Setting Sail.

Alex followed Whitebeard towards a different section of the island, apparently this was where Whitebeard had grown up.

It was a quiet town with no more than 50 buildings total and only two roads that connected like a T in front of the largest building.

Alex noticed how everyone's eyes gravitated towards Whitebeard. They all gave him different looks: fear, hope, admiration, hate, joy and more… Alex silently pondered. What kind of life had Whitebeard lived up to this point? Alex realized that each of these gazes he was receiving had stories behind them. And each person who looked at his new father had stories to tell about him, and reasons they either liked him, or not.

Alex looked up at Whitebeard. "Pops, where do you live?"

Whitebeard smiled and pointed to the mountain behind the village. "Up there."

Alex looked around. "... You don't fit in these houses… do you?"

"Gurararara! They're too small!"

"You're just too big!" Alex replied.

Whitebeard's laughter started to spark fear into some villagers as they ran away. Alex sighed, what was so scary about his Pops?

Just because he was 20 feet tall, able to destroy a mountain with his fists, a known criminal, and a crewmate on the most vicious pirate crew ever, everyone seemed to hate him! What's with that?

He was a nice guy!

Alex was disappointed.

"Pops, where's the library?"

Whitebeard smiled. "You really like your books, eh?" He said as he pointed at a certain building.

Alex nodded and continued walking with Whitebeard until they reached his 'house'. It was a cave in the mountain that was large enough to fit Whitebeard and had crude chairs and a bed frame fit for a king ++++++++... basically it was huge, big enough for the giant human.

There was a Candle and a stump made of stone, which Alex assumed was meant to be the table. Alex looked up, the chairs were at least a foot or two taller than him. He had to jump in order to climb on top of them.

Alex shook his head. "This won't work, Pops. I need some wood."

Whitebeard was curious as to what the kid was going to do and left without a word. A few minutes later he was carrying 4 tree trunks on his shoulder. He set them down and Alex smacked his forehead. "I'm a moron! I need tools too!"

"Gurarara! Here!" Whitebeard tossed a bag full of belli at Alex.

Alex thanked him and ran off to go buy some tools. He came back a few hours later with a huge sack in tow. It was filled to the brim with a ton of different tools. Alex gave the leftover money back to Whitebeard before pulling out a saw and getting to work.

That night Alex slept on the floor. Whitebeard offered to let him join in his bed, but Alex was scared he might roll over and kill him… a very legitimate fear.

The next day Alex had completed a bed for himself that was normal size. Then he really got to work.

For the next two months, Alex was constantly working away, building things and reading in the library. The only breaks he took was sleeping, eating, and spending time with his Pops.

Alex smiled at his completed work. He had made a real table with chairs that varied in size. He made a little wooden workshop for himself and a massive desk for Whitebeard. He also made a door for the cave's entrance and a bunch of other furniture. Additionally, he made a chander that could hold the candles… Though he needed to ask Whitebeard to hang it for him, he couldn't reach 25+ feet up.

Additionally, he had read up on a bunch of books from the library, he focused on things that pertained to sailing like navigation, shipwright, and other practical things.

Alex looked up at Whitebeard with a toothy grin. "Now we have a home to come back to!"

Whitebeard laughed and the mountain shook. "You're a good son."

Alex blushed and scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks, Pops… for everything."

Whitebeard laughed and stood up. "Are you ready to finally set sail?"

Alex smiled and nodded as Whitebeard put him on his shoulder. "Then let's go find a ship! Gurararara!"

Alex laughed along and the two finally set out on their journey.

Whitebeard started walking by the village and Alex spoke up from his shoulder. "Pops, can I grab some books?"

Whitebeard laughed. "No."

Alex looked disappointed but accepted it.

Until, Whitebeard spoke again. "We'll take them all! Gurararara!" He laughed as he grabbed the library and ripped it out from the ground, carrying it as the two walked away.

Alex nearly fell off of his shoulder from laughing so hard.

A week later.

The duo was on a stolen boat that had an entire library on top of it. Whitebeard was sailing and Alex would help out whenever needed.

Everyday Alex was reading, constantly consuming more and more knowledge. He had started to become a pretty smart kid. Other than reading, he had found a hobby in woodworking, and creating things. He was already thinking up plans to remodel the ship and make it grander than ever! He had also been cooking for the two, he had read a bunch of things about being a chef and found it quite interesting. It tied in with his hobby of creating and making things and Alex had started to become a half decent chef over the last couple months. Other than that, Alex had started training. Whitebeard had forced him to do some physical training and even started teaching him how to fight.

Alex looked out into the distance and spotted a ship with a black flag hanging from its mast.

Alex smiled. "Our first pirates!"

Whitebeard laughed and turned the helm toward the ship, fully intending on meeting the pirates head on.

The two ships closed in on each other and Alex went to go fire the cannons while Whitebeard stayed on the deck with his naginata in his hand.

The two ships fired at one another, both narrowly missing. Whitebeard tossed the anchor overboard and jumped over to the other ship while laughing.

Alex saw this from below deck and smiled. He watched as the enemy ship's numbers dropped one by one.

Alex saw one guy fly overboard and do a triple backflip. He whistled and held up a sign with a 9 on it, too big of a splash for a 10.

Within 15 minutes the entire crew had either been thrown overboard or surrendered.

Whitebeard laughed without a single scratch on him. "Gurararara! Who are you guys?"

The captain of the crew looked up at him before replying. "Names' Thatch."