Chapter Text
Children his age are known to be curious. To be innocent. To be creative. To be childish and playful. To be pure and kind.
It’s stupid , Luffy thinks to himself.
Because to him personally, children his age are known to be complete utter assholes (he voices that to Makino one day and receives both a harsh scolding for language and a worried look filled with concern).
He doesn’t regret saying it though, nor will he ever apologize for it.
Not when they’re currently shoving and kicking him to the ground, taunting him with cruel words that Luffy should cry at. But he doesn’t. He’s too stubborn to give them any sort of satisfaction.
They’re just playing around. He’d roll his eyes at that sentiment, but unfortunately there was kicked up dirt in them already. He winces at the grainy feeling and tries to rub it out.
He’s not very successful.
Luffy then watches with a heavy heart and blurry eyes as the only group of kids in his close-knit village, turn and walk away from his soot-covered and scratched up body.
When he peers down at himself, the boy lets out a big sigh at all the grime and muck staining his freshly-washed clothing. How am I gonna tell Makino , Luffy thinks with a small frown plastered on his face.
“Well they weren’t very nice,” A voice comes from behind the young boy and Luffy startles at it. His head turns around directly, only to be greeted by the sight of the wooden trunk of a tree.
He’s confused for a couple of seconds before he hears it. It’s quiet and he has to strain his hearing slightly to catch it, but it’s there.
The swift fluttering of wings.
Luffy snaps his head up fast to the branches of the tree towering over him and quickly spots a small being.
Upon squinting and closer inspection, it’s a robin he finds. A tiny and delicate creature with vibrant feathers that fade from a bold orange at the top of its head, to a soft brown at its rump; the stomach was an elegant and muted shade of blue.
When Luffy glances at the bird’s face, he notices the amused look, twinkling in its dark eyes with a tilted head. And— what..
“Are you talking to me?” He asks rather confusedly, right hand pointing to himself.
However, the second he finishes his sentence, the robin jolts harshly, surprising both itself and Luffy as its small body tumbles off the branch it was perched on.
Luffy scrambles to catch the tiny animal with outstretched arms and open palms. In the end, it’s an unnecessary action, seeing as the bird spreads its wings immediately and flutters to the ground before him.
Its beady eyes stare into Luffy’s own large eyes and opens its beak, “You can hear me?” There’s incredulity laced within its tone and Luffy clearly hears it speak this closely to him. He realizes at that moment that the bird is female, possessing a melodious and lifting voice that chirps from its form.
And Luffy—
Contrary to popular belief, Luffy’s not stupid for a five year old, but rather a fairly bright child. It was something thought as shocking, specifically from Mayor Woo Slap. “Mustn’t get it from his father’s side,” he heard the man say once to Makino.
And although the boy may be dense as hell from time to time, make dumb decisions, and say unintelligent things,
He’s not stupid. He knows that animals shouldn’t, don’t , talk.
Luffy slowly nods in response anyways. And when the robin flies up close to his face abruptly, the boy jumps at the action. He watches as the bird tilts her head up and down at him before moving to fly around his sitting body.
He’s confused. Terribly so. But before he can get any words out, the robin flies directly in front of his face again. Luffy snaps his mouth shut, eyes almost crossing in order to look at the animal.
“You’re a strange one aren’t you?” She chirps and Luffy tilts his head in response.
“Can you speak to any others?” The robin asks.
Luffy furrows his eyebrows. “Others?” He questions.
The robin makes a sound akin to a person clicking their tongue, “Other species of course. Any fauna, bears, foxes, snakes ?” Beady eyes narrow at the last one but all Luffy does is shake his head.
“I haven’t really met or talked to any others, actually you’re the first one to speak to me!” His eyes sparkle at the small animal and he grins. And then he winces at the sting that the scratch at the corner of his mouth brings.
The bird stops flying in the air and perches herself on the ground instead, staring into the boy’s eyes and sequentially, his soul.
