yes here it is, my second One Piece story!

Yeah, I just couldn't help myself. This plot bunny had been begging to be brought to life, as it's the one year anniversary of my writing adventures today, it seemed an appropriate time to post it and start a second adventure.

As I said it's an ASL fic with my own twists. Timeliness and others facts will be messed with or completely ignored. Ace is not entirely human, I will reveal his heritage later but, as the clues add up I think you'll be able to guess.

Ace will wind up with his devil fruit, Luffy already had his and I'm undecided about giving Sabo one. I have one in mind but, I think I'd like to get some input on what my readers want to see there. PM me or leave your thoughts in a review if you'd like.

The Whitebeard Pirate's will also cone into play, I just love the idea of them on the Moby Dick together.

updates will be on a regularly unscheduled basis, hopefully often enough. Just remember I'm working on two stories and have mercy on my soul. I know, I know, I really shouldn't be taking on two at once but, I was about to go into brain-lock if I solely focused on Of Fluffy Tails and Furry Ears much longer. Writers block was already creeping in but, I think I got it off my trail for now.

Again, I hold with my belief that reviews are a privilege, not a right. But, reviews or constructive criticism are welcome if you feel this fic is worthy.

Warnings/special notes:

Mentions of blood but nothing too graphic. Only a handful of Dandan's bandits are actually named, so far as I know. The one that kind of looks like a rooster I'm calling Red.

Ace ran through the jungle, ignoring his own pain and fear. He had more iportant things- two important things to focus on. Wrapped securely in one arm each were his two brothers. Sabo was badly injured and thankfully unconscious, while Luffy's face was bloody and had yet to cease crying.

Ace prayed to whatever God that was out there that might listen to one such as he that his brothers would be ok, that Dandan and her bandits had made it back to their home, that they could help his brothers, that he would have enough time to make preparations to leave before the villagers came hunting him.

Oh, yes come they would, for now they knew one of his secrets. Ace saw the fear in the villagers eyes after they saw him kill Bluejam. They knew what he was now and soon that fear would turn into hatred and then they would be out to kill him. Ace could see it written in their faces, there was only a few that saw but, the news would spread faster then the fire that had swept through the gray terminal.

Ace tried to push the fire to the back of his mind. Tried not to think of the blast that Sabo had been caught up in, though he knew that the scream Sabo let out when the fiery blast hit him would be forever engraved in his memory.

Ace was still cursing Sabo for trying to leave the island on his own like that.

There was so many things that happened in the last few hours that Ace tried not to think about.

Luffy wriggled in Ace's hold, trying to get a look at his other older brother. Ace had been careful not to let Luffy see just how bad Sabo was. Luffy's movement jarred one of Ace's own injuries, causing him to gasp and stumble.

Ace went down to his knees while still maintaining a grip on his brothers. "Ace..." It was both a question and a plea from his little brother. Ace steeled himself for the inevitable response from Luffy and moved so he could get a look at Sabo.

Ace knew it was bad, burns were always bad. The one on Sabo's left side of his face was most worrying, so close to his eye... Ace could only hope it would not affect his eyesight. "Sabo..."Luffy wimpered .

Luffy looked, really looked at Ace and gasped. How could he not have noticed his other big brothers condition. He let his worry for Sabo take up all the room in his head. Ace was hurt bad too... "Ace..." Luffy wimpered his name too, he brought his left hand up, letting it hover over Ace's right shoulder. The fabric of his shirt had been ripped and the wound was still bleeding sluggishly.

"I'll be fine, it looks worse than it is." Ace was lying through his teeth on this one but, he managed a week smile. "Besides, not all of the blood is mine..."

Luffy looked back to Sabo. "Sabo will be ok too?" Ace kept every hint of worry he could off of his face and out of his voice. "Idiot! Of course he'll be fine! Sabo is a lot stronger than you!"

That seemed to satisfy Luffy enough for the moment. "Come on, we need to get to Dandan's." Ace stood up again and went to pick up Luffy- "No!" Luffy almost shouted. "Luffy, this is no time to fool around. We need to get going!" Ace nearly growled.

"Ace shouldn't carry me too! Ace is hurt!"

"So are you! You can't keep up!"

"Ace isn't running as fast as nornal."

Ace glared at Luffy but, it was true. Even without his brothers he doubted he could run as fast as normal. "Fine. But if you stumble or slow down, I'm carrying you again."

It seemed like hours until Dandan's house came into view. Ace's vision began to swim, he felt like he weighed tones, every step had been agony. He was aware of Luffy pounding on the door and shouting.

There was hurried footsteps and the door was flung open. Dogra was standing there looking worried, some if that worried look ebbed away upon seeing the boys.

"It's the brats! They're all here! Red get in here, they're injured!"

As Ace and Luffy entered, Dandan came into the room, along with Red. He immediately went to take Sabo.

Ace swayed, he did it. He got both of his brothers to safety. For now, they were safe. Ace knew there were other reasons he needed to stay awake but, right now thy didn't seem important enough. All of the stubborn drive and determination drained out of Ace, along with colors. The world looked washed of color and light.

Ace felt like he was falling while standing up. He could hear voices but, couldn't bring himself to listen to them as everything went dark...

~~~~~ Page Break ~~~~~

Luffy stared at his brothers collapsing form with unbelieving eyes. Ace was strong, the strongest of them all. Never before had Luffy seen Ace so... hurt. Never before had Luffy thought he might loose eaither of his brothers... Then, he would be alone again.

Alone

All alone.

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy cried. Suddenly arms wrapped around him, preventing him from getting to his brothers. Magra, another of the bandits went to Ace. He picked Ace up, carrying him into the room Red had taken Sabo.

"Lost a lot of blood-"

"Completely run through-"

"Mutiple-"

Luffy only caught a few words before the door was slammed shut. "Let me go! Ace! Sabo!"

"They'll be fine Luffy." It was Dandan that had grabbed him. "Sabo has some burns, they'll heal with time." Dandan paused, phrasing her next words carefully. Dandan could not tell the full extent of Ace's injuries, he could hide them too well. Ace could take more than any normal human could, still she knew they were bad, very bad.

So much blood and Ace was already injured before this... Even Ace could only take so much, he was not unkillable, though damn close.

"And Ace is far too stubborn a brat to give up. I expect his... mixed heritage gives him a helping hand with healing too. He'll be fine and back to being a pain in the ass in no time."

Oh how Dandan hoped that her words would come true. Luffy would shatter if he lost one of his brothers, he would die on the inside if he lost them both.

Dandan's tone softened as she added. "Come on, lets get a look at your face. It looks like those stitches from the bear attack have been ripped out."

Luffy tried very hard not to cry, it would not feel right without Ace there to smack him on the back of the head and say 'Stop being such a crybaby!' Or having Sabo there, telling Ace off for doing so.

Luffy would wait until he could cry and have everything go the way it was supposed to.

Luffy was seven and his view of the world would never be the same again. Suddenly, his brothers were not so invincible anymore and now he knew that there was truly evil people out there. So twisted, so wrong that you could hardly even call them people anymore.

And yet...

And yet...

Normal people, who knew that kind of evil can be in other people would call someone like Ace a monster, a demon if they knew what he was, completely ignoring the real evil in the world.

Luffy couldn't understand. He thought his brother was so cool the way he was. He wasn't evil, being what he was didn't make him evil. There was plenty of 'normal' people that did a far better job at being cruel and evil than Ace ever did, even when he was in a grumpy mood.

~~~~~ Page Break ~~~~~

One of the last things Sabo saw before blessed unconsciousness took his pain away was a pair of glowing red eyes and he knew that Ace was there, would keep them safe.