Chapter Text
A light groan was heard in the underbrush.
Among the towering trees surrounding the thriving fauna, an opening in the large forest lay a boy who began to stir.
The first thing Rudo registered upon waking was the pain coursing through his entire body.
It wasn't as bad as the pain he felt when he didn't wear his gloves.
That was worse.
This ache, which pulsed like a second heartbeat, felt slightly dull. He had experienced it before. Pain his body had grown a tolerance to over time.
This ache was just a minor inconvenience. An annoyance more than anything.
Then he realized something.
Where was he?
Rudo wanted to slip back into a deep slumber, but a part of him knew he had to wake up.
So slowly but surely, he began to focus on his senses.
The ground below him felt prickly, yet the texture felt ticklish as he moved his arms and hands to caress the foreign thing below him.
Wasn’t this grass?
Compared to the ground he was all too familiar with, this didn't feel like the hard, gritty dirt that made up the ground of the slums.
This was rather strange, but perhaps he was in a part of the City that had grass.
Regardless, Rudo then moved to his sense of smell.
The scent that greeted him felt fresh and calming.
But the air quality felt too fresh… as if the air of the slums had been filtered to be more bearable to breathe. Rudo grimaced slightly; okay, now this was getting weirder by the second.
Regardless, pushing that anxiety to the depths of his heart, he moved to his hearing.
Instead of the bustle of voices or footsteps scraping the dirt and gravel with every step, Rudo heard only the sway of trees and grass being blown by the wind.
Tried as he might, he couldn’t ignore the unnerving feeling building in his stomach.
Everything that his senses had been picking up wasn’t the usual things he’s grown accustomed to in his entire life. But there was that small part of him that tried to reassure himself that there must be a reason why his senses were picking up these unfamiliar signs.
That’s when he finally opened his eyes to look at the surroundings.
Instead of seeing the colorful, polluted sky of the city and the dilapidated buildings that made the slums, Rudo saw a bright blue sky with thriving nature that flourished around him in bright colors he’d never before seen.
Rudo’s mind blanked for a moment before he jolted upright, looking frantic.
“What the-” Rudo uttered, eyes wide.
This wasn't the city at all, nor were the slums.
As a matter of fact, he didn't even know if this place existed in the city!
Just where the hell was he?
Ok, he internally thought, although his panic hadn't subsided. You gotta remember what happened before you ended up here.
Tried as he might, his brain hurt from trying to recall the events that had occurred previously. Some pieces were slowly coming back to him.
Rudo remembered that Regto would've been out for the entire day, so he was left home all by himself. Normally, Rudo would stay put and just tinker with trash that Regto found on his way back home. But he had thought of doing something that Regto hadn't known he was doing for the past couple of months.
After that day, finding the mannequin thrown away that could've been fixed so easily, it had opened Rudo’s eyes. Giving Rudo the purpose in life to fix the trash that could still be fixed and used again.
For the last couple of months, he has been going into the celestial garbage facilities and grabbing a good amount of trash so as not to get his father or apostles guarding those facilities questioning him.
Rudo knew it was a bad thing to do, especially when the celestials had already hated the tribesfolk as much as they did, but he couldn't stop this urge within him to continue doing it.
He hated that all this trash could still be used again if those idiots who looked down on them thought for a second that the trash they had been throwing away could be repaired.
So like any other night, after Regto had left, Rudo had put on his sweater that Regto had recently gifted him, and set out into the celestial land straight towards one of the garbage facilities.
Tonight the guards were sparse, fewer than the number Rudo had seen throughout the different nights he had gone to these facilities. But it didn't matter as he had gotten a couple of items of interest, and left as soon as he arrived. As much as Rudo didn't like leaving good trash behind, he didn't have much of a choice.
Normally, compared to the other nights he had done this, Rudo would've gone home and messed around with the items he had obtained. Instead, he headed to the peer looking out to the abyss that was the Pit. It was hard to remember why he went and stayed there as he did, but he remembered feeling frustration and anger lamenting about what he had thought at that time. However, Rudo didn’t keep track of how long he was there as he was surrounded by the Apostles.
Rudo was confused and scared as to why they were in the Slums in the first place. They had rarely ever come there, mostly staying in the celestial part of town. But he was mostly afraid as to why he was surrounded.
