact to know) This story takes place well around 6 months after Ace has left Dawn Island.

5- Of course I own nothing in this story. All rights go to Toei animation and Odachi.

6- No pairings. Don't like, don't read.

Alright, with that boring stuff out of the way, here's the actual story:

Chapter 1: Cipher Pohl on Dawn Island

The soldiers working under Cp9 had seen many crazy things during the years they had worked for the government. War… death... islands left in ruin… starvation… drought... the list went on and on.

After seeing enough messed up stuff, one of two things was very likely to happen. One, the horrors you've experienced start to haunt you. You'll feel the absolute guilt for the countless lives of innocents (and those who weren't) you've taken, feel yourself get swallowed up by the darkness that would begin to eat away at you until you start going crazy, hearing the never-ending horrifying shrieks of the dead, have a constant illusion of your hands being soaked in blood...

Once an agent starts exhibiting such signs, there's no saving them, no way for them to turn back or be of any help anymore. Countless… countless men have been killed in this disgusting way. Shot. Shot because they've become useless and their will was too weak.

That was the worst-case scenario, though, but not a very uncommon outcome. The only other option that remained was to simply grow numb to these sights - to the truly unforgettable terrors the world had to offer. To learn that no matter what kind of order you're issued, just comply and fulfill that order without hesitation or question unless you'd like to be killed yourself.

Those were the kind of men who had been assigned to this very mission. The truly trustworthy ones who wouldn't dare screw up.

It had only been close to an hour since they finally arrived at Dawn Island. From afar, the island hadn't looked anything unlike what they had expected. Sure, the massive walls encircling the town as well as the giant forest that was at least hundreds of years old from the sheer size and thickness of the trees' trunks was quite unusual for an island in the East Blue, but this was Dawn Island, after all.

An island that perfectly represented the world and how the existing system needed to work in order for peace to remain. Nobility could live happily and without worries, far away from the lower pests inside their expensive houses with their expensive furniture, eat expensive food, wear expensive clothes and jewelry to match e.t.c.

The rest… well, while most were innocent and could live decent lives, others weren't as lucky and would simply have to make do with whatever trash was left behind for them.

As soon as they had landed, a group of around 15 Cipher Pohl agents had gone on ahead and wandered directly into the surrounding (and seemingly never-ending) forest, thinking that was a smart course of action.

That had been the moment they all realized this island was far more than they had originally thought...

This place was seriously dangerous, not to mention scary! Killer beasts, monsters, who looked like they belonged in the Grand Line rather than such a small peaceful island like Dawn, were lurking everywhere they went.

The soldiers couldn't help but feel extremely unnerved and hold tightly on to the rifles they were carrying, as it was their only weapon - their only means of protection against those vicious 'things' lurking here on the island.

It was silent as they walked. (Not that the government dogs were used to chitter-chattering during missions anyway -

"So, uh… how're your wife and kid you left alone 12 years ago to become a mindless minion for the government?"

"Fine… or at least I hope so. I mean, my wife screamed and begged at me to stay but, you know…

Would just really be more awkward than anything...)

They all looked nervously around. Even if it had been quite hot when they had arrived, since it was late August and all, it was nice and cool inside the dense forest. The trees' leaves were blocking out the sun's rays and allowed only a few beams of light to shine through.

It even appeared to have been raining recently, as the air was still humid and the green leaves were covered in small glistening raindrops. It was a very beautiful sight indeed, and with the trees literally being taller than most houses were these days, also a sight quite unlike anything any of the agents had ever seen before.

It could have very easily also been a peaceful -even relaxing - walk. That is, if not for the constant growling and screeching from beasts in the nearby area, which constantly kept the soldiers guard up.

A sudden rustle from some nearby bushes caused the men to flinch from surprise and very quickly point their guns at the noise. A large creature- a bear at least 3 times their size- soon emerged with its paws up and ready to strike. It was growling angrily and drooling. A lot. Clearly, the bear was looking for some breakfast and fortunately (or maybe not so much) had just found some perfect pray to satisfy its hunger.

"A b-bear!?"

"W-where did it come from!?"

"Be careful! Don't underestimate it!"

All of them kept their sights locked on the monster. Their guns were pointed and ready to fire, but clearly shaking as well. They were hesitating out of fear… the creature was big and very tough-looking. Would bullets even work on it…? They couldn't help but wonder.

"Soru!"

While the men were still hesitating, (freakin' useless morons) another figure behind them had decided to take action.

