Chapter Text
There was smoke everywhere. No matter which way he looked, fire consumed everything. The little boy, no older than eight, was terrified as he clutched his scorched top hat in his small, dirty hands.
Why? Why was this happening?
They came without warning, killing anyone who got in their way. The boy had watched while the kind citizens of the town had been butchered and left for dead. He assumed that his own family had escaped on their private boat, not that they cared enough to come looking for him, the black sheep of the family. The nobles who lived in the High Town, as it was called, had their own private docks to escape to. They could care less what happens to the people of Low Town.
Sneering at the thought, Sabo jammed the worn-out hat onto his dirty blonde locks, now smeared with dirt and grime, and started to run, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Weaving through the collapsing homes, he tried not to retch at the sight of so much blood covering the ground and walls of what used to be Foosha.
He had to escape. He had to get out of here.
Suddenly, he heard crying, that turned into loud screaming. He turned towards the noise.
That sounded like a kid.
Sabo pushed himself close to what used to be the wall of the smithy and sidled to the edge to peek around the corner. In the middle of the street, was a small boy, no toddler, that was currently being held tightly by a massive werebeast. He cursed under his breath and whipped his body even closer to the wall.
The boy was tiny, smaller than any Sabo had seen, with fluffy, raven hair that was currently matted with blood. He also had a deep cut right underneath his left eye that was bleeding profusely, mixing with his tears. The toddler struggled desperately against the claws of the beast that held him up around his middle, pinning his scuffed arms to his side. The beast, only needing to use one clawed hand to restrain the boy, chuckled darkly as he examined the captured human, his wolf-like tail swaying slowly behind him.
"Aw, what's wrong, little one? Scared?" The beast growled out as he licked his long tongue over his incredibly sharp teeth. The boy only whimpered in response as the claws gripped tighter around the small body.
The beast smirked as he brought the toddler closer, grasping his bloody face with his other hand, or paw, forcing the boy to look at him.
"You know, I think you will make a good pet for my Alpha." The boy simply continued to cry, his eyes showing no understanding of what the beast said.
Sabo, however, knew exactly what the beast was inferring. Slavery. The beasts, after raiding and killing to their hearts content, were known to take those who survived as slaves.
He would not allow such a small, innocent child to become some animals' pet.
Gritting his teeth, he looked around desperately for a weapon. Picking up a pipe from the remains of the smithy, he readied himself for what he was about to do. Taking a deep breath, he slipped out from his hiding place to a pile of debris a few meters away from where the beast was standing. Slamming himself behind the pile, Sabo peeked over to see the back of the beast who was still cackling to his prisoner.
It was now or never.
Leaping over the debris, Sabo brandished his metal pipe and hit the beast in the back of the head as hard as he could. It connected with a sickening crack and the beast went down. The toddler fell to the ground with a yelp and scrambled away from the downed beast, tears continuing to stream down his face.
Sabo ran forward, scooping up the boy, and ran as fast as he could, knowing the beast would not stay down for long. Weaving between houses, he pushed the small boy's head into his chest, not wanting him to see any more carnage than he already had.
As he neared the edge of the forest, Sabo felt the little one's hands grasp at his shirt as the boy cried, desperate for comfort.
'Does he have a family?' Sabo sighed. 'If he does, they are most likely dead now.' He looked once again at the mop of black hair and combed his fingers through the matted locks.
"Don't worry, you're safe now," Sabo whispered to the toddler as he continued to run, his breath becoming labored.
After nearly two hours of hard running, Sabo had to stop and catch his breath. Gently placing the child on the ground, the blonde boy quickly examined their surroundings. They had stopped running in the forest next to Foosha, hopefully far away from the attacking beasts. Finally feeling somewhat safe, Sabo dropped to the ground and rested his hurting body against the nearest tree and buried his face in his hands. Against his will, tears began to slide down his grimy cheeks.
'No!' He thought, quickly wiping them away. 'I'm stronger than this!'
He then felt a small weight flop itself into his lap. Startled, Sabo looked down at the toddler who was currently making himself comfortable on his legs.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Sabo practically screamed, pushing the child away.