However, what he had heard about why he was surrounded made his stomach drop.
They had figured out he was the trash raider breaking into the facilities. Rudo would’ve thought he was being quiet and discreet so that no one would find him or raise any suspicion. But they somehow figured out about those break-ins.
The only thing he could think of as to how he was found out was that he was ratted out by someone in the slums. It makes sense considering everyone around Rudo hated him and had been hoping he would be dropped into the pit very soon. However, they couldn’t do anything as the boy hadn’t done anything bad yet to be dropped into the pit.
Rudo couldn’t dwell on those thoughts for a moment as the apostles attempted to grab him. He was trying to back away to get some space, but Rudo had forgotten where he was standing.
In one moment, he felt land beneath his feet.
And then the next, nothing.
The apostles were just as surprised as the boy as Rudo attempted to grab the ledge, but gravity pushed him faster than he could react.
He felt himself falling, screaming to the shrinking city that was too far away for him to reach.
All the boy could do at that moment was see the glimpses of memories flash in his mind.
Regto’s gentle face.
Regto gifting him his gloves.
Regto telling him not to stay up late and sleep early, realizing at that moment that would be the last time he would ever see his father.
Tears flowed down his face as the last moment vividly reflected in his mind before he fell.
This creature - humanoid - sat crossed-legged.
The more he stared at it, the more his mind ached.
Something within him stirred before it settled back into him again.
And then he woke up here.
Rudo hadn’t realized at the moment, but blobs of tears streamed down his face.
His vision blurred as he scrambled back and hit something hard. But the boy didn’t care at that moment.
Rudo lost everything.
His dad, his home. Everything he had known for his short existence was gone in an instant.
All he could do was curl into himself, hugging his legs and tucking his head down for some sort of comfort.
Yet none came of it, as the boy could only cry his heart out for everything he had lost.
Rudo was all alone in the Pit’s ground where he didn’t even know where he was or if anyone had lived here.
But the only thing repeating in his mind was how he was going to get back to the city. Back home to Regto’s warm embrace.
He wanted to apologize to his dad for worrying him. And that he would never go trash hunting again if his father knew what he was doing.
He wants to go home.
Rudo didn’t know how long had passed before he felt something or someone watching him.
He brought his head up to see a boy staring at him.
They seemed to be about his age, maybe a bit older. The kid had shaggy black hair and large onyx eyes. He wore a yellow tank top, blue shorts, and a large straw hat held by a string that hung from his neck.
It wasn’t the normal attire he had grown to see everyone wear in the city, which only felt like a punch in the gut to Rudo’s already lost hope that he wasn’t in the city anymore.
He had hoped it was all a nightmare.
Yet even as all these conflicting thoughts swirled in Rudo’s head, the boy continued to stare at him blankly.
It was unnerving the boy at how long the raven-haired boy stared back, not saying a word. However, the events that have unfolded today (Rudo swore he remembered it being late at night when he fell) emotions have blinded rational thought.
Rudo hated being stared at. The eyes that bore into him from hatred and resentment from every person in the slums.
What did he do to deserve those venomous looks?
Whatever the matter was, the kid’s stare reminded him too much of them.
Rudo glared harshly at the boy.
“What the hell do you want?” Unexpectedly raising his voice at the boy.
The kid was taken aback by Rudo’s aggressive behavior, but that shock was only momentary as the boy continued his pestering.
“Hey! I heard you were crying while I was hunting with my brothers, and I wanted to see what was wrong!”
Something within Rudo snapped when the boy said that.
“You’re lying to me..” Rudo muttered, his voice low, yet deadly.
However, it seemed that the boy didn’t hear what he said as the boy tilted his head to the side, raising a brow.
“What?”
“I said you’re lying to me!” Rudo shouted again, his glare held hatred and anger as he wanted the boy to leave him alone.
He didn’t care at that moment about Regto’s words. How the man would be disappointed that Rudo was treating the boy who was likely trying to help him (though he doubted the boy would stick around for long.)
But that was the thing, nobody had ever helped the boy in anything. The only times people in the city had “helped” him were always treated as a joke in the end. Just to push him down and laugh at his face again.
Rudo always needed to defend himself against everyone who wanted to harm him, so he had never even known if someone who really wanted to give him aid was actually genuine.
