It was a quiet foggy day in Shells Town. No one was stirring, not even the children of the neighborhood. It is days like this that are teeming with danger. We journey over to the local bar, where there appears to be some commotion going on…

“Oi, did you hear? That kid is in town, supposedly looking for a member for his pirate crew.”, said one person. Judging by his attire, he must’ve been a bounty hunter. Another man sitting across from him said, “It’s a shame what the world is coming to. To think, a young boy of 13 with a bounty on his head of 35 million Beris, that truly is a remarkable price for a pirate, especially a kid of his size and age.”

“Yeah, well, don’t be fooled. Rumor has it that he is the son of the late Black Jack D. Hawkins. Plus, he murdered 20 Sky Marines with his bare hands as his first crime.”, said another man, placing a wanted poster down on the table. “The former Sky Pirate King!?”, said the first bounty hunter, staring at the poster. The poster sported a picture of a kid with green hair with a wide grin on his face. Underneath the photo, the name Rosario D. Hawkins was shown. “They call him Blood Rose Hawkins. No one knows how he is getting around or what he is trying to do, but according to the dying words of the former Pirate King, he is the only link to the Sky Shard, the hidden treasure that Hawkins left behind.”

“You don’t think he’d be foolish enough to go after it, do you?”, said the third bounty hunter. The second bounty hunter was about to speak when a loud childish laugh was heard. “Of course I’d be foolish to go after it! It’s rightfully mine after all! How else will I be the next Sky Pirate King if I didn’t go after the Sky Shard?”, said a voice behind the bounty hunters. They all turned around to see the young pirate sitting behind them. He blew a raspberry at them and ran out the building quickly, hearing the hunters chasing after him.

Hi! My name is Rosario D. Hawkins, or Rose to most people. Don’t believe such words of the Sky Marines! I’m as innocent as I was 3 years ago when this all began! …..You don’t know the story of how I became a pirate? Well, I’ll tell ya, it was a shock even to me! Back when I was home in Foosha Village, everyone knew I always wanted to grow up to be a pirate captain, just like my dad. Of course, no one believed that I would do it…

I felt a small cool breeze blowing in my hair as I snoozed the day away underneath a tree. It was one of those days that were perfect for everyone. It came to a sudden halt when I felt something cold splash all over my face. “Gah! Wha…WHO DID THAT?!”, I yelled, soaked from head to toe. I looked up to see my mother giggling at me holding a bucket.

“Time to wake up, Rose. You’ve been sleeping all afternoon.”, my mother said with a kind smile.

My mother, Nanao Hawkins, or Nana as the town called her. She was indeed a ray of sunshine to our entire town, since she always seemed to smile…

“Oh, Mom. What’s up?”, I asked, standing up onto my feet, wringing out my t-shirt of the water. “I need you to run into town and pay the rent for me. I’m in the middle of making dinner.”, she replied. She placed a small bag of Belis in my hand, I immediately deposited into my pocket.

“Now you hurry on back. Dinner will be done soon.”, she said. She patted my head and turned back to the house, humming softly as she checked the mailbox. “Ok, I’ll be back soon!”, I said. I went over to the garage and pulled out a Red Rocket. Most kids in my town aren’t as lucky to get one of these, but my dad and mother worked really hard to get this for me. With a push of a lever, I was off to town.

The town was truly lively today. Everyone was smiling and happy, dealing with their daily lives: buying food, paying for rent, and kids playing everywhere, especially a few of my friends dressed up playing as pirates. Why? Because I was their captain! It was always my dream to be a pirate just like my dad, so I always acted like one with my friends…

I finally landed the Red Rocket at a nearby bar. I walked inside and saw that it was the same as always: a few bounty hunters here, a few pirates there, and the barkeeper washing some glasses. She was so nice. Each time I go into here, she always does something free for me. I walked up to the bar and sat down on one of the stools, smiling wide at the barkeeper. “Mrs. Sellner! I brought today’s rent payment!”, I said, putting the bag of Belis down on the bar.

She smiled and said, “Why, thank you, Rose! And you are just in time too. I brought in some fresh fruit from that fruit store your mother likes.” She pulled out a bowl of fruit and sat it down in front of me, all sorts of different fruits was pouring out of it. “Go on, help yourself!”, she said. “Oh, I will! I wonder if there is a big juicy apple in here?”, I replied, looking around in the bowl. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mrs. Sellner turn on the TV to the news. “Oh my, they are executing another Sky Pirate.”

‘Another one, huh? I wonder who it is this time?’, I thought to myself, finding this large fruit at the bottom of the bowl. It wasn’t an apple, but it looked good. I eyed it slightly, before deciding it would be my lunch.

“And in recent news, the King of the Sky Pirates, James D. Hawkins known by his alias Black Jack, was captured two days ago. We are bringing you live to his public execution now.”, said the news reporter.

