After a year spent at Shimotsuki Village in the East Blue, Sora, now twelve, with the mind of an adult since transmigrating from Earth, leaves the island to return to where his adventure started: Dawn Island, where his brothers are training to set out to become pirates at the age of seventeen.
He pushed off and turned his small fisherman's boat north, while waving to everyone on the pier. The boy wearing the black cloak with a white undershirt and black pants and boots captured the vast ocean, East Blue, in front of him with his crimson eyes filled with confidence.
"Clear skies back to Dawn Island I go," he said with a smile.
After twenty minutes, dark clouds massed on the horizon.
"Did I jinx myself?" he muttered.
Rain poured. Waves rose higher, and thunder roared all around him.
"There is no way this is how I die. Damn, all that training for what?"
He ducked into the cabin, then looked at the wooden barrel.
"Worst case, I'll put myself in the wooden barrel and hope I float to an island."
Two days later
A washed-up fishing boat lay at the edge of the island.
"Oy, look, it's a wrecked fishing boat. Think there's a survivor or some food?"
"We always need more slaves, especially since the ones that escaped. Let's take a look."
A group of five men in red coats marched toward the wreck.
"Anyone in here, hello?" a man with a mohawk and brown eyes yelled.
The boat was a mess. The sail had snapped, and it was not fit to sail again.
"I guess no one is home, coming in," said a huge man with a mohawk and a great sword on his back as he kicked the half-broken door of the tiny cabin. On the deck, a small, suspicious-looking barrel sat by itself.
"Suspicious," muttered one of the swordsmen in the back.
The man in the bandana took two careful steps, raised his pistol, and slowly lifted the lid, ready to shoot.
"Hm. No one is here. Just an empty dinghy." Said the man with glasses as he pushed his frames up his nose. "My intuition tells me it's related to the rebels."
Sora Pov:
"Where the hell am I?" Sora whispered, watching the unknown men in red coats ransack what was left of his fishing boat. He was crouched in the tree line, using his Sneak skill to stay out of sight.
(Sneak Rank E)- Let's the user have a lower presence when crouching or hiding in dark places.
"At least I am still alive. I really thought that storm was going to be the end."
He scanned his surroundings.
"Small island, dense jungle, and a huge island behind it ringed by mountains. Where did I end up? This is definitely not Dawn Island."
He glanced at the men in red coats combing through his boat. Compared to Bluejam, the pirate captain he had fought with Ace on Dawn Island, these men did not look as strong. He could probably easily take them on with the year of training he had done and all the new powers he had gotten from his Devil Fruit. His hand moved toward his black sheath katana named Shiro.
Then, suddenly, he felt the touch of cold metal on the back of his head, freezing his hands in place.
"Shhhh. Do not make any noise, kid. We do not want those red coats to find us."
Sora moved only his eyes. Saw the brunette girl crouched behind him, two revolvers in her hands, one pointed at his skull, the other resting along her left thigh. Her eyes were the color of smoked whiskey, the eyes of someone who had seen a lot of death. She wore a black sports bra, black jeans, and tall brown boots. A dragon tattoo coiled down her right arm to her wrist.
"Scary, can't believe a lady is pointing a gun at a nice kid like me."
"Kids should listen to their savior when they're trying to save their life."
"Savior? Why does my savior have a gun pointed right at my head then?" he asked with a smile.
"Hmm, you have a point, kid. It's just a bad habit."
"What kind of dumb habit is that?"
Her eyes closed for a moment. "It's not a dumb habit. It's how you survive in this world, the sooner you know that the better."
"Hey, did you hear that noise coming out of the jungle?" asked the man with the mohawk.
Red coats all looked towards the jungle, where Sora and the girl were crouched, the bushes rustled as they eyed, and then a rabbit jumped out.
"Follow me. You almost made me give our position away," the girl yelled.
"I didn't, and why are you yelling?"
The five red coats jumped out of the ship and started running towards the forest.
"What, you're scared of goons like them?" Sora murmured.
"No. If you want to waste your life and die, you can stay behind, kid," she argued and started running.
Sora started following her through the jungle. There was no point in fighting them now, and he needed to figure out where he was in the world of One Piece.
"So, where are we?" he asked.
