The Beginning of Trust

The following evening, warm orange light filtered through the window lattice of the newly built wooden cabin, casting mottled shadows across the floor covered in fresh wood shavings.

Dawn lounged in a crude wooden chair he had made himself, his long fingers idly stroking the smooth fur of the White Fox in his arms. The White Fox was curled up, breathing evenly in deep sleep.

His gaze settled on the small figure opposite him. Robin sat quietly on a little stool, absorbed in a book far larger than her hands. She showed none of the childish surprise or curiosity one might expect over a wooden cabin rising from the ground overnight.

A trace of barely noticeable helplessness flickered in Dawn's eyes. Any ordinary child would have been chattering around him with endless questions after witnessing such a miracle.

"Just as I thought..."

Dawn sighed inwardly. He recalled Robin's reaction in the original story when she first met the giant Saul—her surprise had been so faint it was almost perfunctory.

This girl's heart had long been forged into something extraordinarily resilient and closed off by prolonged loneliness and rejection.

He had to take the initiative and break through that layer of ice. Dawn cleared his throat and deliberately found a topic:

"Come to think of it, Robin, shouldn't children your age normally be playing with friends in town at a time like this? Why did you come all the way out to this secluded shore by yourself?"

He naturally knew the answer. This was merely an opening question he already knew the answer to.

At his words, Robin's little lips pouted slightly, and a trace of undisguised dejection crossed her face.

"The children in town... they all say I'm a monster and don't want to play with me."

As if to prove her words, she raised her slender arm. Amid fluttering petals, another identical arm instantly bloomed from the tabletop beside her and flexed nimbly a few times.

Dawn raised an eyebrow, showing just the right amount of surprise.

"Huh? That's surprising. Is this place really so ignorant and backward? The children here don't even know about Devil Fruits?"

Of course, he knew Ohara was not ignorant. But he was currently playing the part of a shipwreck survivor who had washed up here and knew nothing of Ohara. The question was perfectly reasonable.

For the first time, clear surprise appeared on Robin's face. She looked at the blond youth in confusion.

"You... aren't afraid?"

"Afraid?"

Dawn chuckled, the afterglow of the sunset reflected in his azure eyes.

"I'm from the Grand Line. Ability users aren't everywhere there, but they certainly aren't rare either. And besides..."

He paused and opened his other empty palm.

"I'm an ability user too."

A mass of darkness that seemed capable of devouring all light surged from his palm, spinning soundlessly and radiating an ominous, powerful aura.

The instant that darkness appeared, the White Fox sleeping peacefully in Dawn's arms suddenly jolted awake!

Animal instinct made her fur stand on end at once. With a sharp cry, she leaped from Dawn's lap without hesitation. The moment she landed, she turned and spat out a blast of scorching flame.

"Don't use your ability so close to me! I hate that thing!"

As the nemesis of all other Devil Fruit users, the aura of the Dark-Dark Fruit instinctively made Stella, a Zoan Devil Fruit user whose danger senses had grown ever sharper, uncomfortable, even though Dawn had never used his ability on her.

The sudden turn of events left Robin staring in a daze.

Dawn expressionlessly opened his mouth and exhaled a wisp of black smoke. The darkness in his palm absorbed every flame burning on his face like a living creature, as though they had never existed.

"Sorry for the trouble, Stella. I'll be more careful next time."

After soothing his companion, Dawn looked back at Robin, whose surprise had only deepened, and explained in detail.

"She's Stella, my companion. She's human, but she ate a Zoan Devil Fruit and gained the ability to transform into an animal. She simply prefers staying in this form."

Considering that Robin might not yet know much about Devil Fruits, he explained with particular patience.

Robin watched the White Fox jump back onto the chair, though she still warily glanced at Dawn's palm. She nodded thoughtfully, and for the first time, genuine curiosity toward Dawn appeared in her eyes.

Seeing that his tentative probe had finally stirred some ripples, Dawn secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly struck while the iron was hot, steering the conversation toward the subject he had prepared long ago—sailing.

He knew that deep down, Robin had always longed to sail out to sea and search for her archaeologist mother, Olvia.

Sure enough, the moment he mentioned the sea, different islands, and strange routes, Robin's eyes immediately lit up. A yearning light shone in those large eyes that had once carried a prematurely mature sadness.

Once the conversation began, it could no longer be stopped. Drawing on memories from his previous life and what he had seen in this one, Dawn vividly described the splendor and wonder of the Grand Line.

Robin occasionally asked questions or shared descriptions of the outside world that she had read in books. The more they spoke, the more engrossed they became, and the atmosphere in the cabin gradually shifted from awkward unfamiliarity to warm harmony.

Before they realized it, the sky outside had turned completely dark, and stars began to dot the night. Though Robin still wanted to continue, it was time for her to go home.

She reluctantly rose to her feet, bid Dawn farewell, and solemnly said:

"I'll come again tomorrow."

After all these years, she had met someone for the first time who did not fear her, reject her, or even find her strange abilities unsettling—someone who understood her longing for the world beyond the island.

It made the heart she had tightly sealed away after so long in isolation finally crack open by a sliver, allowing her to feel a trace of long-lost warmth.

Watching Robin's small figure disappear into the night, an almost imperceptible smile appeared on Dawn's handsome face. The hardest first step of his plan—earning trust and closeness—had finally gone smoothly.

He bent down, picked up Stella, who was still a little huffy over his earlier use of his ability, and returned indoors.

After lighting an oil lamp, he took out the book on Life Return from his simple pack.

"All right, don't be angry anymore."

Dawn stroked the back of the White Fox's neck.

"If we can master this book, both of us can take our strength to the next level. Then we'll have a little more confidence when trouble comes."

A gleam of anticipation flashed through Stella's fox eyes. She quieted down, moved closer to the book, and joined Dawn in studying it intently beneath the dim yellow lamplight.

TO BE CONTINUED