In a blur of speed, the familiar figure appeared in front of the bear, shocking not only his men but the giant creature also.

"Shigan Oren." He said coldly. His voice was empty, robot-like even, and his expression remained emotionless as he suddenly began rapidly poking his hardened index finger into the beast's flesh. It let out a loud growl of pain as was hit over and over and over and over, but the offender was merciless and left the poor creature with no chance of escape. Bullet-like holes were left all over its body and quickly began coloring its fur red.

Needless to say, the fight was over within seconds. Soon, the big bear fell to the ground, dead on the spot.

All the nearby agents who had just witnessed that giant beast get taken out with ease couldn't help but stare in awe.

"A-amazing…!" a man stuttered.

"That's… that's what I'd expect from a man who's been trained personally by the government since he was an infant!"

"Yeah, nice going, Rob Lucci-sama!"

The men let relief wash over them. They had been saved, luckily, but unfortunately had let themselves get carried away…

Rob Lucci glared back at them. Not unusual for the killing machine that Lucci truly was, even with a face as expressionless, as bland, and at the same time, as terrifying as his. It was his eyes… those eyes that had witnessed more tragedies and horrors than all other agents combined. The look he was currently giving them with those exact eyes sent icy-cold shivers down their spines, instantly shutting them up.

Lucci didn't need to be thanked for his work… he didn't need mindless weaklings to tell him he was better than them…. he simply wanted to fulfill his duty, to kill when given the chance and get to experience the thrill of taking a life.

Silence immediately filled the air. The agents were too scared to say anything, so naturally, Lucci was the first to speak:

"Let's go."

Lucci continued walking without waiting for his subordinates. They, a few seconds later though, got themselves together and hurried after him, as they had absolutely no intention of getting left behind here of all places.

"S-sir, are you really sure this is the right island? From what our intel can tell us, our target would still be just a child... Surely, living in this dangerous forest would be impossible for him on his own..."

"Of course, there's always the possibility he's managed to get himself a fake name and is living inside the city, within the safety of the walls, but such false identities and lies can only get you so far. Surely, somebody would have discovered his true intentions and identity after this many years if that were the case..."

"P-plus, this entire search was set in motion just 'cause of one tiny rumor… even if we are the world government's intelligence agency, searching an entire island just to find somebody who very likely isn't here would-"

"Would mean he's already lived approximately 14 years of his life undiscovered on this island without the government having the slightest clue before now… Don't forget, our target is the son of the revolutionary Dragon. If he is allowed to simply run around freely on this danger-filled island, his strength will evolve quickly, and he will without a doubt become a great threat the day he decides to go out into the world and cause havoc…" Lucci tensed at his own statement.

As a member of Cp9, he just would not allow that to come true… the world was already filled with enough dangerous figures as it was, people with dangerous relationships and connections…. another one meant double the trouble, thrice the danger, and four times as much regret for not taking care of things before it was too late.

"Even if the chances that he was even born are slim, as long as they're still there, we must make sure such a dangerous seed of evil is never allowed to bloom… you fools shouldn't doubt the government. Just follow orders, like always, and things are bound to turn out for the best."

And with that, the Cp9 agents stopped yapping, lowering their heads in shame, and simply walked in silence behind their commander.

That's right... they had a duty to fulfill, and failure could mean trouble for the entire world eventually. Best case scenario, this really was just a false rumor, and they could report nothing to be wrong after all… Worst case, he truly was born, but already knew of their arrival and had fled the island… being the son of the leader of the revolutionary army, that was a possibility they couldn't overlook either.

The rest of their journey through the prosperous forest (it was more like a jungle honestly) was silent. No more beasts had a go at them. Maybe something scared them away, or maybe they were simply that lucky...

Big as the scary forest was, though, it didn't take the intelligent men long before they found themselves somewhere entirely different. Strangely enough, they had now exited the forest, and yet, it was just as dark as it had been while they had been walking under the protection of the big tree-tops. Massive heaps of trash and smoke now made up their surroundings, and a horrible smell of rotting food, stools, and a strange distant odder of burnt garbage instantly hit them. In other words, they had now reached Gray Terminal.

All the unfortunate people, who called this junkyard their home, quickly noticed the group of unusual visitors approaching, and send some very strange and overly surprised looks their way.

They all immediately stopped ruffling through the trash. No one dared to move... those guys seemed extremely serious, not to mention scary… plus, their clothing indicated they certainly weren't from this island, but still, somebody very important who could mean a lot of trouble for them...

