3 more chapters after this one and part one is over. Part 2-4 (which will all be one story, just in different chunks) has a completely different feel. Hope you look forward to it! Enjoy~
"Luffy, you have to stay here, okay? We won't be gone long, promise. We're both going to go. You have to stay up here," Ace said kindly as Sabo climbed down the rope ladder. Luffy was only four, Ace and Sabo ten, and they still didn't want him to meet with other humans. Especially those in high town, which was where they were going after selling the crocodile skin. They rarely used their treasure stash to buy things. That was for their pirate ship and supplies.
They had agreed not to long ago that they'd set off at seventeen, though Luffy would be eleven. So they had seven more years to collect more treasure and riches. They'd move the stash multiple times for safety if someone followed them to the tree. They caused a lot of trouble down in Gray Terminal, beating up the residents for money.
Ace had gotten so good at his fire powers that he could summon fire walls, something he'd been working on for months. So, when guards or angry citizens chased after them, they got trapped behind a firewall that didn't disappear until they put it out with a large amount of water.
He hadn't burned Gray Terminal to the ground from his fire, since it could happen easily. Once he made his point to not be messed with, he made the fire not burn its surroundings. Everyone began to fear the boy. Which was convenient for the brothers.
They were going into town to get a thick blanket for Luffy, for he had complained about being cold all the time, even though it wasn't cold yet. It had concerned both boys, but they couldn't exactly take Luffy to the doctor's. So they did their best to warm him up, giving him warm drinks and trying to give him body heat during the night. His thick skin was also getting cold.
When Ace and Sabo left, Luffy laid down on the floor of their home, pouting for awhile. Time was going slow for him. He didn't like being separated from his brothers. It made him uneasy. And he was cold again, shivering even in the warm sunlight streaming through the treehouse gaps between walls.
The dragon was shivering stronger than he ever had. Puffs of white were coming out of his nostrils when he breathed, making his nose tingle. Was this normal? It was tickling his nose badly, and he tried holding in a sneeze, but he couldn't and sneezed, and suddenly trees across the clearing were impaled with ice from his mouth.
One tree fell over completely, severed in half by the cold spikes. Luffy just stared at it blankly for a moment, not sure as to what happened. But when he sneezed a second time, more spikes riddled the ground against the treeline. He shrieked loudly, birds flying from the trees that hadn't been impaled. He began to run around the treehouse, thoroughly unnerved by what happened.
ACE! ACE, SABO!
-x-
Ace and Sabo hurried back to the entrance of Edge Town, Ace thoroughly confused with Sabo's reaction to a pompous looking man that had seemed to recognize the blonde. They had the quilt, which was a lot of money. But, then again, the store owner might just be afraid of Ace burning the shop down. So they got a good discount.
No one followed them, not the man or any guards or police. The people of Edge Town left them alone as well. They maneuvered their way through the trash mountains and ran back to their treehouse. Neither was comfortable with leaving Luffy alone too long.
Ace was about to ask Sabo what was up with the noble man, before there was a loud shriek, followed by birds fleeing into the sky. Then Ace heard screaming in his head, and gasped, now sprinting as fast as he possibly could.
But what the boys saw stopped them in their tracks. Part of the training area was decimated with spikes of crystal it seemed. Though Sabo felt it was cold when he hurried over to inspect. "It's ice!"
The freckled boy wasn't paying attention to the shocking scene and climbed up the rope ladder at lightning speed, the blanket tied around his neck. He heard loud thumping as Luffy ran around the small space.
"Luffy! Luffy, calm down," Ace said, trying to get the dragon under control. He stopped running and tackled Ace.
What happened?! The spikeys! Luffy shouted fearfully. I sneezed! He added. Ace wrapped his arms around his brother.
"Shhh, it's okay. No one got hurt. Only some trees. Calm down so you can think straight," Ace told him softly, running his hand down Luffy's smooth spine. "You're okay, we're okay." The child then noticed Luffy wasn't cold anymore, and was warm like he used to be.
Ace wondered if Luffy had developed some powers. Though, if he had, Ace and Sabo expected him to control fire, like Ace and most dragons (fictional dragons, that is). Ace carried Luffy in his arms, Luffy looking over his shoulder, to the edge of the treehouse.