I almost dropped my piece of fruit when I heard the name. “Mrs. Sellner! Turn up the TV! It’s about my dad!”, I exclaimed. A few of the pirates heard that, but didn’t pay much attention to it at the moment. I heard the bounty hunters leave when the news reporter started to speak again. “We bring you live to Loguetown, former home of the first King of Pirates, Gol D. Roger, where we find the execution site of James D. Hawkins. It is ghastly silent as the Marines are preparing to finish the job.”

I watched closely at my father. Even though he is about to die, he was still grinning proudly. He was my idol….and seeing him like this drove my will to be a pirate even farther. That’s when someone on the TV said, “Hey!! Hawkins, tell us! Where is your treasure?! Where is the Sky Shard?!”

A wide silence was heard, until my father laughed a hearty laugh. “So, you wanna know where my treasure is, eh? I left it in a place of dreams! Only my son Rosario has the true clue to the treasure! So, here is a challenge: can you find it before he does?!”, he said, before getting stabbed in the chest by two swords, bringing an end to the proud man’s life.

A loud cheer was heard throughout all of Loguetown, just like it did all those years ago when the Great Pirate Era began with Gol D. Roger once before. It was the same noise that told the world that everyone is ready to take on the dangers of the sea for riches and glory. I smiled wide, feeling tears flow down my face from this. “Dad…is it true? I have the clue to your treasure? …So…It’s rightfully mine!”, I said. I eyed my piece of fruit again and began to eat it happily. Mrs. Sellner chuckled and said, “Easy, Rose. Eat too fast and you’ll choke!” She blinked and screamed at me, making me drop the half-eaten fruit. “R-R-Rose, where did you get that fruit?!”

“Umm….it was in the bottom of the fruit bowl you gave me, Mrs. Sellner. It was kinda bitter, but it was really good!”, I replied with a confused look. The woman lifted me up by my ankles and started shaking me up and down, screaming to cough up every last piece of the fruit. It was when I felt my face drop on the floor that made me really shocked on what was going on. “W-What the….did my….my body stretch?”, I asked

“You idiot! Haven’t you ever read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia when you were in school?! Those things are legendary for their powers! What you just ate was the Gum-Gum Fruit, the exact same fruit that the King of Pirates Monkey D. Luffy ate a thousand years ago in this very town! It gave him the ability of stretching his body like rubber, but at a cost: HE COULD NEVER SWIM AGAIN!”

My eyes widened when I heard that. “N-never….NEVER SWIM AGAIN?!”, I yelled out loudly, before being placed down on the stool gently. Mrs. Sellner rubbed the back of her head and said, “What am I gonna do now?”

“You can start by handing that kid over to me.”, said a cold voice behind Mrs. Sellner. One of the pirates had walked up behind her, a cold glare in his eyes was directed right at me. “The kid with the only clue to the Sky Shard. It must be my lucky day. I never anticipated that he would be in this town.”, he replied.

“N-No, you got it all wrong! This isn’t Capt. Hawkins’ boy! Now please, leave this bar at once!”, Mrs. Sellner exclaimed. The pirate frowned and said, “Get out of my way!”, slapping the woman down to the floor. “MRS. SELLNER!!!”, I yelled loudly, running over to her to help her up to her feet. “Mrs. Sellner, are you ok? Please, say something!”

“I-I-I’m fine….Rose….please….run away from here. Get home….and get you and your mother away from here…”, she said softly, rubbing a hand in my green hair. “But what about you? I can’t just leave you here!”, I said, tugging on her arm to help her up. She smiled softly and said, “I’ll be fine, Rose. It’s you who is in danger here….”

I kept tugging on her arm trying to help her up, but then, I felt the pirate take full grab of my hair and lift me away from Mrs. Sellner. I yelled loudly as I tried to break free from the pirate’s grip, but to no avail. The pirate looked at me and said, “Well well, the clue to the Sky Shard…..what is it, boy?”

“I don’t know! And if I did know, I’d never tell you, jerk! Put me down!”, I said, still trying to break out of his grip. He laughed slightly and pulled a knife out of his pocket with his free hand. “You see this? This is not a toy. I can easily kill you right now for not telling me what I want to know. Now, I’ll ask again: the clue! What the hell is it?!”, he sternly yelled.

“I told you: I DON’T KNOW!!!”, I yelled. I threw a kick at him, feeling my leg stretch and kick him right between the legs. He yelled in pain as he dropped me on the floor, grabbing at his crotch feverishly. Mrs. Sellner was back on her feet and saw everything, laughing slightly. She turned to me and said, “Go, Rose! Run home now!”

“No way! I’m tough! I can take these guys, Mrs. Sellner! See?!”, I said, picking up the knife and cutting a gash over my right eye. I tossed the knife back down and said, “I can do it!”