"O-oi..! A-aren't they…!?"

"Yeah… better not mess with those guys…"

"Shh! Morons! Do you wanna accidentally say something that could get you killed..!?"

It very soon turned completely silent throughout Gray Terminal… something which would, normally, only ever happen at night. Day time, people were busy looking through trash, and more often than not, big fights would break out if something valuable was discovered.

There was always some kind of commotion on the Gray Terminal… but during the evening, some of the more... "friendly" people would gather around a fire, tell stories and drink from dirty shitty old bottles filled with even shittier-tasting liquor, until eventually, guards from the city would come and order them to turn in already if they valued their already pathetic lives even in the slightest.

The newly arrived agents, however, paid the unwelcoming eyes no mind. All of these guys were lowlife petty criminals, outcasts from society and deemed undeserving of any better by the rest of the world… should one of them try something funny, they, as agents for the government, had not only the strength but also the authority to kill every single one of them on the spot if they deemed it necessary.

The atmosphere was tense, filled with fear as well as curiosity as to what the hell such people could be doing at Grey Terminal of all places. Their questions, however, would soon receive an even more questionable answer, as the group of agents stopped in their tracks, eyes still glued on them when Lucci spoke:

"You."

He sent a heartless glare directly in the direction of an unfortunate man sitting nearby.

"Eh?" Confused, the nervous man looked around to verify that Lucci was actually talking to him. Unfortunately, nobody else even stood close to him, so he was forced to look him back in those monster-like eyes of his.

"W-who, me…?" He stuttered.

"I need you to truthfully answer my question... got that?"

His voice was a stone-cold as ever, and his eyes told everything... "talk or die". The man gulped, simply nodding as a response as he didn't dare do otherwise.

"We're here… searching for a certain somebody. A kid, should be around 14 years old… Would you happen to know him...? Somebody by the name Monkey D. Luffy?"

The man's eyes widened from surprise, all of his fear instantly replaced by confusion. Other nearby Grey Terminal inhabitants couldn't hide the shock from their faces either.

"L-Luffy…?"

That had... certainly come as a surprise… sure, he knew the brat. Way way way way way to well, in fact. The brat was annoying as hell, running around, stealing, dine n' dashing, beating up thugs and such things, but even so... it's not like he had ever done anything really bad or to seriously hurt somebody.

So then, why the hell would such important-looking figures take notice of such a weak squirt and go through the trouble of coming all the way to Dawn island - all the way to East Blue - just to find the kid?

Lucci's sudden question had caused more questions to pop up in the thug's own mind. He stared blankly in the air, his mind still trying to process everything. Unfortunately, Lucci's patience didn't last long when he received no answer from the man.

"So..?" He asked, his voice sharpening.

"W-well, there certainly is a kid running around by the name Luffy... the guy might be small, but he causes nothing but trouble wherever he goes. He and his brothers always used to be together, b-but he's the only one who's still on this island."

…

Silence. Shock. Confusion, but most noticeably, fear was invoked and filled the air from that one statement.

"B-b...Brothers..?"

"So then, does that mean he isn't the only one...!?"

Panic immediately began stirring up within the ranks of the government agents. He even said "brothers" so that implied there was not only one, but at least two others who shared the same blood as him.

Lucci was the only one who didn't show any kind of surprise from this (but admittedly, it was a really disturbing discovery) and just kept quiet while not taking his eyes off of the criminal before him. He never did during an interrogation, and the punk wasn't done speaking either...

"We've all heard the rumors by now... apparently, one of them died in some accident over 7 years ago, so luckily for us, that meant only two of them were left to deal with. The other, and oldest of the three, set out to sea a few months ago to become a pirate."

Hmp? A pirate, huh…? not unexpected from one with such troublesome blood...

"And... what might this pirate's name be..?"

"Huh?" The man seemed confused as to why his name would matter when they specifically asked for Luffy litteral minutes ago.

"W-well.. you guys sure seem like you'd be well informed, so… I'm sure you must know it! He's an infamous man whose risen to power and infamy faster than any rookie since the pirate king, Gold Roger, himself…! Not only does he have a logia-type devil fruit, the rarest of the three classes, but he also became the second division commander on the legendary Whitebeard's ship a mere week ago! He's…

"Fire fist" Ace!"

The man's trembling words echoed throughout the silent junkyard, reawakening the hate in some cases for the ones who knew that pirate brat personally, but only more utter confusion and shock in the astounded agents, who this time were utterly speechless, to shocked to even flinch, to further stress out over this new piece of information.

