Chapter Text
When you live in the East Blue, or any of the Blues really, you learn a few things, especially when you’re a street kid. You learn to steal, to fight, and most importantly, you learn to steer clear of pirates. Pirates were the ones who would have no mercy if you pissed them off. They could take your hand, steal your stuff, or even make you be part of their crew. Which doesn’t sound so bad at first, but a forced life on a ship could mean you were at the mercy of your master. A terrible job on a task could be a one ticket trip to Davy Jones’ locker. And if you were in the middle of the ocean, you had no way out.
So us street kids have our own rules of the road, so to speak. Run when you can, fight when you have to, and steal what you need. There are those who take more than what they can carry, which is stupid, in my opinion. You lose more stuff that way! I learned to take only what you can carry a long time ago. Seeing a kid lose a hand for stealing one too many apples changes a person. Especially when that kid was someone who was stealing for his siblings. No, it’s not me. It was someone I knew years ago, when I was just 10 years old. I ran and never looked back after that.
I’ve been a kid on the streets for as long as I can remember. Food was something you stole, warmth was something you longed for, and love? Well, love was out of the question when you were fighting for your dinner. Love was for children who still had their moms around to give them a hot meal. Love was fairy tales told by the Marines who took love rather than earning it themselves.
Childhood on the streets was the pits unless you figured out something to earn your way. Pickpocketing was always popular, getting a job as a cabin kid on a boat was steady, and then you have me. I didn’t care about fishing, or delivering, or even trying to steal from someone’s wallet. What I cared about were fireworks. Those sparkly things in the sky that only came out a few times a month. Someone could be celebrating a birthday, the Marines could be lighting them for a government sanctioned holiday, or someone could use them to cause a little chaos, and more importantly, a distraction. Someone like me. I’m Ruby, the Firecracker of the East Blue. And stealing fireworks and setting them off is what I like to do to take what I need. That is where my story begins, and it’s also where I met a boy who would change everything. A boy named Monkey D. Luffy.