“Were those fledglings friends of yours?” She tweets in a tone less biting and more soft than the one prior.
Luffy blinks and thinks how she was Probably there from the beginning and shakes his head once again, this time slowly. “They’re friends, but none of which are mine.” It’s the way he says it that makes him sound more disappointed than he actually is.
And he’s not.
Not incredibly disappointed at least. Because he doesn’t like them, not one bit. Not when they clearly show their hate and distaste towards him on a day to day basis. Not when they spit sentences and phrases poisoned with nasty words that are purposefully derogatory and painful.
Not when they always make it their utmost joyfully loyal duty to point out how alone he is.
Because he knows.
He knows he’s lonely.
He knows he doesn’t have two consistent parents in his life, even when Makino presents herself as his guardian proudly (which he’s so thankful for, but at the same time he knows it's different. Because he’s not actually hers and she’s not actually his).
He knows what the word abandoned means even if he’s never been told it before. (He once asked Garp a year ago about what it meant. Luffy had never seen his grandfather so distraught ever .
“You were never abandoned, don’t you think that ever again, understand?” He remembers the man speaking in a tone so serious that younger him felt forced to only nod in agreement. The marine grinned and curled his fist into a loose ball, bonking it lightly on Luffy’s head; a different action from Garp’s usual ‘Fist of Love’.
And from that day on, Luffy never mentioned the word abandoned around the man ever again. That didn’t stop the damage from being done).
He knows this all very well—
But he’s desperate. So very desperate to find companionship. To find warmth. To find a home to call his, others to call his. To find comfort in another who’s willing and not forcing themself.
Luffy knows he’s alone. He’s been aware of it for the past five years of his entire life.
Being aware doesn’t stop it from hurting so damn much though.
A sharp peck on his cheeks brings Luffy out of his thoughts. He glares at the bird responsible and lifts his hands to rub his nipped cheek and–
Oh.
It’s wet.
Somewhere at the back of his mind, a voice tells him You’re crying .
Yeah no shit.
Luffy notices how blurry his vision is, blinded by salty tears that pooled at the corners. He brings his hands up again to rub them away.
He’s successful this time around.
Once his cheeks are completely dry and tears aren’t falling down heavily like waterfalls, he notices the bird still perched on the ground before him. She stares unceasingly at his face.
He doesn’t think he minds.
They bask in silence for a couple of seconds before he asks, “Do you have a name?”
It’s a strange question for him, due to the fact that Luffy doesn’t do names. Doesn’t remember them, never felt the need or desire to; not unless they matter.
And although he’s just met the small animal less than thirty minutes ago. He has a feeling. A very warm feeling in his gut that says she matters.
And she does, he just doesn’t know it yet.
The robin nods. “Sora,” she chirps.
Luffy smiles, not wide and cheeky like he usually does, but gentle and soft, “I’m Monkey D. Luffy.” He tells her in a quiet yet clear voice and Sora flutters her wings before flying up.
“Come along then Luffy, ” She sings. “The sun will set in a while and before then you must meet my flock.”
He brightens at that, eagerly standing up. His own two legs shake a little and he grimaces at the abundance of scratches littered across his skin. But shallow wounds or not, Luffy wants to see his new friend’s flock and pushes the pain aside with determination set in his mind.
Sora's tweet beside him sounds oddly familiar to a laugh when he turns his head to her.
“Stubborn one aren’t you?”
Luffy doesn’t respond verbally, but he does give her another smile, a wide and cheeky one that stretches from ear to ear; It’s the biggest and most genuine smile he’s ever given.
With that, the two companions move into the forest, one leading the way and the other following.
The journey doesn’t take too long, about maybe ten to fifteen minutes give or take before they finally reach their destination.
And what a destination it is.
Luffy’s mouth opens in awe, eyes sparkling because the sight that greets him is–
Awesome, he thinks loudly.
