Three Future Pirates

Deep in Mount Colubo, shadows dappled the ground beneath the trees.

"Hey, brat."

Ace called out without looking back as he pushed aside the bushes blocking the way.

"My name's Luffy!"

"Whatever your name is, we're not waiting for you."

Ace gave Sabo a look, and the two darted into the dense forest in opposite directions. Nimble as a pair of mountain monkeys, they vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Wait for me!"

Clutching a thick wooden stick, Luffy took off after them.

Smack!

After only a few steps, he tripped over a tree root and landed face-first in a mud puddle, getting a mouthful of grass.

"Damn it!"

He scrambled up and wiped his face with a few hasty swipes. When he looked up again, the other two were long gone.

"Ace! Sabo!"

Far away among the treetops, Sabo heard the shout and slowed for a moment.

"Maybe... we should wait for him?"

"Who cares about him?"

Ace didn't even look back. "That stinky old man forced him on us. He's not one of us."

"He's only six."

"No one looked after me when I was six!"

Sabo sighed. He really couldn't argue with that.

The two planned to shake Luffy off first, then use their familiarity with the terrain to quickly find a wild boar and complete the task.

But no matter how fast Ace ran, he never noticed the man lounging on a branch overhead, leisurely munching on an apple.

Ron lay on a thick branch, his Observation Haki spread out, perfectly aware of what the three brats were doing.

Ace was charging ahead to scout the way, Sabo was crouching down to examine tracks on an animal trail, and as for Luffy...

Thud!

He plunged headfirst into a thorny bush again, yelping and hollering.

"One's got a foul temper, one's full of crafty ideas, and the other only knows how to charge straight ahead."

Ron took a crunching bite of his apple and mumbled indistinctly, "They're quite a match together."

"Hey! Big guy who opens doors!"

Luffy suddenly poked his muddy head out of the bushes and shouted up.

"Call me big brother."

"Big brother who opens doors!"

"...Never mind."

"Do you know where Ace is?"

"I do."

"Tell me, quick!"

"No."

Luffy's eyes went round, and his cheeks puffed up in anger. "Why not?!"

"Catch up to them yourself. They're not going to stand around waiting for you forever."

Luffy puffed out his cheeks, tightened his grip on his stick, and nodded fiercely.

"Then I'll keep chasing them!"

With that, he turned and plunged back into the woods, not even stopping to pull the little thorns out of his face.

Ron watched the small, stumbling figure retreat and smiled.

He was already this stubborn before eating a Devil Fruit. He really did show a bit of the person he would become.

On the far side of the mountain slope, a thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground.

Sabo brushed the leaves aside, revealing a trail of deep hoofprints.

"Found it. An adult wild boar. It just came from the creek."

Ace leaped onto a rock and peered out.

Not far away, a giant wild boar covered in stiff black bristles was rooting around a tree. Its tusks were thicker than Luffy's arms.

Ace lowered his voice.

"I'll circle around the side and lure it toward the gully."

Sabo glanced in that direction.

"There's a slope there, with rocks scattered all over the bottom."

"Go find a sturdy vine."

Ace grinned.

"When it charges, we'll trip it right over the edge!"

Sabo nodded.

"Okay, I'll get it ready."

It was a good plan.

Unfortunately, they'd forgotten to account for Luffy.

"Found you!"

Luffy sprang out of the grass, his voice so loud that it sent a flock of tits flying.

The wild boar whipped its head around and fixed its red eyes on him.

Ace's vision went dark.

"You idiot!!"

"Waaah!"

The wild boar snorted clouds of white vapor and charged like a mad thing.

Luffy turned and ran, his short little legs moving so fast they nearly blurred, but he stubbornly refused to drop the stick in his hand.

"Throw it away!" Sabo shouted urgently.

"It's my weapon!"

"That's just a branch!"

Just as the tusks were about to strike Luffy in the lower back, Sabo lunged forward, grabbed him by the collar, and rolled down the slope with him.

The wild boar slammed headfirst into a large tree, splitting a long crack down the trunk.

Ace leaped in from the side and swung a thick wooden club, smashing it hard beside the wild boar's eye.

"Over here, stupid pig!"

The wild boar roared in pain and charged at him.

Ace turned and ran toward the gully, but stumbled over a loose stone.

"Oh no!"

He hurriedly rolled aside!

Boom!

Unable to stop its charge, the wild boar slammed headfirst into the rock wall behind him, shaking loose a shower of stones!

"Ace! Catch!"

Sabo seized the chance to grab a thick vine nearby and throw one end to him.

Ace reached out and caught it.

"What are you doing?!"

"Quick! Pull it tight!"

Sabo quickly looped the other end of the vine around a tree trunk.

Just then, the wild boar shook its head and turned around again.

"Luffy! Lure it over here!"

"Okay!"

Luffy jumped out, holding up his stick.

"Hey, big stupid pig! Come and get me!"

The wild boar whipped its head around and charged at him, its eyes red!

Luffy was so scared he was nearly in tears, but he still ran halfway around the tree.

"Now!"

Ace and Sabo pulled at the same time!

The taut vine suddenly stretched across the wild boar's front legs!

Bang!

The wild boar was charging too fast to stop. Its front legs caught on the vine, and its enormous body flipped right over!

Rumble!

It rolled all the way down the slope into the gully, slamming heavily into the rocks at the bottom.

At last, it stopped moving.

The three brats lay at the edge of the gully, panting as though they had just run across ten mountains.