'Such a big shot, huh…'

Lucci let the information sink in. This could explain why and how that rookie had managed to gain power as terrifyingly quickly as he had… the only problem here was that he lived under Whitebeard's protection, so getting to him would be very tricky. After all, Whitebeard was a man known far and wide across all 6 oceans to even go to war should somebody dare threaten his "children."

Lucci had a hunch, though… a kind of feeling that facing the wrath of an emperor actually wouldn't become a problem. Even if it was just a knack in the back of his head, a small irritation telling him something was wrong, something about this story was wrong…

The revolutionary Dragon didn't really strike Lucci as the kind of guy who'd go around and get multiple kids… sure, one was entirely plausible, but three…? (At the bare minimum, but more than that seemed even more unlikely)

He wanted to get to the bottom of this. Hearing the story from this random thug was one thing… they could always exaggerate the things they had seen and heard, and simply assume that since they were so close and good friends, that they were brothers or something. That's how a rumor was made. A rumor was one thing. But this case was too serious for them to simply believe anything they were told… as the leader of the intelligence agency, they needed facts. True information from a very reliable source.

"Alright then, just answer this one last question:"

"Where does Monkey D. Luffy live?"

O-o-O-o-O

"Makino! Makino!" The doors to the bar burst open, and in sprang the familiar adorable 14-year old individual known as Luffy.

The sudden sound of the doors nearly bursting of their hinges was more than enough to make the green-haired bartender flinch from surprise, but she immediately calmed herself and instinctively smiled widely as she recognized the face of the child standing in her door.

Luffy was smiling his typical wide D-smile. He was extremely dirty for some reason, and a bunch of bruises could also be spotted everywhere on his body, indicating he had just finished his training. Luckily, it didn't look bad. (It was quite unusual for him to be seriously injured anyway).

"Luffy!" She exclaimed joyfully, immediately abandoning her post behind the counter (she had no customers to treat anyway) and hurried over to the tiny boy to give him a welcoming hug.

"It's only been a few months since we last saw each other… you've grown stronger again, haven't you?" Makino observed.

Even if you couldn't see it physically (Luffy's arms were as scrawny and stick-like as ever) Makino knew Luffy had certainly gotten better. His sheer happiness and tight grip around her more than proved it.

Luffy giggled loudly, staring straight up into Makino's familiar face.

He was really happy to see Makino again…. really! Time passed by slowly when he was on his own, and strangers (townsfolk), bandits, nobles, and scavengers were the only other humans past mount Corvo for him to be together with, so getting to talk with somebody he actually cared for, who actually cared for him, was really helpful in keeping back the temptation of not just becoming a pirate and start his adventure already, instead of having to wait another 3 long years.

Strangely enough, though, Luffy didn't pay Makino's compliment any mind… something entirely different was going on in his head, something that was making him restless and super excited.

"Hey, Makino! I have something totally cool you just need to see!"

Makino blinked, slightly confused.

"Hm? What is it?"

Curiosity could be heard clearly in her voice. Luffy had come all the way to Foosha just because he had something to show off...? This was quite unusual, even nowadays where Luffy would visit more often, thanks to Ace's absence.

Luffy, however, only chuckled happily, like the child that he was, at Makino's question.

"It's a secret until you see it!"

And with those chipper and highly enthusiastic words, Luffy sprang back over to the doors, only managing to yell a quick "Hurry after me!" before he was gone just as fast, and loudly, as he had entered.

Makino looked a little bewildered after the boy, though couldn't resist letting out a chuckle shortly after.

'He never changes, no matter how many years pass..' Makino thought shaking her head. Immediately after, though, she felt a nice warmth spread through her body from the thought...

It was that feeling… when mothers watched their kids grow up and time suddenly just began passing faster and faster... She realized the day where they would have to part ways only kept growing closer and closer, the day where Luffy would chase his dream, one he had strongly been holding onto ever since he had met Shanks all those years ago...

Makino, however, shook her head yet again, pushing the feeling aside for now and then hurried out through the doors, after Luffy to go see what the crazy boy had in store for her this time. She still had 3 whole years, and hopefully, that would be enough…

Luffy was super duper excited. The two walked through the town (well, Makino was the one doing the walking, as Luffy was running well around 30 feet ahead of her, and only stopped every now and then to tell Makino to hurry up), without meeting a single villager.

