31 A Strange Dream

(A/N: For the sake of not dragging out the Beehive arc, I decided to do a timeskip. What happened after the last chapter will be briefly explained in this chapter and the next. I want to move on with the plot and will not try to prolong Starrk's decision on who he'll choose.

When I started this fic, i had a vision of the endgame and how it'll turn out for Starrk. Didn't even think that getting past the early game and middle will be so difficult.

I apologize for making this whole ordeal either forced, rushed, and dragged out. We'll now head into my envisioned plot.

Thank you and enjoy.)

(Starrk's POV)

This is my third time having this dream. It was starting to get on my nerves.

I stood in a field under the night sky. I looked up at the massive moon that stared me down. It was mesmerizing. It glowed bright blue as I could hear a strange humming from it.

I heard faint howling of wolves, I looked around to see what looked like a pack of spectral wolves running in the far distance. They chased a giant white Stag.

I merely looked at that as I felt the cold night breeze hit my naked body. Yes. Naked.

I then got goosebumps and turned around in instinct.

I saw a woman sitting on a log. She wore a light blue dress. She, too, had light blue skin. Her white hair flowed in the breeze as her cold blue eyes pierced me.

She gave me a slight smile as she lifted her finger and pointed at me.

I only looked at this as she opened her mouth and spoke. The thing is that I couldn't exactly hear what she said because as soon as she did this, the howling of the wolves got much louder and drowned out her words.

Then, I merely woke up.

I opened my eyes to see the ceiling of my room. I could hear the faint voices of the crew who I assume were in the deck of the ship. The faint rocking of the ship was a well accepted sound. It told me that I was back to reality; This Reality at least.

I groaned as I sat up in my bed, rubbing my eyes.

Before anything else, I heard the voice of someone.

"Hell of a dream you must've had." i turned to see Cregan sitting in a chair at the far end of the room, "You're sweating."

I gave him a scowl, "The fuck are you doing in my room."

He smirked, "Came to wake ya up." He said, "This is my last day on this ship."

I stood up as I rubbed my head, "About damn time you left." I grumbled, "So you're going back to the North Blue?"

Cregan nodded, "Have to." He said, "Duty calls."

I sighed, "I guess."

He stood up and gave me a concerned look.

"And you?" He said, "You'll be alright?"

I shrugged, "I suppose so."

He walked up to me and patted my shoulder, "Brighten up." He chuckled, "All of these fuckers were beaten silly by the old man and taken in with open arms. Its a ritual of sorts, haha!"

What he meant by that is back at the Beehive, I had snapped and attacked Whitebeard when he challenged the navy. Gave him and everyone else a surprise when this happened. I didn't know what I was thinking when this transpired; its like something possessed me and acted its own volition.

Nevertheless, Whitebeard beat me down into submission. I should've died to the beating he gave me but my body was too resilient to do so.

Don't remember much after that. Cregan said that Whitebeard and his men chased the Marines away. Garp had to back out because he didn't want to lose any soldiers.

Ever since then, I have been on Whitebeard's ship. Its been months since then and I have been trained further more by Cregan and the rest of the crew. They all call me a monster because of how I was able to survive Whitebeard's assault, but despite's that, I still feel too weak compared to that old man.

Well, it is what it is.

I gave Cregan a frown, "Yea whatever." I said as I headed for the door, "Oh and Cregan."

"Yea?" He replied

"Don't go into someone's room and watch them sleep." I told him, "That's fucking creepy, man."

After this, I headed for the deck.

As I reached the deck, I heard the Whitebeard Pirates yell out.

"Yooooo, Starrk!!!!" They shouted, "Come drink with us!!!"

I smiled slightly and nodded, "I'll be there shortly."

As I walked, I saw Jozu, Vista, and Marco at the side of the ship giving me a smile.

"Oi, Starrk!" Marco called out, "Tonight we head into a fight with some pirate crews yoi! You should join us."

"Count me in, Marco." I said

After all those months i spent on this ship, I became friends with these guys. They weren't bad people, all good natured guys who looked out for each other. I kinda liked them all.

Well, all but one. But we don't mention him yet.

As I passed Marco and the others, I made my way to the old man.

He was in his usual seat, drinking sake from a massive gourd.

"Oi, Starrk…." Whitebeard said as I approached him, "Did Marco tell you about those annoying little shits that want to challenge us?"

"Yea." I nodded

"Make sure they don't bother us again." He said simply, "Oh and Cregan will leave the ship today at the next island we dock on. Said something about the North Blue. Say your goodbyes. We won't see him for a while."

I nodded again, "Yea." I said, "Hey, old man. Have you thought about what I said?"

He gave me a frown, "What? That again?" He burped, "No."

"We're not attacking the other Yonko for their Road Poneglyphs."