Chapter Text
Over the years Rayleigh had put up with numerous of Roger's idiotic ideas and whims. Finding quick solutions to whatever trouble they had found themselves in, was like second nature to the first mate at this point. Even now at their advanced age, his captain could not seem to resist the urge to cause them trouble.
Going all the way to the East Blue to bother Garp's grandson was a terrible idea. If he caught them anywhere near his home island, he would make sure to hound them for months. As entertaining as having the occasional fight with the marine was, he did NOT want the man tailing them over an extended period of time. There is no bigger pain in the ass than dealing with an angry Garp. Poor Shanks could attest to that during his last visit at Shakky's bar.
Thankfully, coming up with a plan hadn't been too hard this time around. The Roger Pirates would first dock in Logue Town. It was Roger's hometown and therefore wouldn't attract too much attention from Garp. The locals there also knew that the World Government made Roger out to be a bigger threat to them than he actually was and wouldn't panic too much about his visit.
Once they departed from Logue Town they would go under the radar for a while. There were a couple of small uninhabited islands spread throughout the East Blue that would serve the pirates as a good hiding spot. The marines in East Blue were easy enough to avoid from there on. Despite his large bounty, Shanks frequented Dawn Island for an entire year before Garp caught onto the fact that the Redhead was the reason his grandson wanted to become the next Pirate King all of a sudden. So long as they were careful and stealthy no one will realize they were sticking around the East Blue for the moment.
Since taking the Oro Jackson to Dawn itself was out of the question, an unassuming rowboat would have to do.
Unfortunately, trouble arose once more when it was time to embark.
"You can't be serious about going there on your own."
"Too many of us would attract too much attention, Ray."
"You hardly ever needed our help in getting the local authorities attention before Roger!"
"The kid lives in a tiny village surrounded by forest Ray."
"And knowing you, that entire little village will know you are there within the hour."
"I promise to stick to the forest edges. I will not go into the village."
"Even the bar?"
"Even the bar." Roger said and raised his hand.
Rayleigh sighed. There really was no reasoning with the man sometimes. But if there was one thing he had learned during his time with Roger, it's that sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Hopefully he just wouldn't return with any unpleasant surprises in tow this time.
From the maps and intel they acquired in Logue Town, the pirates knew that aside from High Town, where all the snobby nobles of Goa lived, Dawn Island was also well known for its dangerous jungles.
It was one of the few islands outside of the Grand Line that had such an abnormal and highly lethal fauna, which made it the ideal hiding spot for an infamous pirate such as Roger. No sane person would dare venture in there, meaning his chances of being spotted by fellow humans were near zero.
The journey from the unnamed island where the Oro Jackson anchored towards Dawn Island had been harsher than the captain had anticipated, as a raging storm had began halfway to Dawn. It hadn't been anywhere close to the likes of a Grand Line storm but that didn't make it any less inconvenient.
The rowboat was in a terrible state by the time Roger reached the shore and he knew he'd have too either fix it or acquire a new one and risk being seen and recognized.
At least the storm had been over by the time he reached the shore.
The jungle of Dawn Island was truly impressive.
Most trees were enormous and so were the animals. The biodiversity was high and Roger was certain that he didn't recognize a majority of the native plants growing here.
He made sure to stir away from the small human settlement he could feel up the mountain. The humans living up there were most likely mountain bandits. There was no need to go pick a fight with those.
This environment had prompted him to think about his old rival. Had Garp grown up around this forest? It would certainly explain part of the man's monstrous nature. Roger recalled his first meeting with the marine all these years ago. There was something more feral about the way he held himself back then. He'd seize Roger up as if he was prey to be devoured whenever they met. Who would have thought that this crazed version he has come to know over the past decades was the mellowed out one?
The man was so deep in thought while walking, that he had almost missed out on the fact that there was a tree house in front of him.
The odd sight made him raise an eyebrow. It was obvious that the tree house belonged to children but who in their right mind would let children play around this place?
He shrugged. Garp most-likely grew up in these woods so maybe this place was some sort of hotspot for feral children.
After leaving the tree home, the pirate wandered towards the kingdom.
He didn't plan to actually enter Goa's walls, just check how far the forest reached. The cloak he wore, hang low enough to obscure his face, so hopefully no one would recognize him even if they caught a glimpse of his shadow.
The sight he was greeted with upon reaching the forest's edges was…unpleasant to say the least.
A stinking trash heap full of unwanted objects and people. Roger wasn't surprised. While the nobles in this country enjoyed their extravagant life up in their mansions, the rest were left to fend for themselves, meaning those who couldn't pull themselves through the ranks landed in the trash.
Most people here wore dirty rags and were thin. They were full of mistrust and glares, the smallest mistake being enough to trigger a confrontation. In his short time observing them from behind the trees, he had already witnessed at least two stabbings.
He decided to turn around for now and retreat into the forest when suddenly, he heard the voices of children yelling.
A bunch of pirates, some strangely dressed men and a noble were surrounding three boys.
Against his better judgement , Roger discretely tried to get closer.Ray would tear him a new one if he got caught here but something about the nature of the situation intrigued him.
He strained his ears and tried his best to listen in on the conversation. The blond boy who was dressed in ragged noble clothes and wore a top hat must be the noble's son, going by the topic.
He felt bad for the kid. The boy was clearly a runaway that disliked his family's way of life. It was rare to see a noble acknowledge how rotten his kind could be, especially someone so young. To think this boy would rather go through the hardships of living in this dump over having a comfortable bed to sleep in at night, clean clothes and 3 warm meals every day.
By the looks of it the kid agreed to go back with his father, so long as the two other boys remained safe. The two boys were screaming and shouting at the blond leaving with the nobleman but to no avail.
The remaining pirates where about to drag the two remaining boys off to their headquarters when Roger noticed something about the younger boy.
There was a straw hat on his back, one that looked an awfully lot like the one his former cabin boy used to wear.
Silently, Roger sent out a wave of Conqueror's Haki, which spread all over the Gray Terminal.
It wasn't very powerful, he had to restraint himself from letting it spread too far after all, but it was still powerful enough to knock most of the men harassing the boys outs .
The lowlife pirates all succumbed to it, except for their captain, who must possess at least a tad more willpower than his subordinates. He was still shaking pretty badly however, which gave one of the brats the opportunity to pick up a pipe and strike him down.
Soon enough the blond boy came running back from where the other adults collapsed and the three boys escaped into the forest.
Now that was interesting. The boys seemed to be fast and have quite some strength in them going by what he just saw. Did the treehouse in this monster-infested jungle belong to them?
Roger couldn't help but grin in excitement.
He had found Shanks' special boy.