Ace called for Sabo to come up and help him get Luffy down. Sabo left the spikes of ice and went up the ladder to help tie Luffy to Ace's back. It wasn't difficult to carry Luffy down anymore. Ace was strong, and Luffy wasn't too heavy despite looking so.
Sabo followed them down once they were on the ground, and untied Luffy from Ace's back. They all approached the shards of ice. They were needle sharp at the end. Ace put his hand on the side and summoned his fire power, melting the ice quickly.
Sabo attempted to break it, wondering how strong it was. It didnt crack from even the hardest swings of his pipe. He looked to Luffy behind them, who had scared, wide eyes. Sabo looked at him in sympathy.
Ace turned around to look at Luffy. He crouched in front of the dragon, and put his warm hand on Luffy's head gently. "Luffy, I know how you feel. You weren't awake, but I was lit on fire, and almost burned you when I first got my power after you hatched. I was so scared I'd hurt you or Sabo.
"But, look at me now? I can completely control the flames," Ace said reassuringly, and lit his hand on fire, then spreading it onto the dirt. Before it spread too much, Ace sucked it back into his hand.
But... I can't even fly! Why I be able to control this? Luffy asked uncertainly. Ace gave him a warm smile, which calmed Luffy's fear a bit.
"We'll figure it out. And, since you're having trouble flying, we can now work on this power. We'll help you through it like you and Sabo did for me." Luffy looked down for a moment, and then nodded. "Now, I'm going to go melt those spikes."
The dragon and other human watched as Ace melted the ice into steam before in water form. Giant holes were left in the tunks of some of the trees. Ace and Sabo had to move the fallen tree away from their training area.
-x-
It was getting to be time to go to bed, about to put the fire out, before Ace told Sabo to "hold it." Sabo looked at him in confusion, but then nervousness. He had a feeling of what Ace wanted to talk about. Luffy looked at Ace in curiosity. Wasn't it bedtime? And Luffy was excited to sleep with the thick blanket bought for him as a surprise.
Sabo sat back down on the second log across from Ace and Luffy, who was laying at Ace's feet. "Who was the man in high town?" the freckled ten year old asked seriously. Sabo looked down, but knew Ace had a "bullshit detector" as he liked to call it. He could see through any lie Sabo told easily.
He looked up at Ace in a pleading way, but Ace didn't waver. Luffy asked what they were talking about. Ace looked down and said, "There was a suspicious noble - a bad guy - who knew him. And I've never seen him before." Luffy said Oh and looked at Sabo curiously.
"I... That man was my father."
And Sabo told his brothers all about his wretched childhood before he ran away and then met Ace. That he hated being a noble. That his parents only wanted him to have an heir and marry a princess. All he did was study and read and learn things he wasn't interested in. And finally, he'd had enough and run away, after visiting Gray Terminal in secret multiple times. He liked the people of the trash city more than his family.
Through the whole thing, Ace had a blank face. Luffy was just wondering what they were talking about with the whole "noble" things. Were nobles bad guys? Ace said so. What made them bad? But, Luffy was happy that Sabo was with them.
"I'm sorry for lying to you," Sabo finished. Ace just stared at him, and when Sabo looked up, he saw an unimpressed look on Ace's face.
"So?" was his reply.
"You're the one that wanted me to tell you!" but then Sabo laughed, and declared that they would all become pirates. The freest souls in the world.
"And Ace, I'm sorry I kept this secret so long after you had all of yours spilled out in front of me. It was unfair." Ace just waved it off, and they resumed the night like usual, as if Sabo hadn't said such an important and hurtful story.
The three laid under Luffy's new quilt, who didn't become cold again during the night. Both of them were on either side of their baby brother. Tomorrow, they'd start Luffy's new training.
-x-
"Ground!" Ace commanded, making Luffy freeze the ground around them with his feet. "Tree!" Soon the nearest tree was impaled with dozens of ice needled. "Body!" Luffy covered his body in thin, but solid ice. "Air!" The dragon blew frost into the air, making snow and sleet fall on them. "Me!" And Ace was soon trapped in a block of ice.
"Nice, Luffy!" Sabo called as Ace melted his way out of the ice. "Now take it all back," Sabo said with a grin at Luffy's success. The ground was back to normal as the ice dissipated and the trees were now patterned with deep holes, though not deep enough that the tree was cut down.