"You run fast. I'm surprised you can keep up. We are on an island next to the kingdom."
"Kingdom? Oh, and I'm Sora. Nice to meet you, my savior. I was headed to Dawn Island in the Goa Kingdom, but a storm ripped me sideways, and now I am here. This doesn't look like the Goa Kingdom, so where are we?"
"Nice to meet you, Sora. But Dawn Island and Goa Kingdom, from what I've read on the maps…" She laughed. "Kid, you went the exact opposite way. This is Oykot Kingdom, and this bit is called Oykot Jungle Island, off the main island of the kingdom, which is surrounded by those mountains."
[Map Updated] the System stated in Sora's mind.
He thought of Oykot. "If he remembered right, Nami from the main story was born here," he thought.
They pushed deeper until a massive tree rose ahead, roots like ribs under a tangle of brush. They slid through the thicket, and a low cave opened under the roots.
"I'm Levy, kid. Nice to meet you," she said, once they finally arrived at their destination.
The jungle opened up, and Sora saw a calm encampment, filled with kids and elderly people who looked starving.
"Everyone, Levy is back."
Four kids, two boys and two girls, maybe six to twelve, rushed her. One boy, Timo, had a stubborn stutter that could not hide how fast he could grin. The other, Rook, wore oversized goggles pushed up on messy hair. The older girl, Mina, chewed a pencil tucked at the corner of her mouth like a strategist. Connie, with a blonde ponytail and a bandaged knee, waved shyly.
Levy walked towards the group and then flicked a look at Sora as if to ask if he was coming in or not.
"Why is she already ordering me around?" he muttered.
"Anyway," she told the kids, "I found this one lost in the forest and saved him, so he followed me here. His name is—oi, what was your name again?"
"It's Sora, and he does not remember being saved by anyone," he said with a small smile.
Connie stepped up. "Nice to meet you, Sora. I'm Connie. Do you want to be our friend?"
"No…" he replied and turned around.
Smack!
Levy clipped the back of his head with two fingers. "Don't be mean to my little Connie. You look like you could use more friends, especially with that attitude."
"Stop treating me like a kid. I already have friends and I'm strong enough to save myself," he shot back, more reflex than anger.
A man in a white button-up and blue pants approached from the shadows of the cave.
"Levy, what is the situation outside?"
"They sent one of their scout teams to retrieve the people we pulled out."
"How many?"
"Five. They were combing his fishing boat that had crashed. They probably thought it was ours."
"Do you think you can take all five?" he asked, worry leaking through his eyes.
Levy cracked her neck. "Who do you think you're talking to, Rock? I could take them in my sleep."
Sora rolled his shoulder. "All right then, let's take care of them," he yelled.
They both looked at him, confused.
Levy was surprised by Sora's confidence. "Kid, how are you going to beat those men? They are trained soldiers, and even if we beat them, their leader is many times stronger, and there are a lot of them on the main island. You're a strong kid, but leave the fighting to big sister Levy."
He did not answer. His fingers tightened around Shiro's hilt, and he spoke the word, "Summon."
A ripple of silver smoke coiled beside him, and Yakko materialized, a towering spirit tiger whose orange fur shimmered like mist. His low growl rolled across the ground, deep and steady. Sora's chest lifted as if matching his breath.
Levy's hand went to her revolver. Her eyes narrowed with a sense of danger, reading him like he was someone else entirely. In that moment, she stopped looking at him as just a little kid.
"All the kids were in, aww, they had never seen something so big, and majestic, and also a bit scared.
"So, am I still a scared little kid?" he asked in an amused tone. He straightened his shoulders and cracked his back.
Levy frowned but did not answer.
Sora turned to the man in the torn button-up. "How many fighters do you have here?"
"We do not have many on this island. It is just me, Levy, four ex-pirates, and now you with your spirit tiger."
"His name is Yakko," Sora said. "Say hi, Yakko."
The giant tiger purred low, eyes glowing faintly. Looking at Yakko sent a chill down Rock's spine; even Levy had sweat going down her back. She was very confident in her skills and strength, but something about this giant tiger scared her. What scared her more was the boy she had brought back, who summoned the tiger.
Levy stepped in. "Let me tell you about our enemies."