Within These Walls pt. 2

The boy looked at the old man and finally said "Why." the old man smiled happily and said "So he speaks!" Before laughing as the boy stared at him with the same blank expression, his voice was raspy and dry, unrecognizable from what it once was. The old man slowed his laugh as he replied "I was like you once, boy…" he seemed to pause as he reminisced about the good ol' days before adding with a laugh "Plus I have nothing else to do anyway! Hahahaha!"

The boy simply stared at him, seemingly accepting the response, the old man laughed and coughed before a bang came from the metal door and a voice sounded in the room "Shut up in there!" the old man quieted down and grinned at the boy, whispering "Your training starts now, boy. Start doing push ups." The boy looked at the old man before he slowly got into push up position and tried to push himself up, he struggled and shook before slamming on the ground and laying there.

The old man looked at the boy and chuckled "I guess your wounds do affect you, well we'll start tomorrow then. Hahahaha" the boy didn't respond and the bang came again along with "Do you want a whipping?!" the old man chuckled silently and grabbed the boy's ear, flipping it back and forth while muttering something under his breath and smiling.

The boy's life was just changing, but would the boy change… only time would tell…

The boy's life became monotonous. Wake up, follow Marie, get beat to near death, train, sleep, and repeat. He continued through his days with his same blank expression on his face, seemingly unfazed by his enslavement. He never smiled, frowned, narrowed his eyes, nothing. He was simply a machine, day after day, month after month.

His training with the old man was going smoothly. Neither of them spoke much, the boy never even knew the old man's name. They were silent in almost all their interactions, whether it was push ups, squats, sit ups, or running from wall to wall, they never spoke. The only time there was a voice was the old man telling the boy how to fight during combat practice.

The old man would say "Wrong, you have 13 openings." or "Wrong, not fast enough." or "Wrong, try and kill me. Come on, boy. I'm not that old yet." followed by a laugh. The boy tried his best, it was his only goal. He slowly warmed up to the old man, though he wouldn't speak, he did nod. The old man was satisfied by this and continued to teach/train the boy as best he could.

When they weren't training, the old man would share his knowledge with the boy, telling him about the seas and islands he had been to. It was the only thing the boy looked forward to. The only thing that brought the boy through his days, the only thing that mattered to him. The boy hadn't felt like this in a long time, he didn't know what this feeling was, but he was glad to have it.

Slowly, just like this, 3 years passed.

The boy was breathing heavily in the slave room as the old man sat across from him with a smile. The old man said "Happy Birthday, kid." the boy looked at the man, who shrugged and said plainly "This is the third year since I met you, on the day. I decided it was your birthday. How old are you?"

The boy held up 10 fingers and the old man smiled kindly before snapping his fingers and saying "Oh, that's right. What's your name, kid." The boy looked at the old man and said quietly "What's the use of a name, we're just slaves." the old man blinked before slapping his knee and laughing out loud, replying "Well said! Well said! Hahahaha! That's right!"

The boy stared at him and the old man winded down, he finally shook his head and smiled again, saying "Tomorrow, I'm gonna teach you something very special." the boy tilted his head and the old man chuckled, patting the boy's head, adding "It's called Haki. Now go to sleep." the boy nodded and went to sleep as he was told. The old man just looked at the boy and smiled kindly before going to sleep himself.

The next day~

The boy was going about his day as usual. He stood behind Marie in a room with her father, who had the old man standing behind him. The old man looked at the boy and winked, the boy's lips quivered and curled into a childish smile, making the old man smile happily.

Marie's father said "Alright! Let's do it, Clarence." a man got up from the couch and wiped the grease from his mouth with his sleeve before rubbing his hands and chuckling "Hehehehe, I knew you'd come around." He snapped his fingers and a huge man walked out from behind him.

Marie's father frowned and looked at Clarence, saying "What's the meaning of this." Clarence just grinned lewdly and said "You agreed to the fight, Truffle. You said you wanted this slave in exchange for that young slave you have." Truffle frowned harder as he looked at the giant mass of muscle in front of Clarence and said gravely "You said it would be an even fight." Clarence just chuckled and spread his hands, replying "This one's slow. It's even." he looked around and said loudly "You wouldn't deny your agreement with me would you, Truffle?"

Truffle looked around at the surrounding crowd and narrowed his eyes at Clarence before saying "You owe me, I will remember this." Clarence's face lit up with excitement and he licked his lips, catching the saliva that dripped out as he said "Of course, of course. Hehehehe~"

Truffle sighed and threw the old man in front of him without any words. The old man slowly got up and looked at the big man as the boy's eyes were locked on the old man, who straightened out and sighed.

The old man turned his head and looked at the boy, grinning as he said "My name is Rob, kid. This is your last lesson." Truffle frowned and shouted "Shut up and fight, slave!" Rob turned back and chuckled as he walked to the big man.