The Unheard Cry

Author note after the chapter, important info for this fanfic:

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"In the grayness of life's struggles, the heart of a warrior beats with unwavering determination

by me

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Everything was covered in gray. From the walls that Ash was looking at to the cloudy sky that had the entire island covered. The ground underneath him was damp and every little movement hurt. Every shiver hurt. Every beat of his heart hurt Ash. But he needed to move. He needed to get out of here before anyone saw him. Before they called the Navy. Before this island gets destroyed.

With barely any strength, the former 8-year-old boy was pushing himself off the damp floor. His body begged to not move. Aching and hurting with every movement, every breath. The now 13-year-old leaned on the wall of a house. Holding on to his breath, he looked around from behind the bags of trash to see if anyone had woken before exhaling. Seeing no one, he slowly walked towards the backdoor of the house, almost crawling.

For a few seconds, Ash placed his left ear on the door, listening into the house and once he heard nothing, the boy moved to action. Immediately, he started to rip open the garbage bags to search for something, anything to eat. 

One thing he immediately learned after escaping from Marie Geoise was that people were ungrateful. They took everything they had for granted. The clothes on their back. The sandals or shoes they wore. The houses they lived in. The family they had. And finally, the food they ate.

The crumbs that they would throw in their garbage was the thing that kept the boy alive for the past months. The thorn clothes that kids didn't like anymore were what covered Ash from the freezing cold of the night. 

But even then, they weren't enough. Sometimes, if Ash was fortunate, he would stumble on a fairy well island where people's clothes were sewed into bags to use for their daily lives. And on this island, one of the uses was to hold trash.

The first bag that he tore into, Ash found nothing that he could use or eat. But the second bag had leftovers of fruits and vegetables. Pieces that people would normally not eat and throw away.

Immediately, the boy attacked those, gulping them down before going to the two other bags but they had nothing just like the first one. Being careful, he emptied all the bags of their content and took them with himself before heading towards one of the bars on this island.

For a few days, everyone had come together in the bar, discussing in an almost hushed tone the destruction of Ohara that had happened around the same time as when he was freed from being a slave. 

But what had taken his notice was that there was someone like him out there. Someone on the run from the world government, Nico Robin. While her bounty had increased from 60 million belly to 79 million now, it was nowhere near his. Maybe that's why the villagers were talking about her now.

Every island that he was on. Every boat that he had landed on to rest. As soon as they saw the brand of the Celestial Dragons, he was attacked. No one cared about their life when they were engulfed by greed. From normal islanders to pirates and the navy. 

Shaking his head from the thought, Ash sneaked around the houses, from wall to wall. Once he was at the back of the bar, the boy started to search through the trash that was lying around. Unlike the rest of the place, most bars would simply throw their trash at the back. From broken glass or bottles to tables, chairs, food, and plates. 

Making sure not to make any loud noises, the boy started to search for treasures to keep himself alive. Compared to other households, the bars around the island would throw away the most food and to Ash, this was the most important piece of information. 

While he could use his devil fruit ability to hunt wild animals, the time it would take to find one was too valuable. But the main reason as to why Ash didn't want to use his ability was for hiding. While the world knew of the boy with black hair and black eyes with the brand of Celestials on his chest, they didn't know of the white beast he could turn into. And Ash wanted to keep it that way. 

After rummaging for a few minutes, Ash had found enough leftovers that he had started to dig in but even that was not enough. With a click of his tongue, the boy looked towards the bar door. 

The sky was still gray but, on the horizon, the morning light was slowly pushing away the darkness. Acting hastily, Ash partially morphed his left arm into that of a beast and tore the handle of the door with its lock, ignoring the pain that coursed through his arm. Entering the place, he headed straight for the storage area. 

There he found everything that he needed to get out of this island. Food. Fresh food. Clean food. Food that didn't have dirt or gravel in them. Food that didn't taste horrible. Food that wasn't spoiled. Without wasting another second, the boy started to fill his stomach, his bags next to him.

The villagers were starting to talk and warn each other to be careful of a thief going from village to village. Which was bad news to Ash.

As soon as he ate enough, it was time to fill his bags, from meat to bread to fruits, he started to head back towards the back door. Only to freeze at the sight of a man with wide eyes looking at the child in front of him. A child who looked extremely like one of the wanted posters that hung on his "DEAD OR ALIVE" board on this side of the Grand Line. 

Before his mind could understand the implication of the child being in front of him, Ash disappeared from his view. The bags falling on the ground.

"Wha-" 

With his fingers turning into claws, Ash's hand tore through the bar owner's neck, colouring his dirty gray shirt and pants, including the floor in crimson. With a thud, the body fell to the ground but Ash was already gone from the place, his bags of food with him.

~-~-~*~-~-~

Everyone thinks that flying through the air would be liberating. Free from their responsibility. From their past. From their monsters. From the enemy chasing them. But for Ash, it was the opposite. Flying reminded him of his origin. From where he had come from. From who he was running away from. Where was he going and where had he been.

Every single island that he had landed on was unique. Its inhabitants were different. Their way of talking, eating, walking. Everything was different but so similar. The voices inside sometimes would call out. They would announce their existence to the world. A world that couldn't hear them but him. From flowers to stones. From trees to worms. From the houses to swords. 

Every little thing would hum, giggle, and laugh. 

And Ash HATED all of them.

Why.

Why were they so happy?

What was so funny?

What was so fun?