The forest at the base of Korubo-yama isn’t necessarily dense , but it’s not sparse either. Luffy had to do a lot of maneuvering of stray branches and bushes, even climbing over a fallen log, in order to follow the air-born robin.
Marvelling at the view in front of him, the boy almost thinks it was worth getting double the scratches from travelling through untamed vegetation.
The scenery painted is as natural as untouched nature can be.
A grouping of trees part and surround a medium-sized pond filled to the bank with crystal-like water that’s an illuminating and almost unnatural color of blue. The area is vibrant, even with the tall trees acting as a canopy above, sunlight sneaks through parted leaves and shines on the pond, allowing it to sparkle amidst it all.
Behind the trees lies an alcove that caves into an opening. Luffy doesn’t know how deep it goes inside the mountain and isn’t able to ponder much as his thoughts are caught, his eyes catching sight of something else.
The animals.
When Sora first told the boy of her flock, he imagined they’d look just like her. A robin. With Orange fading into brown feathers and a breast colored a muted blue.
A flock, he thinks. Is this a flock?
Because it’s not solely robins that flutter about the scene, but multiples of different species. All of which are native to Korubo-yama ’s base forest biome.
Luffy’s eyes are impossibly wide as he drinks the imagery all in.
Fauna, he sees. Deer, moose, bears, porcupines, foxes, chipmunks— he could list on and on, but a loud chirp from Sora catches his attention.
The chirp itself isn’t technically a chirp, but a call. A familiar call it seems, as all the wildlife found in the scenery turn their heads to Sora and sequentially, him.
A five year old human child who has never stepped foot into this area of the woodlands.
It’s silent amongst all the nearby living creatures, with the sound of rustling leaves against the wind acting as the pen in the silence.
A voice speaks up from the alcove, with a figure following out of the cave.
“Who have you brought to us today Sora?” The voice is deep, incredibly so, and it’s male. It rumbles out of the stone cave and amongst the flora, echoing in the air.
Luffy watches as the shadowy figure walks out the cave and into sunlight.
A brown bear, the boy notes, strolls on all fours until he reaches the edge of the pond, where the mammal stands on his hind legs and up to his full height at approximately 3 meters.
In short, it’s a big fucking bear. And a brown bear at that, an animal that Luffy remembers being told to be extremely dangerous and aggressive. An animal that Luffy remembers being told to be wary of.
“Mao!” Luffy hears the robin tweet cheerfully. The brown bear, dubbed Mao, growls and turns its head to roar at Luffy.
“Leave.” It’s not a shout, but it’s a command that’s both deafening and intimidating, especially with the bear’s sharp canines appearing in a threatening manner.
And Luffy— as the five year old child he is, should be shaking and trembling in fear, but all the boy could do was stare in awe, his dropped jaw turning upward.
“COOL!” He exclaimed, eyes turning starry.
The watching fauna startle at the boy’s unusual response, their heads turning to Mao who also startles at the reaction, but not as clearly as the others.
Luffy moves to jump over the bushes blocking his way before a wing slaps him on the back of his neck.
He pouts at the amused robin.
“Ask for permission Kotori, ” Sora says and Luffy frowns at her before turning to the other woodland creatures.
And because Makino brought him up to be polite to strangers, he asks “Can I come in?” Although the tone is impatient and excited.
The startled animals in scenery startle even more at the exchange between Sora and Luffy. How the robin hit him gently and spoke a reprimand, and how the human child was able to understand the bird perfectly.
Luffy’s too busy staring impatiently at the standing brown bear to see the hysterical look the robin gives the others behind him.
The forest is silent for one moment. And then another. And then the animals promptly lose their shit.
It's a loud mess of squawking, grunting, chirping, and squeaking before Mao lets out another thunderous roar. The forest is quiet again.
Luffy pouts, crossing his arms and frowns. Sora is letting out a chirping laugh.