So Regto, as a result, decided it was best that the boy stay indoors for much of the time the man had gone to work. For the large majority of the afternoon or night of some days of the week, Rudo wasn’t allowed to go outside.
For both Rudo and the people’s sake, as everyone had heard and seen how aggressive Rudo was.
However, it didn’t seem that the boy in front of him had backed down in fear. Instead, the boy looked at him with furrowed brows. Looking rather annoyed?
“Why do you think I don’t want to help you?” His voice was blunt, yet offended, as if Rudo had done something to the boy.
However, more than anything, it was pissing Rudo off even more. Rudo just wanted to be alone by this point. But the kid in front of him was so stubborn!
Not holding himself back, Rudo snapped at the boy.
“Because nobody ever did!” Tears rolled down his face, his face contorted to a murderous, ugly glare. But something in that face that the boy could see, no matter how hard Rudo tried to mask it, was pain.
“No matter where I go, I won’t ever change! Not when I lost the only person who cared about my pathetic existence!”
His eyes bore on the boy intently.
The glare that normally scared anyone crying or screaming “Murderer’s child.”
“I don’t need your pity,” Rudo spat.
“I don’t want to pity you!”
Rudo’s glare momentarily wavered, his eyes widening slightly. He wasn’t expecting the kid to yell at him, not in the way that he expected.
The boy’s stare never wavered from Rudo, “I may not know what you’ve been through, but I want to help you—no! I want to be your friend!” The boy declared with absolute certainty.
Rudo stared at the boy as if he had grown a second head.
He wants to be friends with him?
Yet as he looked into the kid’s eyes, they didn’t hold any ill intent, anger, fear, or malice. Instead, they held kindness filled with blazing determination. A stare that he was beginning to realize he had never seen anyone give him other than his father.
He stared befuddled at the boy, whose curious eyes only added to his confusion. Rudo could only respond with one word that spiraled in his head—
“What?”
The boy smiled cheekily at Rudo, “I wanna be your friend!” He tilted his head slightly, looking at him confused, “Isn't it obvious?”
“I know that..” Rudo growled slightly, but it didn't hold that anger and hatred before. “Its just… why do you wanna be friends with me?”
The boy gave him a large, toothy grin, “It looked like you needed one!”
Rudo was taken aback, looking back at the boy who smiled at him gently.
“You remind me of my brother when I first met him,” the boy said, sitting in front of Rudo. “He was really mean to me at first, even tried killing me a couple of times!”
“The hell?” Rudo gaped, looking at him confused and angry, “Your own brother tried to kill you? But why?”
“He said I was annoying and a crybaby,” the boy laughed.
“That's the most stupid reason to try to kill someone, more so from your own family,” Rudo argued back.
“Yeah, I know,” the boy smiled.
“But why still chase after him?” Rudo questioned.
The boy sighed, his demeanor doing a complete instant switch. He stared at Rudo seriously, easily catching Rudo off guard.
“It wasn’t just because I was chasing after him. I couldn’t tell him that normally, but after an incident that happened a while back, I told him why I still chased after him-
“I’m scared of being alone.” He stated, not looking away from Rudo once.
“That… doesn’t make any sense though,” Rudo said, carefully choosing his words, “You would rather risk your life than be alone?”
“It sucks to be alone,” the boy said, stating it as if was matter of fact. “If I’m alone, then what would’ve been the point of my life without the people I care about. It would just be sad.” Though his demeanor changed instantly as he smiled at Rudo who was left awestruck.
“But hey! I have people who really care about me, so I’m not alone anymore.”
Rudo didn’t respond at all, only staring at the boy dumbfounded. The boy confused him a lot, more so with the boy’s reasoning about his life. He didn’t seem to value his life at all, much more concerned about the fact that he didn’t want to live a life alone. Even at the fact that the person that the only person he considered family wanted to kill him for something so ridiculous.
But supposedly the two had made up afterwards.
Rudo didn’t know why, but he felt angry not for himself but for the boy. Now he knew the reason why the kid continued to run after his brother, but it made him mad to know that the brother who tried to kill said kid was for something so stupid.
Honestly, if Rudo were in the kid’s position he would've never talked or forgiven someone who tried killing him after the first time. Especially someone who was family.