The boy looked up at him, his big chocolate-brown eyes examining him quietly. The boy then, ignoring his earlier outburst, began to crawl back into Sabo's lap.
' What the heck is with this kid?' The child, for the second time, plopped into his lap and snuggled into his chest, sighing contently.
"Oi, kid," The boy looked up hearing his voice. "What's your story?" The child, showing no signs of understanding, simply blinked before reaching up to Sabo's face and wiping at the salty streams. Catching the boy's hands, Sabo gently cradled the little one in his lap. "Hey, do you have a name?" He cracked a small smile, "My name is Sabo."
The kid looked up at him with those big doe eyes and smiled the cutest smile Sabo had ever seen.
"'Bo! 'Bo!" The kid squeaked excitedly. Sabo chuckled, "SA-BO. Can you say that?"
"'Bo!" Okay so maybe not. He pointed at his chest, "Sabo." Then pointed at the child seeing if he would catch on. The boy's eyes lit up in understanding and he chirped out, "Lu!"
"Your name is Lu?" Sabo asked. The boy nodded, but then seemed to rethink his decision as he started to shake his head back and forth. "No? That's not your name?" Okay he was confused now.
Pointing his chubby finger at himself, the boy slowly said, "Lu-ffy." Ah, so 'Lu' was a nickname? How cute. He smiled at the small boy, "It's nice to meet you, Luffy. It looks like we're stuck together for a while, huh?" Luffy just smiled and started to doze against his chest.
'It's probably a good idea to get some rest.' Sabo thought as he gently shifted Luffy on his chest watching as the toddler gently suckled his thumb as he slept. Looking at the innocence portrayed, Sabo frowned thinking back at the destruction and death they both had barely escaped from. Everyone they knew were probably dead and their home destroyed. They had done nothing wrong! Savage creatures. Tightening his hold around Luffy, his bottom lip started to tremble as he tried not to cry. 'No! I must be strong. For him.' Sabo looking tenderly at the boy he had saved and literally just met. 'He deserves a better life.'
'I will protect him. No matter what.'
Slowly opening his eyes, Sabo woke from his fitful sleep and stared at the plain "walls" of his tent. 'It has been so long since that day,' Sabo thought as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
Thirteen years to be exact.
Now a seasoned tactician and warrior, Sabo worked directly under the leadership of the Resistance. Many soldiers looked up to him and trusted him with their lives. Others, mostly older veterans, had a hard time accepting orders from such an inexperienced warrior. He was, after all, only twenty-two years old.
Sabo yawned as he slowly got out of bed and made his way to the makeshift vanity in the far corner of his tent. Splashing water on his face from the wash basin, he looked up at himself in the mirror, taking in his tired appearance. Sabo had let his blonde curls grow out over the years, now letting them hover right above his shoulders. Though, they felt greasy in his hands as washing your hair was a luxury nowadays. Tall and lean, Sabo was somewhat proud of the physique he had developed through years of training and fighting against the beasts. He then let his hands run along the myriad of scars that covered the left side of his body, shivering as his cold fingertips met the almost continuously hot skin.
Sabo's exploration stopped when his calloused hand reached the side of his face, not that he could feel it. While he had retained some feeling in his torso, the burns to his face were so severe the nerves no longer functioned properly. His left eye, once a vibrant blue, now shown a milky white. Unseeing. No matter how many times Sabo ran his fingers over the marred skin, he felt none of it. Sighing, the blonde dropped his hand and pulled on his dark blue tunic.
Once he was fully dressed, Sabo straightened his top-hat and cravat in the mirror and pushed aside the cloth flap that served as his tent door to enter the yard of the resistance camp. As their main camp settlement, the rows of tents seemed to stretch for miles. Sabo's tent was located near the back of the camp along with all other officers with the normal soldiers bunked further towards the entrance. Squinting as he adjusted to the early morning sunlight, Sabo was met with the majestic beauty of the surrounding cliffs that encased their camp, offering a natural wall of protection against outside threats. Unfortunately, that meant there was only one way in, and one way out of the camp. Unless you were a good climber.