Why was everything and everyone's voices so warm and yet so cold to him?

He wanted that. He needed that.

He was shivering even in the warmest islands. He was cold yet no one cared.

People only looked at him weirdly. They whispered to themselves.

"What's his problem?" A couple of teenagers had asked themselves after Ash had passed them.

"He's weird." A kid younger than him muttered. "He looks like a trouble magnet." A man had whispered to his wife. "I hope Uriel and Arial stay away from him." A mother told herself. 

And with every voice, Ash walked on, ignoring all of them. His head down, his fists clenched tightly. His clothes were ragged and barely fit. But it was better than nothing. Because nothing did not hide the brand on his chest. The mark on his heart. That of loneliness. Coldness. It was better than the worst-case scenario, a scenario that included them finding out that he was nothing but a slave.

Now, flying through the air, the only thing that kept him company was the wind that was pushing against him and his thoughts. But even then, he needed to be careful. To keep his eyes and senses open. Even the sky was unsafe from the monsters that were chasing him. Monsters that could infect and turn everyone and anything to their side. 

And Ash despised those monsters. If only he were older. And stronge-

A crying voice. 

The boy stopped and as if to obey his command, the air around him stopped as well. Almost solidifying itself underneath his four white paws. And then he heard them. The voices of laughter and cheers. The grins on their face. The sound of musical instruments playing and swords clashing. The feelings underneath their skin. And lastly, the crying voice was buried so deep underneath all noises that it was hard to make out what it was. But Ash could hear it.

The ship.

A ship that begged its crew to stop. But they didn't hear. Couldn't hear. 

And as if sensing him as well. It turned its attention towards him.

Please... I don't want to sail anymore. I'm tired...

For a few seconds, the 5-foot tiger just stood still, its white fur camouflaging well with the clouds floating behind him. The only thing sticking out was the black stripes. The wind underneath his paws still waiting for the commend. 

Please... I don't want to hurt anymore.

The voice begged once more. Its tone, tired and exhausted. But barely there. The voices of the crew drown it even further. But to Ash, it was the second loudest voice he had ever heard. 

'Why?' The boy asked. But the winds were already changing, obeying. Instead of the calm sky that was there a moment ago, an uneasy and tense wind swiped through the area. The crew that were partying under the black flag stopped and looked around themselves in confusion. 

Not a second later, the weather shifted. The winds were getting stronger, and faster. And as if carrying the rage of Ash, it roared.

-~-~-~o~-~-~-

"The strength of the untamed wind carries the whispers of a ship's soul, seeking solace in a storm of chaos and adventure."

by me.

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Yoyoyoyo, 

I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. 

What were my goals for this chapter?

First of all, show Ash's life as a fugitive and wanted kid. I wanted to paint the picture that he had trouble with food. That most of the time, his food would come from trash and leftovers from others. But when it got too far, he would have to steal. Another thing that I wanted to point out or hint at was his mentality. He kills first and then asks questions. Ask the bar owner- oh wait, he's dead.

I'll explain the mentality and show it more and more in the coming chapters. So look forward to it.

About Ash's ability, especially about his flying ability. You can think of it as him commanding the winds to solidify under his feet like a plateau or floor. Like Bart's barrier-barrier but invisible and doesn't have the capability to defend against, let's say a gun. But if a kid tried to punch him, he could block with the wind.

And yes, it's a zoan fruit. A cat, model sabre tooth tiger. If you want to picture the full tiger mood, hybrid mood, and partial hybrid mood, I'll add a gif/img of it.

For the partial hybrid mode, I looked at the Impel down monsters and their partial transformation and used them as a reason why it is possible to partially transform a part of Ash's body when no other character has done it.

I have another argument for it, but that would be a spoiler now, wouldn't it?

Another thing that I wanted to point out. While writing this chapter, I was in the zone, so I just thought that plastic bags were common in the One Piece world, but after reading what I wrote, I had to change it. The issue was, that I couldn't without erasing and rewriting the first half of the chapter. So I just changed it to cloth bags and made it a tool that he could use. 

Now, let's talk about this fanfiction as a whole. I have no plans whatsoever but I do have ideas as milestones for it. To explain what I mean by milestones, one of those is Ash meeting with certain marines and pirates.

This is me using the One Piece world as a background to create an original story. So, it's mostly practice for another idea that I have in mind. I don't have an update/release schedule. I will write when I'm free and when I can. And I will update after making sure my chapter is satisfactory. 

Don't worry, the fanfic won't be so dark and gloomy in the future. Right now, I'm trying to establish the darkest hours of Ash. I'll try and give comedy a shot as well in this. 

As for the romance, I actually have no idea. I was going with Vivi but then I wrote this chapter and Robin came to play. But even then, I don't want Robin to be the pair. So, we'll see what my mind comes up with.

Almost forgot the last point, about the timeline of events. I don't have a clear picture of it and neither do I want to waste hours researching when I could be writing. So to me, it's all vague. That is why, I put the Fisher Tiger burning down Marie Geois around the same time as Ohara's destruction. You can come up with a reason as maybe that's why Robin could escape the Marines because of Fisher Tiger's attack or how Ash could escape a literal warzone that the Marines were winning because the higher-ups were searching for Robin. Let me know what you come up with, I'm curious about this point.

If you have any questions, ask and I'll answer them as best as I can. 

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Full Tiger Mode: Here

Hybrid Mode: Here

Partial Hybrid Mode: Here