A Different Route (ASL, One Piece)

Getting to know the brats

He grabbed the weak boy and walked outside but a big wave threw them both overboard. This was no problem for Namur but it was for Luffy, so he quickly got back on the boys lugger and gave Luffy to Marco who was already waiting in the air. Then, Namur tied the new rope around the front of their boat and went back to the Moby, this was getting dangerous even for him. With the help of Marco did they successfully pull it onto the Moby and tied it closely to the mast.

 Marco was still holding on to Luffy, he thought his flames could warm the boy up, while using one of his phoenix feet for the lifting. When they finally walked inside the mess hall they all watched Ace being pushed into the ground by Jozu and Vista was holding Sabo by both of his arms in the air. Whitebeard was laughing so hard he couldn't stop. Both brothers had tried to go outside again to help their little brother and were struggling against the two commanders. 

'Oi, Luffy is fine yoi!' Marco called and both brothers looked in his direction immediately calming down when they could see their little brother. Jozu and Vista let them go and they ran towards Marco who showed them an already sleeping Luffy.

Sabo facepalmed seeing his little brother and Ace tried to bonk him on the head what Marco stopped by just pushing Ace away with a hand in his face. Blankets were passed down to the brats and put around their shoulders to keep them warm. 'That idiot!' Ace tried to bypass Marco but Thatch grabbed his neck and pulled him back. 

'Brat, calm down, no need to get mad.' Thatch tried to reason with him but it only pissed Ace off more. 'Let me go, asshole, he shouldn't trust you guys.' Ace struggled against his captor, turned around and punched him in the face surprisingly hard. Thatch shook his head with a shocked expression. 'Stop!' Whitebeards voice boomed, both Ace and Sabo froze up feeling something they had never felt before.

The brothers looked back at Whitebeard and he beckoned them to come to him. Sabo quickly turned around grabbing his brother looking cautious, Ace had a big scowl on his face. He didn't know what that was what Whitebeard did, but he didn't like it. Slowly the rest of the pirates started to talk amongst themselves again, refilling their drinks, only the commanders paid close attention to the upcoming conversation. When both Ace and Sabo stood in front of Whitebeard, Sabo turned his head looking at Marco still holding Luffy. 

Marco sighed walking over to the brats, 'I'm not going to hurt him yoi.'. Deciding that calling them liars might just piss them off Sabo covered his brothers mouth with his hand, turning back to look at Whitebeard. 'You wanted to speak to us, sir?' Sabo asked politely, giving him a small smile.

'Gurararara yes brat, I have still a few questions. Sit.'

Ace looked like he wanted to do anything but listen to the pirate but sat down, pulling his blanket closely around him with a puff. Sabo did the same without the glaring, and he also double checked that Luffy was fully covered by his own blanket before looking back at Whitebeard.

'First off, we're sorry we forgot you brats, your boat is now on our deck tied to the main mast, the lugger should be able to survive the storm now.' Marco said first, walking over to sit next to his pops. Ace opened his mouth but Sabo slapped his hand on his face to stop him from talking back, the pirates did save their lives and apologized. 'Thank you, I don't think we would've made it through the storm,' Sabo responded with a polite smile, 'but you said you had questions sir?'. Sabo ignored his brothers attempts to remove his hand from his face, who was slowly turning red from anger.

'Yes, you brats said you were 7 and 10 years old, I want to know why kids of your age set out to sail as pirates.' Whitebeard leaned forward in his seat, eyes clearly filled with curiosity. Sabo looked at Ace for a second, 'Well, we always wanted to become pirates, but some stuff happened back home that made us leave much faster.'. Whitebeard nodded, 'Alright, and what about your parents?'. Ace's face turned a crimson colour at the question and Sabo had to add his other hand to keep his brother from talking. 'You don't have to worry about those, either they won't care or aren't in the picture.' Sabo tried to remain polite.