Ace ran forward and picked the dog sized dragon up, spinning him around. "You did it!" Ace said, Luffy making high pitched, chuffing giggles. "We're so proud of you!"
It had been a month since Luffy had discovered the ice powers. Unlike his flying, Luffy picked up on his ability faster than Ace had with his. And, now that Luffy could do these things on command, he was finally going to be allowed to walk around with them in Gray Terminal, though not in the city yet. Not until he could fly so he could retreat if necessary.
The dragon wanted the boys to go faster on their way to the junkyard, very excited to see where his brothers went often. He didn't want to be left behind anymore. When they finally saw the towers of trash, Luffy went running to the edge of the forest. Then he wrinkled his nose.
Smells bad, Ace.
"Yeah, it does. You'll get used to it soon. Probably worse for you since you have a sensitive sense of smell," Ace replied, wording it so Sabo could get the jist of what Luffy said. "You have to stay close to me and Sabo, okay? If anything happens. I want you to hide first. Second, use your ice powers. We want to avoid confrontation, okay? We're here for some more wood planks," Ace explained seriously. He didn't want Luffy getting ahead of himself and too excited. It was going to be a casual trip. They wouldn't be stealing any money this time.
Luffy nodded his head vigorously, looking back and forth to Ace and the junkyard. He really wanted to get there faster. "So impatient," Ace mumbled fondly. The three walked down the hill, keeping their senses as sharp as they were able. Despite Luffy's advanced senses of sound and smell, they knew he'd be distracted from the new place, and might not notice someone coming near.
The boys wondered how other humans would feel when they saw the dragon. Luffy wasn't scary, with spikes or fangs sticking out of his mouth, but he was a bigger, heavy set creature that the people would never had seen before. Plus, they tended to avoid the boys in general. It might make them ever more scared of them now that they had a dragon with them. Luffy did have the sharp claws now, though they weren't long and deadly yet. But they could still kill animals in a hunt.
They walked down the slope, Ace in front of his brother and Ace behind. Luffy sniffed everything, like he always did in new environments. Ace was right, for Luffy quickly got used to the smell. His head moved up as he heard the voices of others. Many of them sounded angry or tired.
Luffy hadn't been around other people in years, since they'd moved away from the bandits, and Luffy always hid when he heard Garp. Ace was invincible to attacks now, but Luffy was technically Garp's grandson as well, and did not want to be hit. Not that Ace or Sabo would ever allow that, but Garp was still scary.
Ace and Sabo avoided voices, turning away to different trails through the trash. One of them always paid close attention to Luffy while the other searched for building supplies. One man did come up from behind them, but Ace noticed him quickly, about to scare him off before he saw the man's expression.
He was utterly terrified, shaking. When Luffy turned his head to look behind him, the man bolted, too scared to even scream. Ace smirked. At least he wasn't overly interested with the black, unfamiliar creature.
The people of Gray Terminal avoided the boys at all cost, but they did fight back when one of them tried and succeeded to swipe their riches. The people needed that money, but Ace and Sabo wanted it, and it was going to fund their futures. So, they felt no remorse for taking the riches for themselves.
Sabo collected some planks of wood after knocking down a whole trash pile by accident. It had tons of wood in it, a jackpot for the three. He carried seven planks above his head, still being the one behind Luffy.
The trip was short, like they'd told the dragon, and they soon made it home. The tools for building were in the little storage carved into the tree trunk. The rope was also there to tie them securely to the treehouse so they could work on the side with support to not fall to their deaths.
Luffy stayed on the ground, playing with a ball of ice he'd made. He was like a cat in a lot of aspects. The way he reacted to new things, the kneading that he could only do on Ace since sharp objects don't hurt him like Luffy's claws. The way, if he got something messy on him, he'd lick it clean, no matter how much Ace and Sabo tried to get him to stop licking mud. The purring as well reminded them of a cat.
The ice was a good distraction for the dragon, since he got bored easily when being by himself. The repairs took only a couple hours, and soon they were in the forest, hunting for some lunch. Luffy had tapped into what they assumed were dragon instincts, as he was good at stalking prey, and got crocodiles quicker himself than Ace and Sabo.
