Luffy D. Monkey was born under the shadow of Atlas, in the amber glow and smoke of Mantle. And if he was perfectly honest (he had to be, he sucked at lying), that suited him just fine.

He would have gone crazy in the shiny, sterile environment of the floating kingdom above. If not from the snotty upper crust or the long list of societal rules and standards, then from the near-constant flack he would have gotten for the ringed lemur tail sprouting from the base of his spine. At least in Mantle if someone called you an animal or tried to yank your tail, you could deck them and no one would think less of you for it. Not that Luffy cared what people thought of him. If he wanted to deck someone he thought deserved it, he'd do it regardless.

He got into a lot of trouble that way.

Besides, if Luffy didn't live in Mantle, he never would have met Shanks and his band of nomads. He showed up at Makino's bar when the young faunus was seven, with straw hat on his head, a swagger in his step, and tales of adventure on his lips. Shanks had traveled all over Remnant, been to places most humans never set foot and fought Grimm straight out of humanity's nightmares. Luffy immediately thought he was the coolest person ever.

Shanks wasn't a huntsman.

"Eh, me and Benn got some training under our belts. We just never got our licenses."

"Why not?"

"I can't speak for Benn, but for me? Someone showed me there was another way to live."

Luffy's grandpa, Garp, was a huntsman. He was a high-ranking specialist in the Atlesian military, and a famous one for two reasons: first, for being the first faunus to reach specialist after their kind were permitted to join the military. Second, for still being a top-notch huntsman despite being so advanced in age. Hunting wasn't a profession you grew old in, after all.

Luffy didn't know this, or particularly care. He just knew that his grandpa was in the military and fully expected Luffy to follow in his footsteps, training him to do so. If you wanted to call activating his aura at five and sending him to beat up Centinals in old mine shafts training— which Luffy would for years afterward.

Shanks was the first one to teach Luffy that there was a whole world to explore outside of the threat of the Grimm and the boundaries of kingdoms. He taught him that you could be strong and protect what you loved without being beholden to a single title. The young faunus clung to these teachings fiercely, even after Shanks moved on.

"The freest man on Remnant, huh? In that case, take this."

"Huh?"

"This hat means the world to me. Take good care of it, and once you've done as you've said, return it to me. It's a promise, Luffy."

Luffy spent the next few years training and arguing with grandpa. He developed his semblance, an odd ability to stretch and expand his aura around his body like rubber. (Garp had laughed and promised to introduce him to a "quiet brat" he knew with a similar ability once Luffy got into the academy.) He also tried to develop a weapon, but...

Well, the less spoken about that, the better. The fires were eventually brought under control, and the cats were expected to regrow most of their fur.

At the same time, he met his brothers Ace and Sabo, and the three became unholy terrors on the thugs of Mantle and restaurant owners of Atlas. They swore to live their lives the way they wanted— Ace away from the stigma of his parentage, Sabo away from the stifling expectations of his family. They agree to set out into the world at seventeen, as that was that was the age you were an adult and eligible to enter Atlas Academy.

Sabo didn't make it.

They pressed forward.

Ace left first, riding out into the tundra of Solitas on his motorcycle. The shattered moon shone brightly overhead, and he only looked back to wave his little brother goodbye.

Finally, ten years after receiving his hat, it was his turn. Armed only with his grandfather's training, his semblance, and a dust-infused steel pipe he stole from one of Sneeze-bastard's mines, Luffy hitched a ride on a dust transport to the coast and set out into the world of Remnant.

It was not ready for him.

Next: Moss Green

I had this crazy idea and made a couple posts about it on tumblr, but I thought I would explore it a bit here on Fanfiction. I have ideas, and this fic is mainly to try to get a little bit of a feel for the scenario, so I kept it relatively simple. It was meant to be a one-shot, but it started to get waaaay too long so I broke it up into short chapters.

I don't know how deeply I'm going to explore this AU- it'd be a series of one-shots to work on in my spare time if anything, since I'm in no position to commit myself to a singular long-term fic right now. I also don't know if everything depicted in this fic will carry over into any other works for it. Things need to be improved on, but I want to see the reception for this, if any.

So read, review, and let me know what you think!