Cael, Forest Overlook
Cael crouched on a moss-covered ledge overlooking the valley below, one hand resting on his knee, the other loosely gripping a weathered compass, its needle spinning slowly, not pointing north. The device wasn't built for direction. It pulsed in response to energy, particularly the kind that didn't belong to this world.
Ren's signature still burned faint in the distance, residual from the training hours ago. But that wasn't what Cael was watching for.
Behind him, boots crunched on damp leaves.
"I figured you'd show up," Cael muttered without turning.
Vice Admiral Garp emerged from the trees, his hands in his pockets, cloak fluttering lightly in the breeze. He looked less like a government officer and more like a retired old brute enjoying a walk, but Cael knew better.
"You're not the easiest to find, y'know," Garp said, stopping a few paces behind him.
Cael stood slowly. "I didn't think I needed to be. You've been keeping track just fine."
Garp's expression was unreadable. "And the kid?"
Cael nodded toward the hills. "He's progressing faster than I expected. Already cracked the third gate. Ice came easier than I thought."
"Mm." Garp scratched his chin. "Dangerous?"
"Potentially," Cael said flatly. "But not unstable. Not yet."
Garp crossed his arms. "He's not like you were."
Cael snorted. "I wasn't like me when I first arrived either."
They stood in silence, old tension hanging like fog between them. Not animosity, just weight. The kind that comes from carrying knowledge others never should.
Garp looked out toward the direction of Foosha Village. "You felt it too, didn't you?"
Cael nodded. "Someone planted something just outside the village. Energy readers. Not Marine-issued."
"Cipher Pol?" Garp asked.
"Or something deeper. Cleaner signature. Quiet."
Garp grunted. "They're sniffing around sooner than expected."
Cael narrowed his eyes. "Because Ren's not hiding anymore. His power's starting to ripple, not just across this island, but farther."
"You think they know what he is?"
"Not yet," Cael said. "But they will."
He glanced sideways at the old marine.
"If it comes to it… are you ready to cover him?"
Garp's face didn't move. But his eyes flickered. "I've covered worse."
Cael gave a slow nod, then turned away.
"Let's just hope we don't end up making another war," he muttered.
"If we do," Garp said with a shrug, "might as well make it worth it."
They parted without another word.
The forest swallowed their shadows.
Ren, Return to Foosha
By the time Ren reached the village outskirts, the sun had risen fully. It was a quiet day, breezy, warm, clouds moving slowly overhead like drifting sails.
He moved at an even pace along the worn path that led through fields and stone fences. His boots scuffed the gravel in rhythm, and the birdsong was familiar. But something in the air felt different...Off.
He couldn't explain it. The scent was the same, the salt from the coast, the warm dust of early summer, even the faint smoke from village kitchens. But beneath it was something else.
Muted.
Muted and watching.
He stopped for a moment at the well near the village square, filling his canteen with cold water. As he leaned up, he caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye, a man he didn't recognize leaning against a building, arms crossed, eyes too focused to be casual.
A second later, the man turned and walked off, disappearing into an alleyway.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
He entered Makino's bar a few minutes later.
The place was quiet. Makino was arranging bottles on a top shelf, standing on her toes with the grace of someone who'd done it a thousand times. She looked over her shoulder as he stepped in.
"You look less like you fought a hurricane today," she said warmly.
Ren offered a tired smile and sat at the far end of the counter.
She poured him water and handed him a slice of fruit bread. "Something on your mind?"
"Just tired," he muttered.
Makino studied him for a moment. She never pried. But Ren had come to realize she saw more than she let on.
"Luffy's off with some kids from the next town. You've got peace for a few hours."
Ren nodded. "Good. I need to think."
Makino paused in wiping a glass. "Something wrong?"
He hesitated. "Have there been... any strangers in town lately?"
Makino blinked. "Not really. A few traders passed through, but nothing unusual."
Ren didn't answer.
Makino set the glass down gently. "Why?"
"I just... noticed something."
He took a bite of the bread but didn't taste it. His thoughts were elsewhere.
The man by the alley. The silence in the village. The way even the wind seemed to pause near the edge of town.
He excused himself shortly after and made his way toward the back path that led behind the bar. From there, he could see the rooftops of Foosha and the forest beyond.
He activated his watch, just slightly.
The crystal glowed pale blue, the element of wind flickering around it.
"Trace," he murmured.
It was a subtle function he'd started developing with Cael's guidance, not an attack, but a sensing pulse. Like sonar, but for movement and elemental disruption.
A wave of wind rippled out from the watch, passing invisibly through the surrounding area.
It returned a second later, and with it, a distortion.
Something, someone, was nearby, suppressing their presence.
Ren's eyes narrowed. He followed the signature.
Past the granary. Past the old windmill. Toward the tree line that separated the village from the hills beyond.
He walked without sound, years of instinct from his own world keeping his steps light and his movements deliberate. He reached a high vantage point behind a thicket of old brush and knelt.
There, near the edge of the forest, stood a man in a long coat, crouched beside a strange device planted in the ground. It looked like a sensor, thin rods with glass eyes and faint metallic threads running between them.
Ren had seen devices like this before, back home. Not exactly, but close. Scanners.
Energy detectors.
"They're tracking me…"
He didn't recognize the man. But the way he moved, the gear, the coat — this wasn't a pirate. This wasn't a merchant.
This was organized.
And it meant someone had taken notice.
He stepped back, letting the shadows reclaim him.
Fusha Village, That Night
Ren sat atop the windmill after dark.
The stars were out in full, scattered like old memories across the sky. The village slept below him, quiet, peaceful.
But he couldn't rest.
Someone was watching.
And worse, someone was tracking.
He stared down at the crystal on his watch. It pulsed faintly, calm for now. But it wouldn't stay that way for long.
"What am I doing here…?" he whispered.
He wasn't sure if he was speaking to himself, to the sky, or to the silence between them.
The wind picked up softly.
Not a warning. Not yet.
But the calm was thinning.