Luffy was the first to raise his hand, grinning with mud all over his face.

"Hahaha! We caught it!"

"Who's 'we'?"

Ace's face was full of disdain, but the corners of his mouth relaxed a little.

Sabo, however, smiled. "He really did help this time. Otherwise, you'd have been sent flying just now."

"No, I wouldn't!"

Ace glanced at Luffy's scraped knee and fell silent for a moment before awkwardly tossing out a remark. "Don't go charging in next time."

Luffy's eyes lit up. "Are you worried about me?"

"No, I'm not!"

"You totally are!"

"Shut up!"

Sabo reached out and pulled Luffy to his feet, then helped brush the mud off his trouser legs.

"But next time, you have to listen to the plan first, okay?"

"Okay!" Luffy answered at the top of his voice.

Ace sneered. "He'll charge in again next time."

"No, I won't!"

Watching the two of them bicker, Sabo suddenly felt that the mountain probably wouldn't be peaceful anymore.

Up in the tree, Ron took the last bite of his apple.

Ace had just been shouting that he didn't care about Luffy, yet when he actually saw the wild boar charge, he'd gone right in swinging his club.

Ron smiled.

"That kid's pretty stubborn with his words."

The sky gradually darkened.

The three brats had to put in an enormous effort to drag the wild boar to a clearing in the woods.

Ace was busy starting a fire, while Sabo crouched beside the wild boar, trying to figure out where to make the first cut.

Luffy stood guard nearby, his drool nearly dripping onto the ground.

Ron jumped down from the tree and brushed the fallen leaves off himself.

"You're so slow. By the time the meat's roasted, it'll be daylight."

Ace looked up sharply. "Why are you still here?!"

"Supervising your training."

"Then find your own food!"

Ron glanced at the wild boar the three brats had worked so hard to catch, rubbed his stomach, and snapped his fingers.

"Fair point."

Click.

An Air Door opened out of thin air beside them.

Bang!

A Giant Wild Boar several sizes larger than their prey rolled out of the door, making the ground tremble.

The three little faces froze at once.

Sabo said, "Where did that come from?!"

"I caught it."

Ace said, "When?!"

"Just now."

A moment ago, Garp had been passing through a mountain hollow when a wild boar got in his way. He had casually knocked it unconscious with one punch.

Ron had happened to sense it, so he opened a door and helped himself to the boar. No point passing up a freebie.

Luffy's eyes were already shining as he rushed over and hugged Ron's leg.

"That's so much meat!!"

Ron nodded in satisfaction. "I knew you'd appreciate it."

Sabo couldn't help shouting, "That's cheating!"

Ron replied with a straight face, "Abilities are part of your strength."

"But Mr. Garp told us to catch three ourselves!"

"You caught one, and I brought one. That leaves one more."

Ron thought for a moment, then waved a hand magnanimously. "Forget it. You three can catch it after you eat. Your brains work even worse on an empty stomach."

Ace looked at him suspiciously. "You're being that nice?"

"Obviously. I'm hungry too."

Luffy was already hugging his leg and shaking it. "Big Brother Door Opener, if I follow you, will I get this much meat every day?"

"Dream on. Keep making noise and you'll get a pig's tail."

"I want the pig's tail too!"

Ace and Sabo exchanged a glance and finally burst out laughing together.

The four of them spent the next while getting things ready.

Ace took care of the Giant Wild Boar, while Sabo gathered dry branches and firewood.

Ron casually chopped up a few pieces of wood and built a large roasting rack.

The boar's severed head was tossed beside the fire, a clear fist mark still stamped on its forehead.

As for Luffy...

He didn't help at all, spending all his time circling the fire.

"Is it almost done? Is it almost done?"

"Not even close!"

"What about now?"

"You just asked!!"

Just then.

"Ron!!"

The roar sent flocks of birds flying and shook leaves rustling from the trees.

Garp pushed through the trees and strode out.

He first looked at the four gathered around the roasting rack, then spotted the boar's head beside the fire.

"..."

Why did the fist mark on its forehead look so familiar?

Garp whipped around and glared at Ron.

"I told them to train! And you're throwing a feast for them here?!"

Ron looked up, his face innocent. "Don't they have to eat after training?"

"Did you take that boar from me?!"

Ron fell silent for a second.

"Old man, you need evidence before you say something like that."

"I knocked it out myself! I'm the one who left that fist mark on its forehead!!"

The three brats turned to look at Ron in unison. Ron grinned.

"What are you standing around for?"

"Run!"

Crack!

An Air Door sprang open, and Ron was the first to dart inside.

Luffy scrambled after him, tripping again halfway there. Sabo grabbed him and dragged him through the door with him.

Ace had been about to curse, but when he saw Garp charging over with his fist raised, he gritted his teeth and rushed through the door after them.

Bang!

Garp lunged into empty space and caught nothing.

The campfire was still burning, and the meat was still sizzling and dripping with fat.

Not one of the four remained.

"Ron!!"

The roar made even the campfire tremble.

Inside a cave.

The four of them tumbled out of the Air Door and crashed into a heap.

Ron had found this cave when he passed by earlier. It was well hidden.

Luffy was the first to scramble up, looking around excitedly.

"Where's the meat?!"

Ron: "..."

Ace: "..."

Sabo: "..."

For a moment, nobody spoke.

They had been so busy running that none of them had grabbed the roast meat.

Luffy froze for two seconds, then fell to his knees with a thud.

"My meat!!"