As Sabo made his way towards the commander's tent, he was met with the hustle-and-bustle of soldiers waking and the watch changing. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the normalcy of it all.
CLANG!
Sabo was jolted out of his daze as he passed the training grounds. There on the field were a dozen young men taking turns practicing with swords, mallets, and bows. Among other things. He never understood why Captain Morgan, the soldier in charge of training the rookies, insisted on tying a massive axe to his severed hand. It seemed… cumbersome. Sabo disregarded the strange thought and turned back to observe the talent of the new comers. He narrowed his eyes at what he saw.
All the young men and women gathered had been drafted from settlements in the area only weeks before. Due to the increase in werebeast attacks lately, the Resistance grew desperate for new troops. The leaders had an emergency meeting and, in their desperation to fill the gaps of those killed or captured by the enemy, lowered the draft age to sixteen. Currently, the rookies being trained by Captain Morgan were all youth taken away from their homes to fight against the encroaching invasion.
Sabo ground his teeth in frustration as he watched the recruits fight. 'We are forcing these children to use weapons and risk their lives in battle. It's not right!'
At the far end of the training field, a short boy with bright pink hair attempted to parry a stroke from one of Morgan's aids, only to have his sword knocked out of his hands. The boy gasped and scampered to pick it up, only to have his hand stepped on by a very large boot.
"What the hell was that?! If this was a true battle against a werebeast, you would be torn apart!" Morgan screamed out at the terrified youth as he continued to grind his boot against the boy's hand.
"I-I'm terribly sorry, sir! I-It's just that I've n-never used a real sword before, sir!" The boy sniveled. Morgan glared down at the recruit.
"Do I look like I care? It's my job to whip you brats into shape so you can be of use to the army. Right now, all you're good for is bait to literally throw to the wolves!" He reached down and grabbed the boy by the hair, wrenching him to his feet. "Again!"
"A-Aye, sir!" The boy yelled as he scrambled back into a fighting position.
Sabo frowned. This was ridiculous. These kids were not ready for war against such dangerous creatures. He turned to go, 'I need to petition the council again to change their decis-'
"HEY! METAL MOUTH! LEAVE COBY ALONE! I'LL TAKE YOU ON!"
Sabo froze in his tracks. Oh dear. He knew that voice. Before he had even turned around, he knew exactly who was making trouble. There, looking dangerously small next to Morgan, with his wild raven hair and expressive brown eyes framed by a crescent shaped scar on the left side, was Sabo's precious baby brother, Luffy. He should have seen this coming considering his brother had turned sixteen only months ago.
Luffy, the boy Sabo had practically raised and his sworn brother, was a trouble magnet. He could not count how many times he had to rescue the kid from situations of his own making. Frowning, Sabo walked closer to watch what was sure to be a fight. Luffy should not be here. He was much too young for this.
Leaning on the make-shift fence, he smirked to himself, 'All the same, at least I know he can take care of himself, to an extent.'
Luffy really did not like this place. It was full of stingy old men who bullied those who were weaker than them, like axe-pops was doing to his new friend, Coby.
"What did you call me, brat?!" The soldier sneered at him, his metal jaw grinding against his upper teeth in anger.
"You heard me, old man! Don't pick on Coby! Can't you see we're all trying our hardest even though we don't want to be here!"
The Captain, his eyes blazing with anger, stomped up to him, grabbed his thin shirt, and pulled him off the ground.
"How dare you speak to me with such disrespect! I am your superior officer! You brats need to learn some manners!" He screamed out as he threw Luffy across the yard in anger, smirking as he collided with the training equipment.
"YOU WILL LEARN RESPECT!" Axe-pops charged him, preparing to strike him, and completely missed as Luffy dodged the punch, grabbed the sweaty arm, and threw him over his shoulder to the ground.
"I don't wanna." He dead panned to the now wheezing solider.
"Why you little…"
Suddenly, slow clapping interrupted their glaring match. "I think that is quite enough of that, Captain. After all, it would be quite unfortunate for our leaders to learn of the great Captain Morgan getting beaten by a child." Luffy spun around and his face broke into a wide smile,
"SABO! DID YOU SEE THAT! I TOTALLY KICKED HIS BUTT!"