Strange as that seemed, it honestly wasn't surprising the more Makino thought about it. Most adults would be working right around now, and not many trusted their kids to simply run around freely outside where they'd be unable to watch over them. Most elderly people were probably taking a nap around this time of day, or out at sea since many worked as fishermen.

It was strange, though, even if Foosha was a very quiet and peaceful village, seeing the streets totally empty like this.

Strange as it was, it was just a mere crazy coincidence. And besides, Makino had bigger worries right now than the empty feeling she got from seeing her home village totally deserted like this.

Luffy was far far ahead of her - barely even visible anymore. She sped up her walking paste (though still not running) hurrying as her curiosity was still only increasing and she didn't want to accidentally lose sight of the small boy.

It didn't take long to reach their destination. Foosha village wasn't big, after all, and Luffy had only led them to the entrance to the forest. Makino, however, could barely keep herself from stumbling backward, just from pure shock, as she finally laid eyes on what was making Luffy so riled up…

"T-that's…!" Her voice was tiny from fear.

Luffy didn't seem the least bit worried. More just… like you would expect Luffy to react in this current situation, really, smiling even wider than he normally would.

"See!? I told you it was totally cool!" Luffy exclaimed, immediately breaking into a burst of joy-filled laughter.

Luffy was currently not standing on the ground. Instead, the boy, who currently looked even smaller from where Makino was standing, had decided to climb onto the back of a giant dead bear - which was at least 5 or 6 times Luffy's size - and was waving proudly from its back.

Makino laughed nervously as a reply to Luffy's earlier question. She didn't really know how to describe what she was currently beholding, but cool definitely wasn't the first word that came to mind...

Something, however, very quickly struck Makino as extremely odd… something was wrong here, something wasn't how it should be, as Luffy-like as representing a catch he'd killed definitely was.

All over the beast's body, tiny bullet-like wounds -which certainly was the cause of its death- could be spotted. Her brows furrowed… Had Luffy done this to the poor bear…? It was a very gruesome way to kill an animal, and also most certainly a thing Makino, not even in her wildest dreams, could imagine Luffy would (or could for that sake) do just to get some food, even if it was meat.

"Say, Luffy? Did you kill this thing?" She asked hesitantly.

"Nope! I just found this thing lying dead in the forest where nobody was gonna find it and it would go to waste! The problem is it's too big for me to cook on my own, so I decided to take it here instead! Say, Makino, could you help me cook it!? I'm already starving!"

As if to amplify his point, Luffy's stomach a second later gave out a loud and long growl.

Yup, definitely starving from the sound of it.

Makino blinked from disbelief, but then, once again, couldn't hold back a happy innocent chuckle from this. Of course… this was Luffy, the biggest eater she had ever met, whose appetite was rivaled only by Ace's or Garp's, after all...

"Of course I'll help you, Luffy."

Luffy's face lit up from pure happiness, and drool began dripping from his mouth simply from the thought. It had been soooo long since he had gotten to eat real cooking, nonetheless Makino's, the greatest cook he had met in his short life.

"YAY! Hooray! That means I get to eat Makino's delicious food again!" Luffy cheered.

Luffy, overjoyed by this, began celebrating by dancing and jumping around on the top of the bear in the most adorable and childish manner.

Makino giggled at the unusual sight, (never thought she'd get to see a kid (one made of rubber of all things) dance around happily atop a giant dead animal) But the lighthearted moment was soon interrupted by another shouting voice:

"Oi! Makino! So this is where you went off to!? And is that really you Luffy!? It's been a while, hasn't it!?"

Luffy stopped with his celebration dance, and instead turned his attention towards the direction of the voice, scouting for the owner. Since he was already much higher up than normal, it was easy to spot the giant group of cheerful inhabitants of Foosha village approaching.

They were all waving and smiling. From what Luffy could tell, everybody, like all the faces he could remember from 7 years ago, plus a couple he couldn't (didn't know if it was 'cause he had simply forgotten about them, or if they were new additions to the village) were in that group of approaching villagers.

In other words, basically the entire village had hiked up the hill to go greet Makino and Luffy.

Luffy couldn't keep in his happiness as he saw the familiar faces come closer, and immediately, (it was almost just an instinct to Luffy at this point) let a smile, one that could probably stop wars from how bright it was, lit across his face.

"Oi! You guys! Long-time no see, huh!?"

His happy, and outright just adorable, dance from before returned, only this time, he was waving with all his might as well.

