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doomstypewriter · 3 years

Text

The submersion | Intrulogical Mermaid AU

Future intrulogical.

Follow up on this animatic. | AO3

Words: 1728.

Summary: Remus has fun in his submarine. A giant barracuda disagrees.

CW: Dark humour, skeletal remains of a rat, drowning, deep ocean (if there's anything else do tell), death, sexual innuendo.

The submersion

It was cloudy.

And cold.

But that was to be expected when one’s in the middle of the Atlantic.

“Remus Prince, you dunce, how are you dressed like that?”

Remus turned around to see Ella Da Villa, the captain of the ship he was on, and an old friend. Her short afro was stuffed inside of a beanie, she held onto her sides through her huge puffer coat.

“I know you’d just rather I take it all off, but, honey, I need to at least wear something”.

She laughed.

“What you need is to make sure you don’t get drenched or--”

“First of all, I look amazing all wet. But if that’s what you’re so worried about, hey, I took care of that” he answered pointing at his green rain boots.

The crew looked at them in amusement as they moved the equipment, preparing everything for the submersion.

Ella took off one of her gloves and smacked Remus’ head with it.

“Ow! I thought you were against violence!”

“I never said that. But I am against animal abuse, that’s why I didn’t hit you hard. Now go and put on a coat, you dumbass”.

“Sure thing mommy, you know how to be commanding” he winked.

“It’s captain for you, now go!”

His boots squeaked against the flooring of the deck as he ran to get into the guts of the ship. He managed to hear Ella swearing under her breath.

“How did he even graduate? Going out in short sleeves…”

Ella was a funny one, Remus thought. It was easy to get under her skin, she also liked to play along which made it even better.

One of the people going up the metal stairs almost tripped against him, there wasn’t that much room, after all. Remus jumped over the railing and fell onto the lower level without a scratch.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?!” said someone.

A younger guy with spectacular hair held onto his forearm to check on him. Oh, this was the newbie.

“Don’t worry, I don’t have any lungs”.

“Wha…” he looked half perplexed and half horrified.

“You know, we all get it done since we’re going to end up sleeping with the fish anyway”.

He stood up quickly and mutely apologised. Remus enjoyed the view of his ass going upstairs as fast as possible. New meat was always hilarious.

When he entered the room his cupboard was already open. He liked to leave the sliding doors that way so he could see what was inside, otherwise, he’d forget about it. In a ship, that meant ending up with all of one’s clothes on the floor, but as long as Remus could see where they were he wouldn’t misplace anything. Object permanence was a bitch.

Messy floors did have an advantage, the coat on top of the pile was good enough to satisfy Ella and easy enough to grab quickly.

The backswing of the glove against his shoulder caught him off-guard.

“Ow! What did I do now?! This coat is fine!”

“The coat is fine, yes, but the new guy is shaking like a leaf. What did you tell him? He keeps saying stuff about drowning”.

“Hey, I’d never mention drowning when I’m about to get into a submarine”.

“Yes, that’d be very poor taste, sadly, you have it worse so you must have said something terrible. I expect you to fix this, or we’ll have to arrange you drowning”.

“You know I love choking on wet things”.

“Then your last moments will be pleasant. Consider me the best friend one could have”.

The new guy was holding onto the railing of the ship, staring at the water in concentration. Probably about to throw up or something.

“Hey!”

“Ah!” he screamed.

“Do you have a name?”

“Uh… yes… um…”

“Great! I have one too, it’s Remus” he introduced himself with half a bow.

“I’m Nathan… sorry… I’m just anxious… it’s the first time I go on one of those” he gestured at the submersible held by the crane of the ship.

“First times are always awkward, don’t worry”.

Finally, Nathan let out a laugh, it was a nervous one but it would suffice.

“You know what I said earlier was a joke, right?”

“Oh, yeah, it just caught me by surprise. You’re the head biologist here, right?”

“Yup. Guess you could say I’m the dom of this study”.

“Darn it, here I was expecting to be more active”.

Remus smiled in surprise. It was always nice when people had similar humour to his.

“Oh, you’ll have to be. I expect it”.

“You wouldn’t expect we could go for some coffee after we get into…” the date proposition vanished into a look of fear at the submersible.

Remus put a hand over his shoulders. The drowning jokes would have to wait until they were emerging.

“Don’t worry, my thicc ass has been there tons of times! It’s just a lot of water”.

“While it’s true he’s been there more than you, he’s overplaying his own ass. It’s kind of droopy” a heavily accented voice said

“Who are you calling droopy?”

They turned to see a tall blond woman smiling smugly. Erika Engström, oceanographer and the operator of the submersible.

“You, obviously, do you have water in your ears?”

“Not yet, but we’ll see if…”

Nathan held his breath.

“Nah, I don’t”.

“He either thinks you’re cute or he’s afraid the captain will throw him off-board if he keeps bullying you”, Erika told Nathan.

“I wasn’t bullying anyone”.

“Sorry to break it to you, but you’re always bullying people, you don’t know how else to flirt”.

“Then I would be flirting with everyone”.

“Aren’t you?”

“Okay, yeah”.

“Come on, I have to set up things. Give me a hand, rat skull”.

“At least give me a knife or something”.

“You can chew it through”.

One last look at Nathan before following her.

“Well, I’ll leave you to stress out, if I don’t help her we’ll dro…” oh right, no drowning jokes. “We’ll…”

“Flirt with me when we’re back at the surface”.

Remus smiled.

“Will do!”

-----

The light was beginning to fade out. The flickering of the few rays coming through a swirl of silvery fish would be their last glimpses at natural lighting for a while.

It was wonderful.

