Word Count: ~1,020
The town of Bellpoint clung to the cliffs like a stubborn barnacle, half-falling into the sea and half-refusing to. Wind whipped through its narrow alleys, carrying the smell of salt, fire-cooked fish, and the distant sound of chaos that always seemed to follow pirates.
Kael Veyne walked with measured steps through the lower market, cloak hooded, a paper-wrapped skewer of grilled squid in his hand—untouched. He moved like a shadow, slipping through the crowd with just enough presence to seem forgettable.
His target was here.
That fact was as solid as the cutlass at his hip.
The Straw Hat Pirates had arrived at dawn. Their infamous ship, the Thousand Sunny, now sat like a gaudy trophy at the edge of the harbor, its lion-shaped prow almost mocking in its brightness. Children gathered around it with wide eyes. Vendors sold "authentic" Straw Hat memorabilia from makeshift stalls.
Kael watched it all from the shade of a tarp-draped alcove, eyes narrowed.
He couldn't strike here—not in the open. The crew was spread throughout the town, too unpredictable, too fast to scatter and regroup. He needed a crack in their armor, a moment of vulnerability. And to find it, he had to blend in.
So he waited.
Waited for the chaos to show him a pattern.
It came faster than expected.
A crash echoed from the northern plaza, followed by a shout:
"Meat!"
Kael stiffened.
There he was.
Monkey D. Luffy, Rising star—Kael always mentally erased the or alive part—with a bounty that could buy half a kingdom, was sprinting down the street barefoot, grinning with uncontainable joy.
A meat bun in each hand. One already half-gone.
Kael watched him, and something twisted in his stomach. Not fear. Not quite hate. Something colder. Something…off.
Luffy skidded around a corner and crashed directly into a stack of crates, tumbling with them in a heap of flailing limbs, splinters, and laughter.
Someone cheered. A child clapped. A vendor shouted about paying for damages.
Luffy just stood up, dusted himself off, and grinned like he'd won a war.
Kael didn't move. He didn't blink.
That was the danger.
It wasn't the fists—though those were real enough. It wasn't the crew, though their loyalty made them more deadly than most armies. It was this. The absurdity. The unpredictability.
The joy.
The world didn't know how to kill a man like that. Kael would.
He tracked Luffy from a distance for the next hour.
He watched as Luffy stole food, laughed with children, got scolded by Nami, and then launched himself onto a bakery roof to avoid paying for a pie.
"Luffy!" Nami's voice cracked like a whip. "I swear, you're going to give me a heart attack!"
"I'll get it later! I owe the bakery meat!" Luffy shouted cheerfully.
Kael's lips barely twitched. The absurd logic of it looped like a song in his mind.
He almost missed the moment when Zoro appeared.
The swordsman emerged from a shaded alley, expression unreadable. His eyes swept the plaza once, then landed—directly—on Kael's position.
Kael shifted, subtle. Just enough to blend behind a passing cart. Zoro's gaze lingered, then moved on. Perhaps by chance. Perhaps not.
Too close.
The Straw Hats weren't just loud. They were aware. And Zoro's instincts were battlefield-honed. Kael noted it with quiet precision. Observation Haki—confirmed. Possibly stronger than anticipated.
Still, it didn't matter.
He wasn't going to fight them. Not yet.
He was going to study them. Break them from the inside. Tear apart what held them together.
One piece at a time.
Night fell over Bellpoint in sheets of silver and black. The wind calmed. The ocean did not.
Kael sat in a rented loft above a quiet apothecary, pages of notes sprawled in front of him like a war table. Each crew member had a profile, sketched and written in a hand that never shook.
Nami – navigational genius, emotionally manipulative, center of logistics.Sanji – chef, vulnerable to distraction (females), possible weak point.Zoro – front line. Never engage directly.Robin – highly dangerous. No eye contact.Franky – mechanical advantage. Sabotage possible.Chopper – doctor, highly mobile. Treat with caution.Usopp – underestimated. Capable of brilliance under pressure. Dangerous.Brook – soul-based powers. Unknown limits.Luffy – anomaly.
That word was underlined three times.
Kael stared at it for a long moment.
Then he flipped to a new page. One word at the top.
Pattern.
Below it, he began to write:
Arrives without plan.
Attracts allies.
Disrupts existing power.
Laughs. Always.
Kael set the pen down.
He flexed his gloved hand slowly, feeling the tightness in his chest creep in. The thing that always came when he thought too long. When the plan wasn't perfect.
What if it's not enough?What if he breaks through it all like he always does?What if you fail—again?
He closed his eyes.
And he remembered Marineford.
He remembered the white coats stained with ash, the look in his mentor's eyes before the explosion. The crack in the sky when Red-Haired Shanks arrived. The moment the world tilted.
All because of him.
Kael opened his eyes. The anxiety didn't fade, but he knew what to do with it. Use it. Turn it inward. Sharpen it.
He stood, pulling on his coat, folding the notebook into its pocket.
The first move wouldn't be a fight. It would be a fracture. A test.
Find the edge.
And push.