It didn't take very long for the villagers to reach Makino and Luffy. The sight seemed odd… all the inhabitants of a village gathered on the hill like this. Not that Foosha was, by any means, a very big or in any way fancy village, but still…

"Hey, Luffy! What's wrong with you!? Why'd you go through the trouble of coming all the way down from the mountain, and then not even stay in your home village long enough to even say "hello!?" Came an angry complaint from the mayor, Woop Slap.

Luffy, however, merely laughed at the tiny man's scolding: "Sorry, sorry! I was just really hungry and wanted this thing cooked up as soon as possible… guess I just forgot or something!"

Only now did Woop Slap, and a couple of other villagers here and there, notice just what the hell Luffy was actually standing on.

Their reactions were much similar to Makino's, say except for the mayor himself. His face gradually turned more and more blue from terror, for a moment looking like he was gonna have a heart attack. He, fortunately, did not, and instead, felt his already questionable balance fail him, causing him to fall backward, straight on his bum.

"Wh-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what in Oda's name is that!?" He screamed, cowardly tears of fear streaming down his face.

"Shishishishishishishi! Isn't it cool!? I dragged it here myself!" Luffy proclaimed proudly. Only now did the boy bother jumping down onto the ground to stand eye to eye with the villagers.

"Amazing… are you really strong enough to do that now?"

"Of course!"

"That's impressive Luffy. I sure as hell couldn't do that when I was 14 years old…"

"Yeah, I'd say you're even much stronger than any adult man here in Foosha."

"Oi! Little brat! Answer me, just what the hell is that monster!?" Sounded another angry yelp from Woop Slap, who still sat on the ground, rubbing his sore butt.

Luffy completely ignored the old mayor (like always) and simply laughed. It was great seeing everybody again… slow as the days sometimes were, literal years had just casually passed since Luffy had properly talked with any of the villagers (say except Makino and the Mayor, of course).

(Un)fortunately, for Luffy, with so much time lost, it was only natural that the villagers a second later began bombarding Luffy with questions: "How've you been?" "Is training tough?" "Are you still eating properly? (Seeing as how Luffy was awfully skinny) and such small seemingly unimportant things.

Luffy was completely uninterested in answering any of them, though they left him no time to provide an answer or explain himself anyway.

Makino, ignoring the commotion and walked straight through the riled-up crowd and over to the still cursing Woop Slap to offer a helping hand to the fallen man. He silently accepted her help, not wanting to admit that his old age might finally had begun to catch up with him.

"Say, Luffy, now that everyone is together anyway, why not put that meat to good use? We could throw a banquet for the entire village with this thing, how does that sound!?"

"What!? A banquet!? That sounds delicious!"

Luffy's face lit up. He hadn't had a banquet for… well, ever since Ace set out to sea, but that was already many months ago! He began drooling just from the thought of getting to eat endless amounts of delicious meat.

"Then, let's build a giant fire in the center of the town. With something this big, we'll need it."

"But we're also gonna need some other kinds of food to go with the meat… some vegetables and rice sound good."

"Don't forget about plates. With so many people, we're gonna need a lot of those too, oh, and mugs too, since it won't be a party without liquor."

"YEAH!" Practically all mean screamed at that last comment - no, fact.

The villagers began happily discussing the preparations. Parties, where the entire village would be involved, happened so rarely - too rarely, honestly- nowadays after all. The joy and excitement spread quickly. The villagers couldn't wait. Wait to catch up on Luffy's life and reconnect with the kid, wait to stay up way later than what should be acceptable even for adults, wait to be irresponsible and get hella drunk.

Makino, however, couldn't help but feel uneasy, despite the great atmosphere… of course, she was looking forward to having a great time with Luffy and the villagers, but… but something, a thought - a worry even - was nagging the back of her head...

Even if they were gonna put that dead bear to good use at this party, Makino just couldn't help but wonder how the hell it had died in the first place. It could impossibly have been any kind of natural reason with wounds like those… which meant...

'Somebody else must have killed it… what worries me is that this has never happened before… does.. does that mean somebody… somebody dangerous is here on this island - no - on the mountain where Luffy lives…?'

How was that? Acceptable? I hope so *sweats intensely*

Please keep in mind that this is only the first Chapter, and I promise I will get more exciting and heartbreaking if you just give me a little time. I already have the 2nd Chapter written, so I only need to pimp it up a bit so it isn't quite as bad. You can expect the 3rd chapter to be out soon too, as I have it about 70% written.

Please review: Was it good? Bad? Anything I seriously need to improve on? (If that's the case, please clarify so I know what )

-Cookie