How the underwater landscape changed, morphing into something out of a nightmare. Never ceases to amaze him. People would say it was all just blue getting darker and darker, and it was! But it was also a thick fog from which anything could come out. He always looked forward to seeing the weirdest fish appear.

There wasn’t much room behind the giant acrylic viewport. Despite being stuck so closely together, Remus could feel a chill as the air within got cooled by the deep water. His coat lay forgotten at the back of his chair still.

Once the lights of the submersible switched on, a delicate dance of white dust shined just like it would on a sunny day. This was no room dust. But there was just as much beauty in seeing the marine snow surrounding them. Teensy tiny pieces of dead fish falling all around, making the nicest shapes.

“It’s so quiet” Nathan observed.

“Wait until you hear a whale. The first time I did I thought my skull would pop”.

“Which one?” Erika kept her eyes on the water, but he could see the reflection of a smile curving onto the surface of the acrylic.

“Well, the small one. I know you’d hate to have to scrape my brains off your console”.

“If you had any I would”.

“There would still be plenty of blood”.

The ship carried on with the descend, soon, they’d be at twenty thousand feet. Nathan leaned in.

“Hey, what did she mean by which one?” he said in a hushed voice.

“Oh! Right”

He pulled on the string of his necklace to get it from under his shirt. Remus held it in front of Nathan’s face.

It turned, revealing the empty sockets and the front of what used to be a snout.

“I have this rat skull as a necklace! Erika teases me because that’s how she copes with the fact that she hates it!”

“Anyone would hate it. You wear that thing everywhere. It’s creepy” Erika pointed out.

“Where did you get it?” Nathan asked.

In the dim light, Remus’s smile cast shadows, giving him a grim vibe.

“I used to have a pet rat. When it died it sucked, my brother and I buried it in the backyard. It was there until three years later when we got a heavy storm. The bones peeked through the mud. So I just yanked a bit on the spine and got it. The skull was already defleshed anyway, so, aside from cleaning it a bit, I didn’t have to do any of the work. I really like this necklace. I got into marine biology because I began looking at fish skulls and I wanted to see more”.

“That’s…” Nathan began to say.

Suddenly, the submersible turned violently.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know, I couldn’t take a good look”, said Erika.

Her frown told Remus something was seriously wrong.

“Guys, we’re picking up really weird signals from here. Are you all okay?” the sound of Ella’s voice through the radio distracted him from his train of thought.

“It’s all under control, but I am going to begin ascending” Erika replied.

“We haven’t taken all the samples”, Nathan said.

“We’ll have another chance. Right now I’m worried that---”

Erika did not have time to finish talking.

Its needle-like teeth loomed over the viewport. This creature was unlike anything he’d ever seen. Part of him felt excited at how terrifying it all was. Sadly, he had the feeling they were all about to die. This fish looked like a giant barracuda and an angry one.

The creature snapped its jaw closed, cracking the viewport.

Seemingly, it didn’t find it tasty enough and it swam away even moodier than before. The very least it could have done was eat them.

If you’re going to kill them might as well finish the job.

Remus’ body floated into the dark abyss as he struggled to breathe. Covering his ears tightly, he screamed in pain. The pressure was unlike anything.

Well, it had been fun.

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The continuation will feature Logan and another animatic!

Taglist: @lemonyscented , @emsiemaefander , @sunflower-avo-tea , @nadiestar , @amber-da-toon , @gabseliblack , @everythingisstardust

@trash-bastard , @under-the-blue-moonlight , @willowaudreykeyes

@queerly-a-hisssstory-momster

@theyluna-womoon , @subterfugespecialist

#intrulogical #remus sanders #ts remus #sanders sides #remus centric #mermaid au #sanders sides fanfiction #doomstypewriter #doomywrites

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psychedelic-ink · 4 years

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New Dawn(by lunna-star-8)

Dear Sabo and Ace,

Things haven’t been the best since Marineford, smiling hurts and Luffy shows no sign of waking up… I don’t know what to do… I keep expecting to wake up and the war never happened, but no amount of wishful thinking will get me that… Either way, I’m still not quite sure what day it is, the only time I grabbed a newspaper I ended up reading the comic strip instead. Sorry about that, I’ll end up finding what day it is, eventually. Adding to the list of things I don’t know, I have no clue where we’re heading but, before either of you worry, let me tell you that I trust Law.

And no, don’t make those faces, he saved Luffy and he saved me after the war. You’d trust him too. He’s a nice guy when—-

My letter got interrupted by a loud siren and the feeling of the floor suddenly tilting all to one side. I held onto the bed that was clearly secure to the floor but I felt the whole submarine rattle for a minute before the siren quieted down and I heard the unmistakable sound of canon fire.

Without so much as a second thought, I put my notebook and pen to the side before I darted to the door, I try to push it open but it wouldn’t budge – he wasn’t kidding when he said he’d find a way to keep me in the room. But neither was I when I said it wouldn’t be that easy, I looked around the room because it had to have…

I smirked when I saw the bared square hole on the wall “Vents.” I climbed on top of my bed to be able to reach the opening. It was relatively easy to get the grid off and I could see Law’s office from where I was and my math told me I should be able to fit in the space “If you don’t stay in bed, your wounds will open up again. So stay in bed.” His voice basically rang in my head as I stared at his office. It’s not like they needed me, they’re a more than capable pirate crew and it’s not like I’d be much help in my current state anyway…

Suddenly, I remembered Ace and his blood on my hands, I remembered Bon’s voice as we passed through the gate, I remembered Luffy’s screams when he took a hit from Magellan for me… I looked over my shoulder to see him still lying unconscious where he had been since I woke up and as I blinked, I could see Law in my brother’s place hurt and bleeding, plagued with nightmares he couldn’t escape from… I thought of the kind polar bear, Bepo, that had been nothing but supportive since I woke up… Or Ikkaku that always seemed to have a friendly smile saved for me…