“I know you can….but there is far worse things in life than just these scum. Now go!”, Mrs. Sellner said, pointing out the door. I stood in place for a few minutes, before turning away and hopping on my Red Rocket once more, blasting off into the sky back for home. The pirate stood to his feet and looked at Mrs. Sellner, his face beet red with anger. “Where is he?”, he asked’

“Who?”, Mrs. Sellner faked, before getting grabbed and screamed at. “Don’t play with me, you old hag! Where is he?! Where is Rosario D. Hawkins!?”, he yelled. Mrs. Sellner just smiled and said, “By the time you find out, he’ll be long gone.”

The pirate captain grunted and threw Mrs. Sellner down onto the ground. He turned to the two pirates that were with him and said, “Gather the men! Search the entire town for him! Do not let that boy escape this village!”

“Yes sir!”, said the duo, running outside and down to the pier. The pirate captain reached over for a bottle of rum at the table he was sitting at and swigged it down his throat, gasping loudly for air as he finished the bottle. He walked out of the bar and said to himself slightly, “Rosario D. Hawkins….you will be mine….”

A few minutes has passed since I had left the bar, the day slowly creeping into night around me. I immediately hopped off my Rocket and ran inside to tell my mother the news of what was going on, only to find out Mrs. Sellner had called her in advance…

“We have to leave then, Mom! We gotta get away, away from everyone and everything while we have the chance!”, I said, gathering all my stuff quickly. My mother smiled softly and said, “Rose. I’m not going anywhere. This is my home, and I like it here.”

“B-But Mom! Those pirates could be right behind me!”, I said. I saw her hold an outfit in front of me, clad of the traditional skull and crossbones all over it. It was definitely my size, from the looks of it. “M-Mom?”

That’s when I saw it: tears running down her face for the very first time. “I’m sorry, Rose. I knew your father wanted you to become a pirate. I just never thought it’d be so soon….I made this outfit for you, son. Please wear it with pride on your journey.”

I took the clothes in my hands, running a few fingers over them slowly. I saw my mother walk over to my father’s side of the living room, coming back with the knife he always wore on his leg. She handed it to me and said, “He said when the time was right, I should give this to you. He said, when you are lost, encase this blade. It will show you people that will help you find the way to your destiny.”

“My destiny….the clue to the Sky Shard…..this knife is the clue?”, I asked, before getting cut off by a loud explosion. I ran over to the window and saw a bright light outside. I immediately knew it was fire from torches of the pirate crew heading my way. “Go now, Rose. You’re ready.”, my mother said, packing everything I would need to get away from the island.

“But what about you?! I can’t just leave you here, Mom!”, I yelled. “Don’t worry about me, Rosario. These pirates cannot catch me, not now, not ever. Just remember one thing: no matter how far you go, or how high you go, I’ll always be here waiting for your return.”, she replied.

I looked down, and then turned away from her, running outside to my Rocket. I slammed my hands on the compass component and said, “Mom believes in me, so I must believe in myself. What would the Great Pirate King do? ….What would Dad do?” I looked up and saw the pirates coming up faster and faster towards me, yelling at me as they started running after me. I placed the hat my mother made on my head and said, “I know what they would do: they would fight. They would fight and SURVIVE.”

I started up the Rocket, and shot off into the air quickly, taking a quick glance at my home, seeing my mother wave at me before disappearing in plain sight. ‘She’s a Devil Fruit User too!’, I thought to myself, tears filling up my eyes as I turned away from my childhood, never to be seen again….until I truly became the Sky Pirate King.

A few days had passed since I had left home, and the Sky Marines was in town cleaning up the mess the pirates left behind. An admiral kept walking around in town to figure out who was the cause of this mess, and then finally arrived in Mrs. Sellner’s bar. She was covered in bandages, but was thankfully alive. “Excuse me, miss. I am Admiral Ridio of the Sky Marines. Could you possibly tell me who the cause of this problem was?”

Mrs. Sellner smiled and said, “You want to know, huh? I’ll tell you who. ….It was the son of the former King of the Sky Pirates, Rosario D. Hawkins!”

3 year has passed since then, and I took heed to my mother’s advice. Whenever I wanted to see her, I would take the Sky Knife from my leg holster and hold it up to the night sky, and it would always show her face within the blade. It kept me at peace to know she was still alive. When I found out that it was Mrs. Sellner that started my life as a pirate, I was truly ready for it. I have to remember to thank her the next time I see her….

“Alright, Sky Knife! Show me the one who will be the first member of my crew!”, I said, still running from the Sky Marines behind me, the blade glowing as it showed me a kid sporting blue hair. “Ok! I shall find him! I will make this kid my crewmate! And I will become….the Sky King of the Pirates!”

To Be Continued…..