A Fire spirits rekindling!

Unavoidable Encounter

Ace stopped short of his hut so he could walk the rest of the way. His footsteps were silent as he crept to his own house. Ace sighed in relief when he saw no one around. It wouldn't stay like this for long, he better get his items together.

Ace walked into his hut and walked to his bed. He definitely wouldn't miss this bed, it was hardly comfortable. Ace grabbed a box from under his bed and opened it. Revealing an orange hat with a smile and frown pendants on the brim.

Luffy, himself and Sabo had promised to have identifiable hats in case they got a bounty with an image or name, so they would know. For Luffy and Sabo it wasn't a problem. Luffy eventually just got him one when he couldn't decide, for someone like Luffy ace was rather surprised it was something relatively normal.

Well, if it came to Ace's pirating career now it was as time as any to start. Ace smiled, it was about time too, Sabo should be appearing on the grid soon enough to. Luffy had said he would wait till he was 17 but Ace wouldn't be surprised if he set sail before then.

Ace smile faded as he heard the crunching of leaves. He was lucky it was fall, otherwise hearing them wouldn't be as easy as it was.

Ace grabbed a red bead necklace before putting the box back under the bed. He grabbed his yellow flannel before walking out of his house. He'd be damned if he went down without a fight.

"Well, it's certainly a surprise seeing someone this deep in the forest." Ace said with a smirk. The man was clearly on guard but faltered, no doubt due to Ace's appearance. Ace just seemed too young didn't he?

The man smiled before shrugging. "People who know what they're doing tend to come here often." The man was rather thin he had a handgun and a knife in his belt. He also had a utility bag, but Ace doesn't know what is in it.

Ace shrugged in response. "I suppose so."

The man was silent, studying Ace.

"Well... How many of you are here anyway." Ace said with a grin. The man smirked himself "Enough." Ace raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

The man paused for a second before he gained his composure. With Ace's observation Haki he could make the assumption that he was just trying to buy time. Because there wasn't a single soul in a mile radius from them. Ace looked lazily around himself, putting his hands into his pockets before looking back at the man.

"I'm sure neither of us plan on standing here all day." Ace said with a yawn. The man looked agitated, though Ace couldn't pinpoint if the agitation was actually towards him.

"I had planned on going hunting." Ace said while eyeing his own knife. The man looked at him confused. "Wait, what?" The man stood from his somewhat crouched position.

"I live in this hut, if it wasn't obvious. I hunt for my own food... To live?" Ace said as if it would have been obvious. "Oh." The man said with a surprised look.

"Are you hunting too?" Ace said with a grin. His comment caught the guy off guard. If he thought he was a spirit he certainly didn't now. "Sort of." The guy said with a shrug.

"So you're looking at the food chain first?" Ace said with a raised brow. The guy nodded. "In a way, yeah." The man turned around, probably to tell his hunting mates about his findings.

Ace frowned slightly, "If there is a leader, probably knows I'm bluffing." Ace thought with a sigh. He went back into the hut and grabbed his log pose. He didn't really need to bring anything else.

See, packing didn't take awfully long, it was finding a boat to sail on that took a minute.

Ace frowned and sat on his bed for a moment. His wound, luckily for him scabbed over pretty fast but rubbing against anything could threaten the wound to open up again. His stitching job wasn't the best but he would make do with what he had.

Ace looked up, a gunshot rang through the woods. It echoed before being followed by another one before they stopped entirely.

Ace stood up before walking out of his hut. A black cat scrabbled from the bush and ran as fast as its own paws could take it. Ace felt a wave of guilt crash over him. That's what he gets for taking the form of the cat. 

He heard the crunching of leaves as the group got closer, their shouts didn't really make them any quieter. It honestly made Ace wince.

They stopped when they finally saw him. The shrimpy guy with them as well. "After a spirit?" Ace said with a raised brow. What Ace guessed was the leader of the group eyed Ace suspiciously. "What is a kid like you this deep in the forest?" He asked with a cold stare.

Ace didn't bother to respond.

The shrimpy guy frowned. He realized right then he had been tricked, Ace would have been gone hunting if he were telling the truth.

The men raised their guns before aiming them at Ace. "Well it seems I'm not much of a violent person after all!" Ace said with a shit eating grin. "Usually I'm the first one to resort to violence." The men grinned slightly. "Afraid of guns then?" Ace thought for a moment. "Well, no not really."

The men frowned slightly before a shot rang through the forest. The men looked up from their spots back to Ace with wide eyes. Much like a logia, the bullet went straight through him.

"Yea, I don't think I'm going to be an easy target." Ace said with a grin. A black coating covered his arm as his legs pushed him forward he grabbed the gun and crushed it with his hand.

A satisfying crunch of metal made Ace realize he really shouldn't have been worried.