When another canon blast was felt across the ship, I turned back to the vent and made up my mind, I was going out there and try not to be seen. I wouldn’t fight unless I had to but I would not sit still and wait for someone else to take another blow for me. I forced my claws out and used them to help me onto the vent, with a lot more ease than I expected, I pushed my way through the tight space until my head came out right on top of Law’s desk. Immediately I noticed that his two massive bookshelves were missing which I assume were what was now blocking the infirmary’s door. By generating a bit of wind, I managed to trip the chair backwards so it was out of the way and then set my palms over the desk, easily slipping my legs out of the vent and allowing gravity to softly flip me onto the floor. I checked, nothing seemed to be bleeding or ripped or even hurting – much, or more than usual, you don’t just miraculously recover from something like that war without constant aching limbs.

Snapping myself out of my amazement, I opened the door and made my way out trying not to be spotted. It wasn’t hard, the halls were empty due to everyone being engaged in battle, after some wrong turns and a couple of canon shots later, I had made my way outside without being seen.

“GET TO STRAW HAT AND TIGER LUNA, MEN!” some marine called out as he ran for the submarine… Hadn’t we been through enough? Hadn’t they taken enough…?

Not a second after the marine first stepped onto the submarine, I saw the light blue aura of Law’s ‘room’ before the man was chopped into pieces, he was screaming but as live as anyone. As I saw the man’s pieces fall to the floor, I peeked around the corner to see that Bepo was the only one on the deck, easily kicking the ass of a bunch of marines that seemed to have underestimated the bear, beyond him, on board of one of the marine ships, I could make out Law in his yellow hoodie and white hat fighting marines like the supernova he is – “Sadistic little bastard…” I chuckled to myself but then shrugged “Can’t really say I wouldn’t do the same with his devil fruit though, seems fun.”

I looked back around the battlefield, feeling the tiger in me wanting to join in the fight, standing at the side-lines wasn’t really its thing and, to be perfectly fair, can’t say it was mine either. My eyes shift down where the marine is struggling to, literally, put himself back together – I couldn’t resist, I manipulated the air around him to lift his limbs as I stayed as hidden as I could. Clearly, the marine had no idea what was going on as I started to throw his arms and legs at the heads of other marines around, I have to say that I probably should’ve felt a bit bad for the man, but I didn’t. I left the head for last, trying to talk myself out of doing what I was thinking, but who knew if I’d ever get the chance again? Not to mention, it would be cathartic after everything. Pulling it closer with some softer breezes, I ignored the marine’s complaints before figuring out where I’d be aiming and grinned – the ship where Law was. I took a couple of steps back before quickly taking them back and kicking the head probably hard enough to crack his skull. It landed right on the head of another marine and— oH, ShIt! Law turned to the sub. I really hope he didn’t see me, or I’m dead meat.

I looked up at the dark blue sky that was lighting by the second and at the dark oceans behind us… “We can still see the sky, we can still see the ocean, it’s not like it’s hell here!” Usopp said once. We were in Enies Lobby, in the middle of a Buster Call and those words stuck with me, they rang true in my heart and came back to me as the ocean breeze caressed my hot skin. There was a fight going on behind me, my heart was racing as I was painfully aware that at any moment anyone could round up the corner and see me or even a marine ship could come around or anything, really! And here I was, longing for the horizon that calls my name… It felt like ages since I last heard the calling of the sea, that pull in my heart like the tides, that whisper in my ear as the wind passes, beckoning me to take a leap. It made my skin crawl with excitement, it made me want to take to the waves once again…

The call to the sea that all four of us shared – that all four of us share.

Expecting enough time to have passed for me to be in the clear, I peek out of the corner again only to be faced with two people. Reflexively, I punch one in the face and flip the other over my shoulder dropping him straight on the floor before I realize that it’s two guys from Law’s crew, I had seen them before “Oh! I’m sorry!” I quickly say realizing that the red haired one was holding onto his nose, where I had hit him “You really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that…”

The one on the floor grunted “Can’t you scream or something, like a normal girl?”

I shrugged “It’s called a fight or flight reaction; I hope you realize.” He glared at me from the floor “I’m still sorry though.”

“It’s fine…” the red-haired dismissed seeming to have established that I hadn’t broken his nose “Makes us wonder what the captain’s so worried about, you can clearly fend for yourself.”

I frowned “What do you mean, worried?”

The one on the floor got up as he chuckled, rubbing his back “Kicking severed heads around isn’t exactly subtle, you know?”

I rubbed my face in annoyance “Damnit, he saw me, huh?”

The red haired nodded “Oh yeah. Turned to us like, get that damn girl below deck before I have to go deal with her myself!”

I looked over at him with an eyebrow raised “And that’s ‘worried’ to you?”

“It is with the captain.” They both replied in unison and I found myself tilting my head in agreement.

“What are you doing out here anyway?” asked the one with – I had just noticed – a penguin hat on “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep? I don’t know, in bed at least?”

I rolled my eyes “Yeah, like I’m gonna stay in bed while you guys are out here fighting. I don’t think so.”

“Well, you kind of have to now.” The red haired one said “We have orders to take you back and that’s what we’ll do.”

I looked between the two of them, feeling like a scolded child but it’s not like I had a lot of choices “Fine!” I give in, knowing that there was no point in arguing “But just so you guys won’t get yelled at.”

“Very considerate.” Penguin hat guy quickly replied as they escort me back to the door I had very expertly sneaked out of.

