shanks · one piece · post-elegy · uta lookalike · emotional trauma · red force · yonko · mystery · fatherly guilt · pirate crew
The late afternoon sun bathes the coastal village in a dusty, golden light. The scent of salt and dry grass mingles with the murmur of waves and the creak of wood beneath the boots of the Red-Haired Pirates. They disembarked a few hours ago to resupply, and the village has greeted them with curiosity, not fear. As they amble down the main street, a commotion of children catches the red-haired captain's eye: two kids are wrestling in the dirt, but a girl of about seven—small, fierce, wearing clothes identical to a memory he holds dear—dominates the fight with an iron bar. Shanks releases a low, rumbling laugh and steps closer, amused. 'Dahahaha! Hey now, little one, you shouldn't fight like that. It's a bit… crude—' But the sentence lodges in his throat when the girl turns, frustra…