As they moved through the forest, Leo's sharp instincts awakened old habits from his time as a hunter, picking up subtle movements and sounds and before long his gaze locked onto a large wooden house resting atop a small hill.
"Your instincts are sharp," Garp remarked casually. "Grew up in a forest or something?"
"Something like that…" Leo replied, though his answer was suppressed by the shout coming from the bandit hideout.
"Shut up already! If you keep shouting that, we'll both be in trouble when your grandpa gets here!" a sharp female voice snapped.
"Never!" another voice shot back without hesitation. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to become the Pirate King!"
Leo glanced sideways at Garp, silently asking if he'd heard that right.
From Garp's expression, yeah, he had.
"Ace set out when he was seventeen, and I'll do the same tomorrow!" Luffy continued loudly. "no one can stop me!" Leo and Garp both heard him loud and clear.
"You said he would turn seventeen next week, you don't even remember his birthday." Leo looked at the hopeless old men with pity.
While Garp pretended to not hear him feeling embarrassed.
He entered the hut and soon a huge shadow covered luffy while the bandits looked visibly shaken.
"Why are you all acting like that…?" Luffy frowned. "Don't tell me…" Slowly turning he froze, looking at the figure behind.
"I didn't say anything—ouch—?!"
Thud—!
Leo winced as he watched history repeat itself.
Luffy was sent flying across the room, bouncing off the wall before collapsing in a heap.
The "lesson" continued for a while, by the time it ended, Luffy lay on the floor, swollen and barely recognizable.
"Wh… wha… who're you…?" he mumbled, his voice completely distorted from the beating.
"His name is Portgas D. Leo," Garp answered casually. "Picked him up on the way. He'll be joining the Marines with you when we head to headquarters."
"What?!" Luffy's body snapped back to shape, though the bruises remained. "I told you, I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"
"Mind your ambition, rubber boy!" Leo shot back, eating orange fruit. "I'm the one who's going to become the Pirate King!"
The room fell silent again, the bandits slowly backed away and realizing their mistake both boys turned toward Garp who was already glaring at them, his fist raised.
"…Ahhhhh....."
For a long time that evening, the quiet bandit hideout of Windmill Village echoed with the sounds of two kids getting thoroughly beaten, yet not a single villager or bandit dared to interfere—after all, this was a familiar occurrence whenever Garp visited.
***
Later that night, deep in the forest, three figures sat around a crackling bonfire, eating roughly cooked meat without seasoning.
The beasts of the forest had posed no real challenge to either of them.
"Umm… umm…" Luffy chewed noisily, stuffing his face before finally speaking. "By the way, Leo… do you know Ace? You have the same name." Leo paused slightly at the question.
"I haven't met him before," Leo said, tearing into a large piece of meat before swallowing it in one go, "but from what this old man told me, he's my cousin from my mother's side."
"That's great!" Luffy grinned, speaking with his mouth full. "Ace is my brother, and he's your cousin, so that means you're my brother too! But I'm not becoming a Marine, no way! Damn it, Grandpa, I'm not going with you!"
He repeated himself again, as if saying it enough times would somehow make this old man change his mind.
"I don't care what you want," Garp replied, clearly irritated now. "You're coming with me to Marine Headquarters either willingly, or in chains." He took another massive bite as if the matter was already settled.
"And you, brat… learn to control that ability of yours. Use it for healing or on non-living things if you must but don't go throwing it around on a whim. People's lives aren't cheap."
Garp's voice carried a rare edge of anger and Leo didn't argue this time.
He simply nodded, finally understanding why Garp had gone out of his way to chase him down, First his name and second his ruthlessness.
Leo, however, had something else on his mind which he asked.
"By the way, old man… where's the key to these cuffs?" Leo asked casually expecting the old man to answer.
"I lost it somewhere," Garp replied without a care.
"Then how exactly are you planning to remove them?" He took a long swig from the bottle beside him before letting himself fall back onto the ground, staring up at the dark starry sky.
"This booze is terrible…" Garp snorted.
"Don't worry about it. I'll just break them when we reach Marine Headquarters. Only a handful of people in the sea can destroy Seastone cuffs and you're lucky I'm one of them. Now go back to sleep, we've got a long day tomorrow." Leo froze.
'He doesn't have them…?' In an instant, every escape plan he had carefully constructed shattered.
'It's decided, Cuffs or not I'm leaving.' He turned his head slightly, Garp was already deep asleep.
"Damn it, I've had enough of this old man." Leo muttered as he stood up and began walking away into the darkness of the forest.
"Where are you going?" Luffy's voice came from behind him. "If you're trying to run, it won't work. He'll wake up and catch you before you even leave the forest, I can tell." Despite his usual carefree attitude, there was a strange certainty in his tone.
Leo smirked faintly.
"No, he won't. I mixed sleeping herbs into his drink… along with some medicine I stole from the ship's infirmary. Even a Sea King would be knocked out with that dose. I'm more surprised he didn't notice." Luffy's eyes lit up.
"Really?!"
Before Leo could react, Luffy stretched…
Gum Gum - Pistol
Thud!
Luffy's arm snapped forward, punching Garp straight in the stomach, Garp's body slid a few feet across the ground then stopped.
Still asleep.
Leo stared at him in disbelief.