I was resigning to having to sit it out, when I see Bepo hit the floor bleeding, two swords coming down on the bear – I’m reacting before I’m thinking – I rush over. I know I’m not strong nor fast enough to stop the marines, but I can cover Bepo.

And that’s what I do.

I throw myself over the injured bear, acting as a shield between him and the blades and I brace myself for the pain to come, but instead, I hear what seems like metal hitting metal. I open my eyes to find out that both boys from before had stopped the swords with their bare hands and proceeded to kicking the marines away. With adrenaline rushing through me like a river after heavy rain, I helped Bepo to his feet and got us back to the same door I was so reluctant to pass through before. He struggled to stop me, he didn’t want to leave the battle, his friends were still fighting but I wasn’t about to even give him a chance to argue.

Yes, I’m the queen of ‘I get to do stupid stuff while injured that I sure as hell won’t let anyone else do.’ Have anything to say? Fight me.

Bepo needed a doctor – Bepo needed Law. But his captain was now stuck fighting a Vice-Admiral and it’s not like there was anyone that could ‘take over’ sort to speak. The only way to get Bepo help was to get Law but the only way to get Law was to get rid of the Vice-Admiral and they were right, it’s not like I was in any condition to get in a real fight, let along one with a Vice-Admiral…

There was, although, something that I could do. I didn’t like using it, aiming was a bitch and I kind of decided that it had been a bad idea to even try it in the first place, but it was also the only technique that I had that I could use right now that could: face up to a Vice-Admiral; be used from a distance; and not tear my body into grated cheese.

I carefully helped Bepo to sit down by the door and turned back to face the fight. Behind me, the sun was starting to break through the darkness of the night and I took a deep breath before I held out my arms in front of me, palms facing each other and I took another deep breath. I felt the air shift around me as I focused it between my hands, with my mind I gave it the shape of a bow and with my right hand, pulled back the non-existing string, forming an arrow of concentrated air in the middle as I did so. I felt the straightened air currents slice through the bandages on my hands and arms, the blood starting to be pulled into the air circuit, tainting it slightly red.

“When Sabo died, we said we wanted to get stronger so we wouldn’t lose anyone else. You took that burned off our shoulders by promising us that you’d never die. We believed you. I believe in you. You live in my heart now, in the memories I have of you, in the letters I write you, hence, I have no choice but to look after myself. I also can’t get stronger if I can’t get better first and I need to get stronger to protect Luffy and all the people I care about. Time to step up. I will come back a better version of me.”

With my thoughts decided and feeling the air settle into shape, I took yet another deep breath “RED GUARDIAN!”

I called out my attack aimed at the Vice-Admiral, my right hand fingers released the tension and between one second and the next, I felt a warm familiar touch over my right hand, but before I could turn around, I saw, to my amazement, that my arrow had caught fire in such a way that it looked like a big red bird.

My own thoughts came back to me “I will come back a better version of me.”

“A phoenix.” I could almost hear Ace’s voice right at my ear…

And then the next second arrived. The fire bird hit its target, sending the Vice-Admiral flying backwards into a wall on the ship in a blaze of fire before he fell face first on the deck of his ship. My jaw was on the floor, had I just done that?

Movement in the corner of my eye makes me turn to see Bepo sitting on the floor, still clearly in pain and the bleeding didn’t seem to have even slowed down “LAW!” I called out to the doctor that quickly ‘shambles’ his way closer to us.

He rushed to his friend’s side and looked him over with truly concerned eyes, examining the damage, gave the two guys from earlier some orders and then called over a very very tall guy “Jean Bart…” he spoke coldly as his eyes scanned the marines still standing “Sink them.” Without another word, Law disappeared into the submarine and Jean Bart went to do what he had been ordered.

Left alone once again, I held my right hand that still felt comfortably warm and remembered the feeling from before. I looked behind me only to be blinded by the rising sun, I couldn’t help but smile with him as a single tear slipped down my cheeks…

#submission #submit #burntsubmission #lunna-star-8 #monkey d luna #one piece oc #oc #one piece #trafalgar d. water law #chapter 5

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proudsmiles · 4 years

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As the sea is free

Luffy didn’t eat the Gomu Gomu no mi. Instead, he ate another fruit, one that would trigger a lot of events that no one expected such as a certain mad doctor joining his crew.

Prologue.

Trafalgar Law, a secret Child of D, stared unimpressed at the boy in front of him. Craning his head, he looked at the bulky man behind him.

“This is Law,” Monkey D. Garp presented him patting the teenager in the back, Law stumbles a few steps. “He’s going to be your big brother.”

The big woman (she looked more like a man) had tears running down her cheeks when she looked at Garp. “ Please spare us, Garp. We already got rid-er-I mean we just said goodbye to Ace last year! You can’t expect us to-“

How did Law end here in the Easy Blue of all the places? Ah yes! The old man insisted that staying in the North Blue was too dangerous, Law kept telling him that he was going to be okay but then one of the bastard’s crew held him captive, cuffed him in sea stone. Law managed to fool them in the end but the old man’s patience snapped and ordered Garp to send him to the East Blue.

Law would let them bicker now but soon enough he would flee this place. He, by no means, would stay here.

His eyes swept to the black-haired boy who was picking his nose with his pinky. Law grimaced at the gesture, was he going to stay with this brat?

“Anyway,” Garp brushed them off. “You and Law are going to be good brothers and thus I want you to train really hard to be a good marines.”

Law snorted at his words. As if he would join the fucking Marines he would rather split his throat in half.

His grandson didn’t say anything, only grinned widely, his hand no longer picking up his nostrils. The whelp was only watching and there was amusement in his eyes as if he was laughing at a joke he only knew.

Garp must have sensed it because he stomped towards his grandson, his mouth wide open ready to throw a fit.

