Chapter Text
There was a little boy, infamous for stealing in a little town of the East Blue.
Everyone from the town knew him, and they were extremely cautious of his extraordinarily good ability to steal. The boy was an orphan, he didn’t know who his parents were since birth.
Although one time he got curious and asked an old granny when he was younger.
“Hey granny, who were my parents and where are they?” The boy asked
“I’m not so sure myself, Rayleigh, but I do know that your mother passed away while giving birth to you.” She responded.
“... I see… Thanks granny” Rayleigh replied before turning around to leave.
Rayleigh… where did that name come from if my mother died while giving birth to me? He thought.
He had turned around to go somewhere else, but the boy did not have any place to go back to. No where to call his home, no where to relax. It was indeed a sad life he had. Just barely surviving by stealing from others, but sometimes he would fail and face the consequences. He didn’t think much of it at that time, he just thought of the beating as a natural procedure because he was too young to understand. He was naive, and the grown ups took advantage of that.
They would bribe Rayleigh to steal or beat up someone they didn’t like for a price much too low. Of course, he didn't know the amount of money they were offering was too low for what he was doing for them, which the adults greatly appreciated.
When he turned fifteen years old, he had become an expert at stealing, and fighting. Since he’d become older, and his body’s grown, he discovered that he could earn more money by fighting in an underground fight club, introduced by one of his “clients”.
As he fought more and more, his name began to travel from town to town, making more fighters from other areas come to fight him.
By the time Rayleigh was eighteen years old, he had won every single match, and saved up enough money to buy himself a house, clothes, and other necessities such as glasses and liquor.
He’d been wishing for a house ever since he was a child, and he finally had a place to call home. He wouldn't be sleeping in the streets along with rats and filth regarded as trash to the people, he would be able to bathe with clean water rather than sea water, eat proper food and sleep in his own bed.
That was the proudest achievement of his entire life, until he accidentally burnt it down while trying to cook for the first time.
Since he grew up without parents, siblings nor a trusted adult, no one taught him how to cook or how to use the stove. When he was a child, roaming the city alone, he caught a glimpse of a happy child, about his age, eating a home cooked meal with his parents happily in their house through a window.
And since he now had a home, he wanted to taste a home cooked meal, rather than store bought food.
He turned the stove on, but didn’t know that the gas was leaking.
Rayleigh walked out of his house to get the rest of his groceries, but in a split second, his house had been engulfed in fire.
He wanted to cry as he watched his house burn down, but he knew better.
He did not cry, not even a single drop rolled down his cheeks because unfortunately, he was too mature for his age, never having a chance to experience a normal childhood.
But he still needed a place to wash his clothes, sleep and eat, so he had to put his fighting and theft skills to use.
He ended up stealing a small ship, maybe big enough for two people, from a foreign ship merchant.
He felt bad, but it's not like he had a choice either, so he just shrugged it off and continued on with his day.
After a few days of living in the ship, he had gotten used to its layout and functions. He had always been a fast learner afterall.
One morning, he was slouching against the ship's stairs, eyes closed, after he finished hanging his wet clothes on the clothesline, with a bottle of liquor to relax. When he opened his eyes due to the sound of footsteps nearby, he caught the eye of a boy who looked to be about his age, but taller than him with a straw hat. They made eye contact and the boy started to walk towards him.
When he got close enough, Rayleigh could see his features more clearly.
The boy was about a foot taller than him with raven colored hair, sharp nose and a big grin on his face.
If he ever said the boy wasn't hot, then he’d be lying.
“Whoa! That's a nice ship!” The boy yelled.
“I stole it. My house burned down so I’m living here now” Rayleigh replied.
“Yeah, and what's your name?” The boy asked.
“Rayleigh.” He answered bluntly.
“I’m Roger! I think we were destined to meet, Rayleigh!” Roger said joyously.
Roger… Rayleigh thought to himself. “Destined?” he said.
“Do you want to turn the world upside down with me?”
“Huh? The world?” Rayleigh laughed. “Who are you and where are you from? Go away.”
“Your ship is small, but it looks like it can endure storms if you handle it right.” Roger ignored. “It’s perfect for us to set sail in!”
“Us? Set sail?” Rayleigh huffed out a laugh. “Don’t decide for me. Why should I join you?” He asked.
“Like I said, to turn the world upside down!” Roger repeated “Alright, let's set sail, Rayleigh! Hahahahaha!” He laughed while jumping onto Rayleigh’s ship.
“H-Hey! Get off! I haven’t given you permission yet!” Rayleigh said confusedly.
“Yet? Oh so you were going to let me on your ship! Great!” Roger exclaimed while putting his large bag of stuff in Rayleigh’s “living room”.
“Let's have a great time together, Rayleigh!” Roger said as he gave Rayleigh a large grin.
“I have a feeling this is going to be hectic…” Rayleigh thought while sighing and palming his face.