𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 ♘ one pιece

𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚

"Take me with you!"

"No way, you're not strong enough~"

"I so am! and I'll prove it to you!"

The red-haired male let out a booming laugh as he trudged along the path with the young, black-haired boy.

"I'd like to see you try!" He mocked, making Luffy let out a cute growl.

As Luffy began to rant on about why Shanks should take him to sea, Shanks abruptly paused mid-walk as Luffy look up to his idol curiously, "Huh? Why'd you stop?" Looking in the direction Shanks was, the young boy was faced with the sight of the beach.

They had seen it hundreds of times before so the black-haired boy was curious as to why the man with the straw hat paused.

"Shanks?"

The red-haired man said nothing as he nudged his head down towards the sand where he discovered the sight of a small body laying on their side, dirt and sand covering bits of them and the thin rags they wore were torn. Cuts and bruises were visible, even from the distance between them.

The 27-year-old Shanks stepped off the path and walked down the small hill to the beach as the 6-year-old Luffy nervously followed along in silence, the sound of the waves and salty scent finding a way to comfort him. It didn't take long for them to reach the small body though, the sight was quite gruesome.

Injuries littered the body of who they could now assume was a young girl, making Luffy run to her in panic as Shanks followed and squatted down beside them, "Hey! Wake up!"

"Luffy," Shanks began making the boy pause.

"Go back to Makino's Bar and ask for the doctor in my crew. Try not to panic." Shanks softly ordered with a grin but Luffy knew he was serious. This side of Shanks rarely popped out as he was usually the happy-go-lucky type whose bright grin found a way to comfort anyone who even looked at it.

One of the more prominent features of this girl was the fiery red hair running down her shoulders, it stuck out especially since the girl was quite pale. Shanks rolled her over to get a clear view of her face as Luffy's eyes widened, her right eye was quite the gory sight.

The young child deemed this sight too much as he ran off to Makino's bar to do as Shanks told him. As Luffy did this, the older male checked for a pulse. Luckily, there was but it was faint. The male looked around her body to spot if she had any more external issues, which there luckily wasn't but that didn't mean she was clear yet. Especially with that eye.

He took a second to stare at her, gently moving her scarlet locks out of her face as he held her gently. The pirate captain didn't know why he felt such burning compassion and warmth for this girl, maybe it was because she looked so much like her, but she was long gone.

Soon enough, the young Luffy and the Red Hair pirate's doctor were running towards them shaking Shanks out of his mini trance. Time seemed to flash by for Luffy as he sat on the dock near the bar, staring off into the sea. His mind couldn't focus, especially not after yesterday.

Usually, Luffy could remain cheerful in times like these but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to act that way that day. As Luffy was in mid-thought, he jumped as he felt someone sit next to him. He looked up to see the smiling face of his role model.

"Don't worry Luffy, she'll live. You can meet her when she wakes up, which is..uh..We're not sure yet! But it'll be soon." Shanks reassured him making Luffy yell out in joy with a little laugh.

"Hurray! Hope she's nice!"