The baby brother of ASL

Chapter 27

The thrill of the jump never ceased to amaze the red haired man ever since he had only been a young cabin boy mopping the deck years ago. 

The rush of adrenaline flooding through his veins was something that had made him addicted to this extreme sport-activity from the moment of his first leap.

The wind running past his hair never ceased to comfort Shanks as even now he leaned against the soothing touch of the cold, cool and simply just refreshing wind embraced him ever so gently. 

Whenever he took the leap, it gave him no choice but to relax his body and trust himself to the wind and it seemed like nothing had changed since then.
Shanks sighed, cradling the young boy in his arms more securely before throwing his head back, closing his eyes shut. 

The comfort, the security, the sense of protection and the memories rushed back to him. 

How long had it been since he felt so comfortable?
And now that was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but today Shanks felt a bit rebellious so he will like to answer the question. 
It had been indeed too god damned long since he had.. too long for his own good.

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Maybe the wind had stirred a part of him that was still a young child, as he unconsciously started to recall the past events with a small smile. 

After his captain had been executed before his very eyes, he had been on the run with everyone and everything on his tail. 
Dodging enemy pirates here and there, evading marines, sliding away from villagers who either hated him for his ' evil colored' hair or just because he had been the crew member of the Roger pirates. 

He remembered the time when he had once curled up into a small tight ball in the middle of a small alleyway, beaten and bruised close to death by the marines, as he had barely escaped from those manipulative bitches who believed what they were doing was justice, with so little life left in him. 

He recalled how he had wailed ever so silently yet ever so loudly, wrapping his arms around himself, desperate to even get the slightest amount of protection and warmth. 

He recalled the times he had cradled his precious straw hat to his chest every so gently yet so yearning as he wailed ever so silently, as his body shook violently in fear, as tears ran down his face and as his throat threatened to let his wails out into the world. 

Shanks looked back at the days when he had missed everyone on the crew ever so much that he had wished to meet anyone from the Roger's crew or his allies.. just anyone who weren't breathing down his neck, waiting for Shanks to make a  single mistake, silently watching for an opportunity to strike and kill, for even a single yet solid minute. 

At that time he had questioned everything and everyone at everything and anything they did, afraid and fearing whatever people did, fearful of being betrayed, stabbed in the back, torture, death and dying without fulfilling his dream ever since he was a child. He had been on panic mode 24/7, observing everything, painstakingly moving, thinking a million times before speaking to make sure he didn't give anything away to anyone, moving from one side of the ocean to the other afraid that if he stayed too long in a place and felt safe and comfortable, people would come and harm the village all because of him.  

Now that he looked back at that small, stressed and panicked young boy as the yonko of the sea, the captain of the akagami pirates and one of the most successful pirates even respected by the marines and villagers, he could see just how the young boy had been too young, too inexperienced, so afraid and so vulnerable  to even think straight.   It was honestly a miracle that he had managed to survive in such a state of panic. 

Shanks smiled sadly as he threw his head back, " Captain am I doing well?"  He questioned as he stared up into the skies, sparkling with stars, glistening in the light of the moon and you know Shanks didn't know why but he could ever so easily imagine his reckless, brave and simply amazing captain beaming down at him, waving and cheering him on from the heavens along with his allies and friends, giving him a big thumbs up. 

How he missed the man so much....

" Shanks.. you... are you fucking crazy??" 
A squeaky, annoyed and quite frightened voice snapped him out of his trance of repeating his memories in a endless loop while gazing up at the sky with an empty eye. 

" oi. oi!!!" 
The voice seemed to physically slap the man from right to left as Shanks felt his face being slapped back and forth without a stop, " You TOMATO IDIOT, don't you DARE black out on me with me attached on you, AFTER YOU JUMPED OFF THE GOD DAMNED SHIP FREE HANDED!!!" 

Now that screech brought Shanks immediately out of his trance although his first response was to give the offender a big fat bombastic side eye... only to stop when he spotted a very annoyed and angry looking Cloudy sitting on him like he was some carpet as he lay flat on air. 

" Cloudy~ You wound me!!!" the red haired man whined, smiling brightly at the young boy who know wore a ' the fuck are you doing ' look on his face, " you seriously doubt my abilities? Me? the great yonko of the sea? " 

" Yes" 
Came the solid answer with not even a single ounce of hesitation, immediately after Shanks' question finished, punching Shanks straight on the face, knocking him out emotionally. 

" Mou!!! You wound me!!" The so claimed handsomest yonko cried as he let fake tears roll down his face before deciding that it was a perfect time to perform multiple backflips in the air.... and... cloudy was out. 

" CLOUDY!!" 
" OH MY ROGER!!!!" 
" BEN'S GONNA KILL ME!!"