Suddenly, Law froze his cool demeanour shattered in a matter of seconds because this cannot be.

It was impossible, it was wrong.

Wide-eyed, he watched as the two brawled. No sound was coming from them, not a shout, or curse or even their ragged breath or the fist that cracked down the boy’s skull. The only one who could do that was Cora-san.

He remembered his silly grin, his clumsiness, his last words.

Her must have zoned out because the next words Luffy said made him snap his attention towards him. “...I ate the Nagi Nagi no mi, so whatever you say, Gramps, I’m not going to listen ‘cause I’m going to be the King of Pirates.”

The Nagi Nagi no mi.

“I ate the Nagi Nagi no mi.” Cora-san boasted proudly, puffing smoke.

Law stared at him blankly. “That is the lamest fruit, I’ve ever heard of.”

He watched with mild surprise as a top executive crumbled, sulking in the ground.

“Fist of Love!”

Trafalgar Law was going to stay here for a long time.

Damn it!

“The weather was so nice. Who would've thought such a disaster would happen?”

“Don’t state it so cheerfully!”

“But it isn’t my fault, Torao.”

“It’s Trafalgar Law.”

Luffy was going to be the end of him, Law was sure of that. The idiot was grinning like it was something to be proud of, he gripped his nodachi tightly telling himself that it wasn’t worth it, that if he cut the boat in half he would drown too. How did he end joining Luffy in his craziness? No matter. What had compelled him to trust him to look after the ship?

Law looked at the big whirlpool before them. This must be some sort of record, not even thirty minutes and the problems were surrounding them but somehow, unnaturally though, things always worked to their favour. Law knew it, having experienced it before and Luffy was just too lucky to die here.

“What a big whirlpool,” Luffy commented in awe. “Why don’t you summon your powers and chomp it or something.”

“It doesn’t work like that, you moron!” Law snapped his patience running short. Only Luffy could reduce him to this. Only him.

The boat was swaying dangerously, water splashing both sides. The two of them gripped the edge of the boat, it would be their end if the sea water touched them. They were both hammers. His eyes moved on to the barrel and Law pursed his lips, this was their last resort and the only way to survive this.

Reaching for the barrel, he yanked the lid off, thanks to Luffy’s bottomless stomach, there were left a handful of apples, without much thought he threw them over the water.

“What are you doing Law?” Luffy cried indignantly his eyes glued to the apples that were floating around them.

Law looked over his shoulder. “Don’t talk too much and get in the barrel.” He pointed at the object of their salvation.

Luffy pouted but didn’t argue as he hopped on it, Law followed closely behind. Cursing silently, Law drew his long legs together, his nodachi poking his hip uncomfortably and Luffy wasn’t helping when he glued himself to him, his legs kicking in.

“Luffy-ya.”

“Hmmm?”

“I’m going to kill you once this is over.”

“Shishishishi.” Luffy laughed joyously. “A First Mate can’t kill his captain, Torao.”

Closing his eyes, he let the nickname slip by. Law regretted telling the boy his full name, he didn’t seem to get it right no matter how much he repeated his name and spelt it. Law hoped that their next crew mate was sane enough to balance the craziness of his (wrong) chosen captain.

“Hey Torao,” Luffy called his eyes dropping. “ Where do you think we’ll land?”

“Knowing you? In the middle of the chaos.” He wasn’t kidding for the last two years he knew Luffy, trouble seemed to be fond of him. Like when he went to catch a bear but ended up in his stomach, Law for to dissect it to get the boy. For someone who had was a silent-man Luffy caused to much noise.

Like him.

The barrel spun and spun. Law was surprised that the barrel didn’t exploit. Not long before, the water calmed down, swaying aimlessly in the calm seas. This was such a bad idea.

The barrel jerked to a halt, Law snapped his eyes open and raised his head, ignoring Luffy’s elbow in his ribs. For such a scrawny kid, he was really strong.

Law heard someone talking and then they rolling, he grunted when Luffy’s head leaned on his shoulder. It was beyond Law how could Luffy sleep in this moments. Using the back of his hand, he pushed him away from him, the straw-hat boy mumbled something about meat and being hungry.

He needed to get them out of here or else they would end suffocating. Lifting his feet, he pushed the lid that landed with a thud, grabbed Luffy by the vest he hurled him not caring where he landed. Law lifted himself up, his nodachi in hand. Stepping out of the barrel, he kicked it away. This was the worst way to set sail, Law was sure that this only happened to them.

“What a great nap!” Luffy exclaimed stretching his arms. “No one can get a silent nap as me.”

That explained why he didn’t wake up at all the sway and noises.

“Don’t use your powers to such a trivial things,” Law said rubbing his forehead.

Luffy pouted petulantly. “You always ruin the fun, Torao.” He whined dusting off his denim shorts.

For his sake Law ignored him and studied his surrounding, he caught the soft sway of the ship. An enemy ship probably. His grey orbs landed on three men who was gazing at them with bafflement. They didn’t look strong.

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!” The three of them raged in sync, their surprise turning into anger.

“None of your concerns,” Law muttered coldly.

A hand grabbed his arm and soon he was being dragged by an overexcited Luffy. “Let’s go, Torao. I want to find food.” He cheered looking around him with childish excitement. Luffy wanted food and he didn’t want to fight in hunger.

“Wait, wait” a fearful voice called out. “I cannot let you go there. Alvida will kill you if she sees you. You should go away from here.”

The two stopped in their strides and looked over their shoulders. There was a pink-haired boy, he was very skinny causing the clothes to hang from his frame. He wore spectacles that took most of his face but they spotted the large bruise on his cheek. From his hunched shoulders and the avoiding eye contact, Law was sure that the kid had zero self-confidence.