"…Are you an idiot?" he said flatly. "Actually—don't answer that."
Without wasting another second, Leo turned and bolted into the forest, pushing his body to the limit as he ran through the darkness, not stopping until he reached the shore where the Marine ship of Garp was stationed.
"This is the worst scenario… but if I can escape from here, it'll all be worth it. I'll find another way to remove these cuffs…"
With that resolve, Leo slipped onto the silent Marine ship. Only three guards stood watch, thankfully not Bogard, who was still recovering, or this escape would have been far more troublesome.
Moving quickly, relying on his hunting experience and Haki, Leo subdued the three Marine officers guarding the ship. He beat them, tied them up and gagged them, leaving them unconscious on the shore.
After checking the entire ship, he found his Shark Sub-Ski stored in a large room below the deck, along with the Devil Fruit, his treasure, and the precious dagger his mother had given him before he left.
He loaded everything onto the Shark Ski stealing some of the marine weapon as well, and brought it up to the deck before lowering it into the water beside the marine ship.
Boarding the Shark Sub-Ski, he savored the feeling of half-freedom until his senses picked up movement behind him.
"Whaooo… what a cool boat! I didn't know you could make a ship out of a shark, I thought we could only eat them."
Leo glanced over to see Luffy standing at the shore with an oversized bag slung over his shoulder, staring at the Shark sub-ski with wide, sparkling eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Leo didn't correct him but asked.
Luffy turned, completely unfazed. "I'm setting sail! I was going to leave tomorrow, but Grandpa ruined my plan. Now that he's asleep, I can just sneak away shishishishi…."
Before Leo could respond, footsteps approached from the beach. Makino appeared, carrying a large bag, slightly out of breath.
"You forgot this, Luffy… Take care out there… you too, Leo."
Luffy's face lit up instantly. "Thanks, Makino! I'll definitely pay off all my tab from my treasure, when I become the Pirate King!"
He shoved the oversized bag into his tiny boat, which rocked dangerously under the weight. Grabbing the oars, he tried to push off—
"Hey, idiot," Leo cut in, eyebrow twitching, "do you even know how to sail? Navigate? Repair a ship? Anything?"
Luffy grinned, completely unconcerned. "Nope! But I'll get an amazing crew, the best in the world! They'll handle everything while we sail across the seas!" Leo stared at him in silence for a moment.
The small boat was already stuck between two jagged rock outcrops, barely able to move but Luffy pushed it anyway.
"…He's definitely going to get swallowed by a sea whirlpool or sea king before he even reaches the first island."
Leo rose from his seat and tossed Luffy a rope, its other end already secured to the tail of the Shark Sub-Ski. "Tie this to your boat," he said. "I'll tow the boat to the next island."
A wide grin spread across Luffy's face. Without hesitation, he tied it to his overfilled little boat, packed with all sorts of food.
Taking Leo's offer, he hopped on and sat behind Leo, his own boat trailing behind as they started moving with the waves.
"Thanks Leo!" Luffy beamed, then leaned forward curiously.
"Hey, Leo… you should join my crew? You can be the first mate of the future King of the Pirates!"
Leo snorted, starting the engine below, now that his devil fruit power was sealed, he have to be careful not to damage this boat.
"No chance in hell. I'm your rival. Let's race to the One Piece and see who gets there first." The ship groaned to life, slowly pulling away from the shore but Leo didn't close the glass shield this time feeling the ocean breeze.
Luffy stood up on his seat, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Grandpa! Dadan! Everyone! I'm leaving! I'll become a great pirate and come back one day! See you all!" His voice echoed across the Windmill village all the way to the mountains.
Lights flickered on in the village as people stepped outside, drawn by the shout. Marines gathered along the shore, watching in stunned silence as their captive sailed away.
Far in the mountains, the bandits lit small torches, giving him a silent farewell.
From the edge of the forest, Garp stood watching his beloved Grandson drift farther and farther away, his expression sad but content.
He had never truly intended to force them into becoming Marines… but he had tried, for their own good.
"Well… I did what I could. Sengoku can't blame me now… But should I have removed those Seastone cuffs?" He scratched his head lazily.
"Nah… that brat will find a way… though he really overdid the sleeping dose in that booze… curse him…" Garp swayed slightly and once again fell asleep in the dark forest.
Just as they cleared the immediate vicinity of Dawn Island, a massive shadow rose in front of their small vessal, drawn by Luffy's shouting.
A Sea King surfaced, Leo didn't hesitate and drove through forward.
"I will take care of him," Luffy said, stepping forward and adjusting his hat, his gaze locked on the creature. "I got an old score to settle." Luffy grinned while Leo drove forward.
"If it isn't the Lord of the Coast!"
Planting his feet, Luffy pulled his arm back, gripping his shoulder as it stretched behind him.
"Gum-Gum… Pistol!"
His fist snapped forward like a bullet.
It wasn't a massive Sea King, just a smaller one but the punch still landed cleanly against its head, sending the creature flying back into the sea, very much lifeless.
"Alright… now I just need a pirate flag… and a crew." He paused, counting on his fingers, then nodded to himself. "Yeah… ten people sounds good!" He sat on his seat again, arguing with Leo to recruit him into his crew.
Out at sea, under the vast moonlit sky, two boys sailed forward toward the beginning of their great adventure.