Rudo looked down at his gloved hands. He was all too familiar with this type of circumstance, his father after all had given him the scars on his hands and left him for dead when he was a baby.
Since that point onward in Rudo’s life, his trust dwindled from that man to everyone else in the City.
When being looked down on as a Tribesfolk was already bad enough, he was treated as a monster from his looks to his heritage.
All because his dad had gone crazy and killed people.
“Hey, you ok? You’re shaking a bit,” the boy asked in light concern.
“I’m just thinking,” Rudo absently responded.
The boy seemed to look like he was about to push on the issue, but a glare Rudo directed at the kid had shut him up almost immediately.
“I honestly don't understand you,” Rudo sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly.
“I get that a lot!”The boy giggled, making Rudo sigh once again.
Was he seriously going to be stuck with this kid while in the Pit? Rudo knows without a doubt that the kid might not know how to even get back to the City.
He was going to be stuck here for a while, Rudo thought grimacing.
“Hey, I never really asked for your name,” the boy said, bringing up a hand to his chin, pondering. “I was gonna call you Red Eyes, but I don't even know your actual name!”
A tick formed on Rudo’s head, “Were you seriously considering that?”
The boy scratched his cheek, “I was, but I want to get to know you first.” He tilted his head slightly, “I did tell you that we were friends now, remember?”
Well, that is a good point, Rudo thought. He never really introduced himself to the kid at all.
He doesn't think their first encounter was the best introduction, especially when Rudo had threatened the kid. But it didn't look like he was hurt or bothered by Rudo’s outburst earlier.
Rudo shrugged, he didn't see much harm in telling the kid his name. “My name’s Rudo.”
“Rudo? Well, I’m Monkey D. Luffy, and I’m going to be King of the Pirates!” Luffy declared with confidence.
So the kid’s last name is Monkey, thought Rudo as he was thinking that people who live here name their last name first, but something else caught his attention.
“King of the Pirates?” Rudo muttered to himself, not realizing Luffy was hearing him as well.
It sounded like a title that Luffy declared with absolute certainty he'd get.
“Yeah, King of the Pirates!” Luffy exclaimed, pumping his hands in the air, “I wanna be the freest man in the world, and to do that I need to claim the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates!”
Rudo only stared at Luffy for a while, processing the information he was spewed in one sentence.
So the pit had a sort of royalty — or rather title — for a person to be, well, it’s in the title itself, king of the pirates.
If his memory serves him right, pirates are a group of people who sail the seas looking for treasure. He remembers Regto reading him a couple of bedtime stories about pirates, the man animating what was going on in the story in exasperated movements. If Rudo was being honest, that was the most fun Regto had reading Rudo stories of anything.
He never really bothered to ask Regto why, Rudo found it rather bizarre, but he did have some fun on those days with Regto.
Rudo didn’t realize it now, but thinking about it now he really is starting to miss Regto.
“Heeyyyy,” Luffy waved his hand in front of Rudo, snapping him out of his stupor. “You in there? You’re staring at the ground funny.”
“Stop it,” Rudo muttered, swatting Luffy’s hand away.
“I was asking that you don’t have a place to stay here,” Luffy said to Rudo, eyes gleaming in anticipation.
“O-oh, um,” Rudo stuttered, looking away from Luffy. “Well, I did, but some stuff happened…”
Before Luffy could respond, the two boys heard someone shouting in the distance.
“Luffy!”
The two turned their heads to see two older boys, dragging two surprisingly large crocodiles behind them.
Luffy brightened up, shouting at the two.
“Hey Ace, hey Sabo!”
(To be continued)
-
I know this chapter didn't have anything interesting happening, but the next chapters should hopefully be interesting! Especially now Ace and Sabo will get to see Rudo.
I wanted to apologize to my AO3 readers who had to wait an entire year for an update! College can get really stressful, and I haven't had the time to write as much as I used to.
But I am hoping to give more updates than last year, and give some updates and new chapters.
Although I can't really keep that promise fully...
I am especially going to be making edits on the first chapter as I had written it a long time ago. So, don't worry about rereading it again, just going to add some additional things since I added some stuff to the second chapter that wouldn't make sense on the first!
Anyways, thank you to all for stopping by and reading!
See you all very soon for the next chapter!
Peace!