“Hey, you! Show us where the food is.” Luffy ignored his words and spiked to the only thing that mattered to him. The food and his stomach.

“Where are we anyway?” Law asked yanking off his arm from the clutches of his Captain. It wouldn’t do them any good to not know where the heck they were.

The pink-haired boy looked uncomfortable at the question. Nevertheless, he answered. “You’re on ‘Iron Mace’ Alvida’s ship and I’m the cabin boy of the ship, Coby.”

“Never heard of her,” Law commented uninterested.

“It doesn’t matter.” Luffy interrupted them impatiently. “I want food, show us where the food is.”

Coby looked between the two new intruders, they didn’t look frightened at the name of Alvida. The tallest one had only shrugged his shoulders off looking around with total uninterested and the short one was rocking on his heel demanding food.

He watched in horror as they started walking across the deck, the straw-hat boy chattering his ear off and the other with the spotted fluffy hat listened with boredom. Did they not have any sense of self-preservation?

Silently, Coby followed closely behind. After trying a couple of room they found the storage room. Luffy jumped tearing the lids open and inhaling anything he saw, his hands were only blurs as hoped from one barrel to another. It was a tattooed hand with the word of ‘DEATH’ impaled on the fingers that halted the straw-hatted boy from eating all the pantry.

“Don’t eat everything because we’ll take some barrels with us,” Law grumbled. “If you want to survive the sea, we should take this food with us. I don’t want to die from starvation.”

Luffy pouted and retired his hand after thinking about. Law was smart and he trusted his every word, so he knew that the older man was speaking the truth. He crossed his arms over his chest, he wasn’t full yet because fruits weren’t enough and the meat here wasn’t cooked so he should wait.

“A-ano what are your names?” Coby stammered looking at the mismatching duo.

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy and I’m the man who is going to become the Pirate King.” Luffy presented himself grinning widely, so full of confidence.

“Trafalgar Law, First Mate of the idiot and make sure that he doesn’t die on his journey.” The grey-eyed man smirked, a lift of the lips nothing compared to the stretched grin of his companion.

“Do you know what the title of the Pirate King means?” Coby shrieked.

The two of them nodded nonchalantly.

“Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! There is no way the way the two of you can’t stand at the top of this Great Pirate Era! Everyone pirate across the world is after the same thing. You're talking about fame, wealth and power! All ruthless pirates are after the One Piece. The two of you...”

His words were cut off when a fist slammed on his head, sending him to his knees. “Why did you hit me?” Coby screamed clutching his head.

“You were being hysterical.” Law blurted out, his icy eyes landing on the boy.

“Torao is right,” Luffy weighed in. “Besides it isn’t about being able to do it or not. It’s a matter of conviction and putting your life on the line if it means achieving my dream.” He took the hat off his head and gazed at him fondly. Memories of pirates, adventures and bright red hair assaulted his mind.

Coby turned his eyes to the other guy. “And you, Law-san?”

“Same like Luffy-ya.” Law nodded towards the straw-hatted boy. “I already experienced the verge of death so I’m not afraid of it.” It wasn’t a lie, Law had waited for the day when his soul would depart but then he was saved from the darkness he surrounded himself into and was giving another chance. Law wouldn’t waste it, he was free now.

Touched by their confidence and their fearlessness (or was it recklessness?) Coby decided to try. “Do you think I could join the Navy?” He whispered quietly.

Law looked at him with open disappointment. He didn’t like a lot of marines, they were few he respected.

“How should I know?” Luffy laughed. “Why are you asking us?”

“I’ll do it!” Coby exclaimed with newfound determination. “I’m not going to be a chore boy for the rest of my life! I’ll get out of here and catch even Alvida-sama. No! Just Alvida.”

“Who are you going to catch, Coby?!”

Law and Luffy dodged out of the way when an iron mace came crashing down, snatching Coby with them. A large woman was revealed, she was bigger than Dadan (and that’s was saying something), she had freckles dotted on her cheeks, a cowboy hat resting on her head and a pistol tucked in her hip.

She sneered at the pink-haired boy who scrambled back shitless. Her eyes then laid on the other two. “Neither of you can be the Pirate Hunter Zoro.”

At the name, Law raised a delicate eyebrow. After spending so much time in the East Blue he heard about the supposed notorious Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. Was he really that strong or they just labelled him in the East Blue’s strength standards?

“Coby,” Alvida seethed, bringing the attention back to her. “Who is the most beautiful woman in all the seas?!”

Coby stuttered incoherency in the background.

“Certainly not you.” Law interrupted sharply, his nodachi leaning on his shoulder.

“Coby, who is this chunk lady?”

Law snorted at the bluntness of Luffy, he was as oblivious as ever. Not that he could blame him, Law didn’t know a thing about beauty, nor he wanted to.

Veins popped at the back of her head as Alvida glared at the duo, she gritted her teeth before swinging up her large mace. “YOU LITTLE BRATS!”

Leaping out of the way, Luffy and Law charged at Alvida’s henchmen. Law spread his hand wind open and with a quiet ‘Room’ a blue sphere appeared covering all of the pirates who looked around baffled at the odd orb. Calmly Law drew his nodachi and cut through the air several times. They were all split in limb, heads, legs and torsos.

“Shambles.” He whispered moving his hands around, controlling the body parts. Arms were switched my legs, a head was rolling in the deck, torsos were top of chest...It was really bizarre.

His room disappeared and he turned his head just to see Luffy’s fist sinking into Alvida’s stomach sending her back, crashing on the ships’ mast.

“Hey, you!” Law shouted at the crew members who were still standing. They began to sweat profusely when an evil smirk spread on his face. “Give us a boat and food for our journey. Now!”

