Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 12: A Lust for Blood

AN(J. R. R. Toast):

This chapter has some slightly graphic parts so just a little warning. It's nothing too bad, at least I don't think it's that bad, but I thought a little warning couldn't hurt. I like this chapter and I'm relatively pleased with the way it turned out.

Chapter 12: A Lust for Blood

Luffy woke abruptly, heckles raised, his hat falling from his face to hang around his neck. Something was wrong. There weren't many things that could bring him out of his meat dreams but something had and he wanted to know what. He sniffed the air, immediately rising from the bed he occupied, and headed toward the door, jumping into his sandals on the way.

Bloodlust. He just knew it. He couldn't even really smell it. It was a feeling more than anything but that was how the wolves had done it and it was how he'd learned. White had always liked to interrupt fights between different animals because it usually meant more food for the pack. So, being able to 'smell' bloodlust became almost second nature to Luffy in the month he spent with them.

"You too?", Zoro asked, following his future captain out of the door. He held his hand on Kitetsu's hilt as it practically vibrated in its sheath.

The straw-hatted boy said nothing, dropping to all fours and closing his eyes.

Shuffling and the ruffling of clothes came from behind Zoro as he exited the room. "Where the hell are the two of you going? We shouldn't be snooping around Kaya's house!", Usopp whisper-yelled, quickly trying to tie his sash around his waist.

Luffy didn't respond, instead, prowling down the hallway with his conscious mind all but shut down and his senses dialed up to eleven. Something had happened but it was faint, like it had taken place some time ago. The boy berated himself for sleeping so heavily. Then again... the meat had been really tasty. He shook his head and followed the trail he'd discovered by the bathroom to the stairs. Zoro must've felt something similar because the two quickly began making their way down them and from there to the front door.

"Where the hell are you two going?!", Usopp repeated as he followed. He didn't really want to but what choice did he have?! He wasn't going to let the two mess up his first-ever stay in Kaya's mansion! His response was the sound of pouring rain now coming from the open door.

The straw-hatted boy stood to his feet as he walked through the entrance. The water was masking everything. It happened in the woods on East Lodestone too. It was always harder to hunt in the rain.

Suddenly, Luffy's eyes widened, his hair standing on end. He burst from his place at the entrance of the mansion, Zoro and Usopp hot on his heels. His feet skid along the ground as he pumped his legs as fast as he could. He didn't even really know why, he just knew that if he didn't... something bad was going to happen. He turned the corner and was faced with a path that lead to the back of the house.

Zoro and Usopp followed Luffy down the trail, the three companions sprinting their way through the pouring rain. The boys quickly made it to the opposite end of the path and came to a grinding halt, reaching a large clearing holding a sight so gruesome that all three were shocked to stillness... One from actual shock and the other two, frozen in place by anger.

The entire area was shredded. Cuts littered the ground, walls, everything. Almost nothing was left untouched.

More cuts continued to appear in seemingly random places while the group looked on in silence. In the middle of the area stood Nami, her skin coated in water and blood, smiling sadly at the sky. The girl's body was littered with slices, crimson liquid flowing freely from them as the rain washed it to the ground below. The clothing she wore was in tatters, leaving her in almost nothing but bloodied skin.