Headcannon is that Garp tries to adopt everyone. No, seriously, it makes perfect sense. And, in case you think he's being a bit out of character in this chapter, remember. This is a younger, less experienced Garp witnessing the aftermath of a massacre and taking care of the only survivor. Who happens to be a kid younger than his son. Garp can be serious in the face of loss if Luffy can(and we know Luffy can).

I do not own One Piece, or any original work that I may pull inspiration from. Citations on first page.

Chapter 4

Diardi Drazen was silent to every Marine except for Garp. The kid even refused to talk unless only Grap was present. It wasn't that he necessarily disliked the Marines taking him to Alabasta, or blamed them for not getting to Amayar quicker to save his village, his mind was far to old for such narrow thoughts.

But he was still a kid, barely twelve, and now completely alone in the world. He was also different from other twelve year olds, and knew how people tended to react to those with differences. Drazen would not be able to trust many people at this time.

The boy was also grieving, and considering how he was naturally quiet anyway, the pain of loss just made him even more quiet.

It was right before the ship docked in Nanohana that the silent contemplation paid off for Drazen, however. He'd been debating on what he should do now, since as a kid he would probably be seen as incapable of taking care of himself for one reason or another.

However, his mind was that of an adults, and his body was old enough physically to be able to mostly take care of itself. He didn't want to go to an orphanage or whatever would come of it. So he decided that once in Alabasta he would start his journey to see the world, slowly at first, but in a few years he would probably be able to go into the uncharted territory of the New World.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

As Diardi Drazen decided that he was going to get away from Alabasta as quickly as possible, Garp was busy arguing with his superiors.

It was about the little orphaned boy(Of course. Monkey D Garp had been attempting to adopt people, and oftentimes successfully getting them under his command in the Marines, since his son had been born and his own fatherly instincts along with it. His most well known adoptions would be two grandsons, but that didn't mean that he'd never stopped deciding he liked people and taking them on as family. However, since most of those were adults or had families of their own his efforts went unacknowledged by all but his closest friends.).

"I could take him, sir," Garp said to his superior officer, "I have a son about two years older than him, I'm sure they'd get along."

"With what time," The Commodore demanded, "I get it, Monkey, you want to help the kid. But we've got to deal with the pirate infestation here, and we're underpowered as it is. We can't afford to look after a kid, or take him to any place other than Alabasta. If you really want to adopt him, it can wait until after we prevent more massacres like Amayar from happening. And that's final."

Garp simply gave a short nod, and left with a frown on his face. He really did want to take the kid with him, but he wouldn't put a traumatised kid through even more trauma, or leave other islands undefended. He could only hope that by the time he got back the young boy was still there, and willing to go with him.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

They docked in Nanohana in the late afternoon, and in the commotion it was easy for Drazen to take off without anyone noticing. But he did leave a note for Garp, to let the man know that he was okay.

But, he had to leave quickly. It wouldn't take long for someone to realize he was missing, and Drazen knew that Garp at the very least would stop him. And, the young boy knew that he wouldn't have the heart to leave if Garp asked him to stay.

However, he didn't really have any money, which presented a problem. If he was older, Drazen would just ask to be taken on as a cabin boy or something, but he doubted anyone would take him on as he was now.

So stowing away it was. And then, once they get to Jaya(the next stop for pretty much every ship that didn't spend the extra money on an Eternal Pose), he'd just get off and find some way to get a little bit of money for passage to the next island.

Yeah, it was either sell stuff that is findable in the woods or through fishing or maybe carving some trinkets, or pickpocketing. But, since most of the people on Jaya were pirates, and most of their money was illegally acquired anyway, he wouldn't feel bad about it.

What Diardi Drazen didn't realize, though, was who the ship he decided to stow away on belonged to. It wasn't really his fault, not knowing how to pick out the type of ship by simply the look and feel.

It didn't take him very long after they left Alabasta's shore to realize it, though.

The Swooping Gull belonged to the very worst type of animal poachers.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

To Diardi Drazen's credit, it took the smugglers five days to figure out there was a stowaway, and another day to catch him.

He would have chosen another vessel if he'd have known what the sailors were doing on the ship. But instead he'd been in such a hurry he hadn't even bothered to check. 'Well', the young boy promised himself grimly as dirty sailors dragged him to the rather repulsive looking and smelling captain of the ship, 'If I make it out alive I'll be sure to check each ship before I board it from now on. At least I hid all of my stuff before they found me, so that's something.'

Of course, the way things were going the possiblity of surviving seemed like a very big if.

While seeming like a normal, if fairly disreputable, ship on the surface, one look in the lower levels would be enough to prove the terror of the place. Crowded, dirty, and cramped stalls filled with various exotic animals lined the lower levels of the ship. Many of the animals were incapable of moving, some of even standing, and were simply laying in their own feces.

Some were already dead and rotting, and disease ran rampant through the ship. But none of the smugglers cared, because the price for the skins and body parts was also fairly high, and the people they sold to didn't really care how they came.

It was clear that the animals were suffering, but as it was there was nothing Drazen could do to help, not even giving them a peaceful end. And he was probably just as dead as they were.

"Well, well, well," The Captain said in a nasally voice, "Looks like we caught ourselves a little rat, whatever shall we do with it."

This of course caused the entire crew to chuckle menacingly before one guy piped up, "We could throw 'im in with the cargo, we're already goin' ta Sabaody anyway."

The Captain looked considering before shaking his head, "Naw, he's too young and wimpy looking, wouldn't be worth the price carting him over there would create," Then an evil grin lit up his face, "However, that special critter we found needs feeding, and I don't want to have to give it any of the cargo. Throw the rat into that things room, I'm sure we'll be rid of him soon enough."

And the two men who had dragged Drazen to the Captain originally began to drag him back into the bowels of the ship. However they turned toward a different direction than the way they'd taken to reach the surface, and began walking down an empty corridor filled with doors. Stopping by the last door, one of the men leaned down and began to speak as the other unlocked the door.

"This here corridor's for the extra valuable cargo, especially if it's valuable alive. We found something that will pay us handsomely, a curious critter for sure, and it's probably pretty hungry by now," The man grinned with a mouthful of rotted teeth, "And you get to be it's dinner."

Then they quickly shoved him into a very dim room(there appeared to be several vents for fresh air to the outside, but they all seemed to be heavily barred) and locked the door behind him.

Drazen landed heavily on the floor, and hoped that whatever it was was asleep. He hadn't heard anything that indicated movement but he hoped…

And that was when he looked up. Into the slitted amber eyes of a very large, very thin feline.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

:Cliffhanger! Don't worry, though, nobody important will die next chapter.

It's also weird creating so many random villains that are pretty much unimportant. I love having bad guys to move the plot along, though, so be prepared for the very worst that humanity has to offer. Most of them will be utterly destroyed by a good guy, though, so it all evens out.

Also, I introduced an important recurring character in this chapter. The person(s) that guesses who it is will be mentioned in the next chapter at the top, for bragging rights. So be sure to tell me if you think you know(and Garp doesn't count).

Also, to everyone reading World's Greatest Swordsman. I haven't forgotten it, however the chapter I'm on is giving me a bit of difficulty. I'll try to get it done as soon as possible.