They ran off to go find a boat for them.

With a new lifeboat and barrels full of food, the two pirates and the aspiring marine were sailing peacefully, far away from the marines' ship and pirates. Law had his arms propelled on each said of the boat, his back resting on the railing and his legs stretched. Luffy was stuffing his mouth with oranges and Coby was looking at the horizon watching the course of the ship.

Coby’s eyes trailed to his companions. What are they? I had moved in fear for so long with Alvida and the two of them didn’t even drop a sweat when they fought her.

It was frightening how much power they held.

“If you’re after the One Piece, then you’re going to the Grand Line. That place is called the Pirate Graveyard.” Coby spoke up gazing at them.

Steely grey eyes glanced at him. Coby squirmed at the foreboding eyes, there was something around the older male that made him uncomfortable.

“Only for the weak.” Law didn’t understand why the people in the East Blue had so much fear regarding the Grand Line. The North Blue was so different from here. Sure it was dangerous but it wasn’t impossible to cross that sea.

“Yup, that’s why I need to gather to gather a strong crew.” Luffy intoned sucking on his fingers. “They mentioned earlier a Zoro earlier. Is he really strong?”

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meggannn · 6 years

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@keelificent asked me about why i think earthborn!shepard would be wary of garrus in mass effect 1 and phew here i go *cracks knuckles*

obviously this is subject to everyone’s shepard, particularly paragon or para-leaning earthborn shepards, cause maybe interpretations of renegade shepards don’t give a fuck about this kind of thing. my eb shepard is kind of hardened but still (or tries to be) para-leaning, mostly come out of a self-driven desire to atone to make up for her frankly embarrassing past as a delinquent (in her own eyes).

so anyway. any gangster would obviously be wary of cops, even the ones who run mildly inoffensive crimes, like the lookouts, or participants in petty theft or vandilism. it sounds like space capitalism and classism are still huge in the me ‘verse (and i’m assuming racism is still kicking as well, even if most of the population is poc or mixed), so i don’t imagine humans will have solved their corruption problems by the 2170s. you don’t even have to be a felon or live on the streets to be wary of cops, but for a teenager in a gang, yeah, i imagine there’d be an instinctual urge to bolt at the first sign of a badge; bolt, or play the distractor/actor, the one stalling for time and pacifying while the others scram.

maybe earthborn shepard’s been arrested before, maybe not. but either way i don’t think they would’ve had to have been to develop an instinctual reaction to be wary of cops. and keeping in mind that this is still earth, it’s not just out of fear of being thrown in prison or a foster home -- but i imagine shepard is also well aware of the cops to avoid from rumors of police brutality and corruption. i don’t think that kind of wariness ever leaves someone after they grow up with it during formative years, considering their life relied on a) not getting caught, and if you can’t avoid that, then b) not getting caught by one of the bad ones.

fast-forward 11 years....... commander shepard walks to the top of the steps in the citadel tower. shepard is now a disciplined well-respected marine with a distinguished record. they fight to make the galaxy a safer place. they worked hard to be where they’re at. she meets a cop at the top of the steps. old habits can still die hard.

gonna just commit to using ‘she’ here to distinguish this is now my shepard’s reactions she meets a cop who introduces himself as the detective behind investigating the spectre-turned-possible-terrorist saren arterius. vakarian is polite and respectful, but frustrated. he’s got no evidence, no records, just working on instinct. he ‘feels it in his gut.’ shepards can have a lot of reactions to meeting garrus vakarian for the first time, but aside from the instinctual urge to be cautious of trusting a cop, mine mostly logs his presence away as a mental note to possibly contact later.

the next time she meets garrus vakarian, he uses her entrance as a distraction to take the first shot on a gang of thugs holding a witness hostage. it’s clear vakarian has now gone rogue to work the investigation on his own terms. you properly dispense the bad guys and he thanks you at the end. “perfect timing! gave me a clear shot at that bastard.” the fact that he made a pinpoint shot with a handgun and little time to prep is either exemplary skill, or complete luck. either way, it was still a dangerous move -- the bullet struck less than a hand’s breath from the witness’s skull.

so log him in her brain now as ‘skilled but reckless.’ not really the kind of qualities you want in a policeman. also: he has no problem playing judge, jury, and executioner. i mean yeah, she would’ve killed the thug too, cause he had a gun to the hostage’s skull and engaged them in a firefight, but again, vakarian made the first shot. (we, the audience, know that this random npc was dead anyway and garrus had the right of it, but shepard doesn’t know that when she walks into the room. maybe she could’ve interrogated them to find out more about their orders from the broker.)

so shepard can chew him out for risking the hostage’s life, and he says “there wasn’t time to think, i just reacted.” which imo is probably just sloppy writing, because you’d think think a turian policeman would have better discipline than that, though again, ymmv on how wide the gap is between turian and human socialization and discipline. (personally i feel it’s more in character to have planned out his moves during that waiting time before shepard enters and made a calculated shot, but still accepted the risk that he might hit dr michel nonetheless.)

michel talks about tali’zorah and fist, with officer vakarian filling in context and other details he found from his investigation. this guy is so antsy to lock saren down he’s practically vibrating. which is not a bad thing, because you want a policeman to be driven by a drive to put dangerous people behind bars. but again! reckless.