"Yes, yes. It was quite the throw, little brother." Sabo exclaimed as he approached and caught Luffy in a head lock, "But try not to make a habit of humiliating the Resistance leadership, hmm."
Luffy just laughed and waved wildly as Sabo helped the limping Morgan to the infirmary.
"W-wow! Luffy, that was amazing!" Coby exclaimed running up to him. "I've never seen anyone beat the Captain so easily!" Luffy just smiled, "Shishishi, it was nothing!"
Now that their superior was gone, the rest of the new recruits swiftly gathered around the glowing boy congratulating him on his victory. After showing his new friends some moves, Luffy waved good bye and headed to get some breakfast with Sabo, like they did every morning since his arrival at the camp.
"OI! LUFFY!" The raven turned and smiled seeing his old friend Zoro approaching, a smirk on his face. "Heard you showed Morgan who's boss!" Luffy laughed,
"Sure did! You should have seen his face!" Zoro clapped him on the back, nearly knocking him over,
"Pretty typical. Just like you to pick a fight your first day of training."
"He deserved it." Luffy's eyes narrowed, "Nobody treats my friends that way. No one." Zoro watched him, smirking, "Ever the protective one. Even over those who you just met. Shouldn't you let us older warriors take care of you, chibi?"
Luffy pouted, "Zoro… you know how I feel about that…" He was somewhat self-conscious about his size. Sabo told him he would get taller eventually, but that was so far away. Zoro was only two years older than him but he was so tall and muscular. It really wasn't fair. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't build anything other than the lean muscle he already had. Zoro laughed, ruffling his hair,
"I'm just messing with you, Cap. I know better than anyone that you could kick my ass any day." Luffy smiled softly, leaning into his hand. He had earned the "Captain" nickname during their escapades as children. His musings were interrupted by the bell signaling breakfast was being served.
Luffy's eyes widened,
"Ahhh! I'm missing breakfast! Gotta go! Bye, Zoro!" Luffy quickly snuck in a hug before breaking into a sprint towards where he knew the food would be, laughing as Zoro cursed at him, knowing how much he hated hugs, thought they were girly or something. Luffy disagreed. There was nothing better than being close to someone you loved.
Ace was angry. No, he was furious. Last night, Thatch, his fellow commander and brother had been attacked. In his own room! How could this happen?!
Low level members of the pack scurried out of his way, bowing their heads, and lowering their eyes in submission. Who knew what kind of scent he was letting off right now. A few minutes later, Ace reached the end of the hall and threw open the door to the Head Alpha's chambers,
"MARCO!", he yelled to his fellow werewolf, eyes full of worry, "Any news?" Marco shook his head slowly,
"Thatch still hasn't woken up. We are still gathering information and evidence on what happened, yoi."
Marco's voice sounded pained as he turned slowly towards Ace. As Pops' right hand, he most likely felt responsible for this incident. 'He is probably blaming himself.' He sighed,
"This wasn't your fault you know." Ace said quietly, putting his hand on Marco's shoulder, and releasing what he hoped was a soothing scent.
"I know, yoi. With Pops' health failing, I must take charge and protect the pack. It is not starting out so well." Ace smiled softly,
"Just do your best. Everyone respects you just as much as Pops. You are a strong alpha just like the rest of us commanders. We will follow your orders even if your hair makes you look like a tropical fruit." Marco glared and smacked him up the head as Ace snickered.
At that moment, a few of the nurses came out of Thatch's room and beckoned to them.
"Is Thatch going to make it?" Marco asked, his eyes darting between the females and the door.
"Only time will tell, but we are optimistic he will recover." Marco sighed in relief before turning back to Ace,
"I want you to gather the other commanders. We need to meet with Pops about what happened."
Ace nodded and rushed out of the room. While he was relieved Thatch was going to pull through, it did not quell his anger. All the members of the pack knew how protective he was over those he cared about. When he found out who was responsible, they would wish they were never born.