And, though he was still a bit small, Luffy was strong and could carry the dead crocodiles all the way back home. And Ace had learned just the right temperature to cook something easily. Sabo felt left out again with these things, but he didn't dwell on it.
They were now able to save meat for later with Luffy being able to freeze them to last longer. It was very convenient.
Ace! Can I make a way up to the treehouse? Luffy suddenly asked before he was being tied to Ace's back to go up the ladder for bed time. Ace paused and put him back down. "Go ahead," the boy said with a smile, wondering what Luffy was going to do.
Luffy had seen and chased many squirrels, and always saw them running across branches to get to other trees. He started at one end of the clearing and slowly started constructing a ramp that ran around the outskirts of the clearing, gradually sloping so Luffy could easily walk on it. They had known the pads on Luffy's feet were textured roughly, now knowing it was for him to walk on slippery ice.
When he finally reached the side of the treehouse, a long and even ramp was now attached to their little home. Luffy seemed to grin, shouting down to Ace that "he did it!" Ace and Sabo both cheered for him, quickly climbing up the rope ladder to meet the dragon, who was running around the house in circles in excitement.
I did it! Did you see it?! he shouted to Ace.
"I did see it! Great job, now you can come up and down when you want to!" Ace said enthusiastically. Sabo ran over and tackled Luffy to the ground, maneuvering him onto his back and attacking his tummy. Luffy shrieked, though not in a bad way, and wriggles around, pushing the tickling and rubbing hands away with his feet.
Luffy had trouble sleeping, so excited and proud of himself. He may not be able to fly, but at least now he won't be the weak one. He wanted to protect his brothers, too! Ace had protected him ever since he was a little egg, and Luffy wanted to repay him.
He fell asleep once Ace noticed he wasn't and rubbed little circles on his skin. Ace fell asleep again to Luffy's quiet purring.
-x-
Luffy continued to improve his ice powers, though at a more steady rate now. They found that the ice hadn't melted overnight. At all. It had still been cold like it was the night before. Once again, Sabo tried breaking it was a blow from his pipe, to see how strong it was. There wasn't even an indent from the hash blow.
Then, the boys lit a fire not using Ace's flames, and attempted to melt it with regular fire. Nothing changed. It stayed as cold and solid as before. But Ace's flames melted it easily. It was very curious, but they all just assumed it was some dragon bond "or something". This made Sabo frown momentarily.
Neither biological brothers caught on to Sabo's well-hidden insecurities. And he was glad of that. He didn't want to guilt either of them, mostly Ace. Luffy was still only four, turning five soon. He probably wouldn't understand what was wrong with and Ace being related and Sabo not. It might just confuse him why Sabo would feel left out or less important.
The three brothers ventured to the beach that day, wondering if Luffy could freeze sea water. They had fun with the trip because Luffy made a slide the whole way from the forest to the beach. They could all be heard laughing and screaming at sharp turns. It took much less time to get down, with Luffy in front making the slide as they went along with it.
They were shot sprawling onto the sand, boys laughing and Luffy chuffing. That was fun!
Ace laughed and agreed that it was quite fun, and they'd have to do it again sometime. They slipped and slid on the now frozen waves, able to stand above and watch fish in the bright water swim below them. Luffy pounced on each one, though he knew he wouldn't catch them. A couple times he shoved his hand in, grasping at a fish that had just been there, but had quickly swam away.
They spent a considerable amount of time at the beach, melting the ice until Ace's flames made the water around him warm and relaxing. They just floated for a bit, watching the fluffy clouds pass high above them.
They left once Luffy's stomach rumbled, signaling to the others that they'd stayed in the water past lunch. The climb back up the coast was much, much slower than their little ride down to the shore. Luffy tried to pass both of them, but wasn't quicker than Ace was, and mostly stayed near Sabo, both behind the freckled kid.
Ace caught the danpa for lunch and dinner. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small. It was enough for the boys, since they weren't too hungry. The rest of the day was a joy. The childish fun, something they rarely had, of sliding down that ice slide and playing in the surf was a nice treat. They decided they would probably do it again some time. Plus, the slide may just stay there on its own. They wondered how the citizens of Foosha Village would think of never-melting ice. It would be interesting to see.