“this is your show, shepard. but i want to bring saren down as much as you do. i’m coming with you.” okay, vakarian, but i just MET you. what are your qualifications, or am i only bringing you on as an attaché for saren info? are you a good shot, or just lucky? can i count on you to reign in the excitement if civilian lives are at stake?

you can’t ask him any of this because bioware wasn’t thinking of these questions in 2007; you’re limited to “okay,” “hit the road josé,” and “why do you care so much, bro?” his response to the last two makes it pretty obvious that he’s driven by a sheer desire to see justice served: saren is a criminal. his actions have killed people, and his current freedom puts more lives at stake. and he’s getting away with it. also, “he’s a disgrace to my people.” if shepard has read her codex or talked to literally any turian for two seconds by now, she knows turians are a very proud, disciplined, and (theoretically) honorable people. that saren is a criminal and that he is using the system designed to help people to disguise his crimes, is eating vakarian alive.

at this point you could ask my earthborn shep “why take him at all if you don’t trust him to play by the rules?” the answer to that is

she believes in this moment that he is, at his core, genuinely driven by a desire to do good with his job, with casualties as an afterthought to the main goal. she still dislikes that attitude immensely, coming an earthborn background, it means she once was one of those ‘little people’ that police often disregarded in pursuing their targets, but she believes at least now that maybe she can get him to remember they’re not just chasing saren because he’s a Designated Bad Guy, they’re chasing him because his actions wiped out a colony and his plans clearly involve more bloodshed. in other words, it’s about protecting people, not winning against the bad guy, and she thinks he can be nudged back into that direction with appeals to his honor code, which he does seem to have.

if she says “no you can’t come,” she doesn’t put it past him not to leave c-sec and pursue saren on his own. maybe their paths would cross, maybe not, but she already has evidence he’s willing to go against orders, come armed to a clinic, and shoot up criminals without clearance from his boss. what if he decided to go chasing down saren on his own?

for however dangerous his move was, he does have good instincts. that ‘gut feeling’ was absolutely correct: he was right to come to the clinic, and was in the right place at the right time to make the shot. could’ve been luck, but just as likely could’ve been skill.

he’s a little aggressive and presumptuous, but still respectful of her and her command. turians are trained to defer to superiors, aren’t they? well, he did just defy orders to keep investigating, but that was because he knew saren was guilty and it was a bad call. honestly, she probably would’ve done the same thing. shit, okay, she just talked herself into saying yes.

and that was meeting two. i can’t help but think her opinion of garrus vakarian..... doesn’t really get much better until maybe the end of mass effect 1. i’m not gonna summarize every conversation they have in the cargo bay, but you probably remember the gist, and we know what me1!garrus is like: he’s eager to prove himself, constantly puts his foot in his mouth, is over the moon to work outside the law, and is kind of obviously projecting his spectre fantasy onto shepard. talks constantly about how he doesn’t see why the law should get in the way of doing what’s right.

okay, shepard can agree with that. she grew up in a literal sewer; she knows morality can (and if you’re para-leaning, should) be put above the law.

“and also!” garrus vakarian says, “also, these damn rules get in the way of doing my job. if my orders are to take in a suspect, why should it matter how i do it, so long as i do?”

“uh,” says shepard, thinking of the millions of corrupt cops back on earth who banged her head as they shoved her into the backseat of their car, pepper sprayed her friends -- not because she believes this of him, but because her mind jumps to the worst out of familiarity with seeing corruption from the bottom, and a fear that this is who he might become if she doesn’t handle this very, very carefully. vakarian seems to look up to her, for some unfathomable reason. he values what she has to say. she has to treat him respectfully, but she will make herself clear that collateral damage is not tolerated in her missions.

also, uh, it’d be stupid for her to ignore that compared to everyone else on board, this boy is like the most privileged one in galactic society. a turian cop (with a detective father well distinguished for his service) is already in a position of power over half of the ground team, but a turian who’s from the capital city of the turian home planet who lives at a station at the heart of the citadel with a badge and a lifetime of xenophobic microaggressions to learn to get over... like, no wonder tali and wrex weren’t fond of those elevator conversations, lmao.

i want to be clear, i don’t think my earthborn!shepard dislikes garrus in me1. she sees a lot of herself in him. they’re both disciplined but easily frustrated, driven by strong sense of duty and justice, don’t mind breaking a few eggs to get there -- imo a para-leaning earthborn!shepard has just seen more examples of what happens when higher ups cut corners. people like orphans suffer. people like who she was suffer. some of them don’t survive. so she tries to sort of.... nudge him into what she thinks is the right path without stomping all over his personality. i think she does value individuality and his opinions, more than blind obedience, so it is a dialogue, but she wants him to hear her. and when he tells her he’s going to reapply to spectre training and go back to c-sec in the meantime, and that he’s learned a lot, she’s genuinely glad to hear it.

anyway that’s my longass response to your prompt. i fully acknowledge this interpretation of garrus, even early-stage underdeveloped garrus (compared to me2/3), is probably an unpopular opinion, and possibly an uncomfortable one considering real-life parallels, so i apologize if i sound disrespectful. part of my attempts at broadening lore within this universe include addressing social differences that bioware mentions but drops the ball on (e.g., turians and asari having privilege over other races), so this is just like the result of some of those thoughts to bring a little sense of realism to this universe. and of course, ymmv with different types of earthborn shepards and how they would react to having a cop on board -- i’m not arguing this is is reflective of all, just how i see mine.

anyway it’s ok because they get much closer on the sr2. and after the war, things are good, until garrus offhandedly mentions his dad used to be deputy chief of one of the largest wards on the citadel, well known for gang and felon activity, and shepard closes her eyes, thinks of all of those ASBOs she racked up, knows with every fibre of her being that somewhere out in the galaxy castis vakarian has found out about their relationship and is scouring the extranet for her public history both after her enlistment and before, and while garrus continues talking unaware, she part of her dreads the day she does finally meet vakarian sr in person. buuuut that’s a story for another time.

#megan talks about bw #lydia shepard #garrus vakarian #this got so long sorry

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