“Come here boy,” the brown bear orders with a rumbling voice and that’s all the permission Luffy needs as he immediately jumps over the dividing bush.
The boy does nothing but sprint his way to the other side of the pond where Mao is, but not before aweing at everything in front of him.
By the time he reaches the 3 meter tall bear, Luffy adorns a large grin, face flushed slightly from excitement.
“Hello!” He greets the imposing brown bear buoyantly, “I’m Monkey D. Luffy!”
The corners of Mao’s mouth quirk up slightly and he leans down to come face to face with the human boy, giving Luffy a smile of his own filled entirely with sharp and pointy canines.
Luffy’s smile stretches impossibly wide at the sight, “YOU’RE SO COOL!” He exclaims with stars sparkling in his eyes.
Mao freezes in place. A second passes. And then another. And another.
Before a chortle leaves him. The bear stands straight and tilts his head back before laughing loudly, the sound bellowing within the quiet alcove.
Luffy frowns at it, What’s so funny?
But when he voices it, the brown bear laughs even louder. Luffy vaguely feels Sora perch herself on the top of his head.
After a minute the larger animal manages to calm himself and changes his stance to walk on all fours.
Mao meets Luffy eye to eye, one filled with interest and mirth, the other filled with confusion, annoyance, and leftover excitement.
“You are his descendant I see,” the bear says. Luffy opens his mouth to ask, His? But Mao cuts him off once again, “Don’t make a ruckus.”
With that the brown bear turns away from the boy, from the robin, from the rest of the surrounding fauna and returns back into the depths of the cave.
Luffy stares at the retreating bear, his question dying on his tongue.
“You’ve been welcomed,” Sora tweets proudly.
That snaps both Luffy and the rest of the woodland creatures out of their dazed trance and in an instant, Luffy is surrounded by different kinds of animals of all species and sizes.
One by one Sora introduces him. And one by one, the boy feels himself become warmer inside. Warmer inside his body. Warmer inside his heart.
He smiles sunnily, eyes crinkling with it because for the first time ever—
He doesn’t feel alone.
Time passes by quickly in the alcove. Faster than Luffy ever thought time could pass. And before he knew it, the Sun began to set and soon he knew Makino would start to worry.
He was reluctant, very reluctant to leave, but he was hungry and tired and dirty (in the midst of this afternoon’s events, he completely forgot about his untreated wounds). He had to go back. To the village. The oh-so-seemingly warm but cold village, and away from the actual warmth.
Sora rubbed the top of her head against his cheek. “You will come back Kotori ,” it wasn’t a statement. It was a demand. In fact, it was the only demand in his life in which he’d gladly follow.
Sora guided the boy back to the entrance of the forest, not leaving him until Luffy was in front of a building with a large sign reading Party’s Bar at the front.
The robin flew off of his head, flapping her wings in front of him, “Goodnight my Kotori, ” she chirped.
Luffy scrunched his nose in response, “Not a bird.” The robin chirped a laugh, pecking his cheek with her beak before flying off.
He watched Sora leave, rubbing his sore cheek with his hand. It stung, yet Luffy continued to grin even through the pain.
Once the bird was completely out of his sight, the child sighed and turned to enter the building.
“Makino I’m back!”
Later that night when Luffy laid in his bed, tucked warmly under the sheets after washing and putting on a clean set of clothes, he’d stare at the ceiling above him and recollect the memories he gained from today.
With another smile, Luffy closed his eyes, listening to the wind flowing through his open window and felt his world darken.
In his thoroughly exhausted state of mind, the boy failed to notice the singing whispers that danced fluidly in the wind and how the waves crashed a little too harshly against the coast for a sky that was completely clear.
And in his thoroughly exhausted state of mind, Luffy remembers passively how it wasn’t at all normal to understand animals, nonetheless speak to them.
Mind too tired to think, he pushed the thought aside, choosing to immediately forget about it.
It’s not that unusual after all.
Right?
Wrong.