25 Soma Joichiro (1/2)

It was quite had for a 8-9 year old to fend by himself in a war torn land, the greatest enemies of the humans were humans.

Then on one fate full day Soma managed to find a weird fruit among the piles of rubble of a recently destroyed house. Being starved for more than week, he swallowed it instantly but to his misery it was the most horrible thing he has ever tasted he wanted to through it up instantly but wasn't able. He hoped that at least it wasn't poisonous and will help him hold up for another week.

He was walking away from the decimated house when a group of people surrounded him, few of them started to search through the broken house and the courtyard while some grabbed Soma and dragged him away, he tried to fight back but he barely had enough energy to walk and wasn't able to even scratch them.

After dragging him to a deserted area those men started to search his body for something and when they where not able to find whatever they were searching for they started to shout and pummel all he could do was curl up and cover his head while crying hoping that they would get bored of him soon. He managed to hear few words like devil fruit, stolen etc.. but he was both mentally and physically worn out to understand anything.

Even after few minutes of torture, it seemed like they didn't plan on letting him go. While he was despairing over his fate, he felt like something burning up within him. It was growing by each passing second and started to flow into his limbs and the rest of his body and within seconds he felt his entire body was filled with lava. After which he felt a loud explosion and he lost his consciousness.

When he regained his consciousness, he found that he was laying on a bed while covered in bandages. He observed his surroundings and saw that he was in a simple room with a bed with no windows, it was then he felt the room rocking and creaking which left him with the realization that he was on a ship. Then the door was opened as an old man walked in with a plate.

”Ah! Your awake lad!!” said the old man he saw Soma sitting upright on his bed. ”Come have some soup.”

As he said that he gave him the plate which was filled with some kind of soup, while he was scared and wanted to refuse the food his stomach grumbled and the fragrant aroma from the soup just whetted his appetite even more. He couldn't suppress his hunger any longer and he started to guzzle down the soup.

”Wait!!! Take it slow..It's still hot!!” shouted the old man but Soma felt that it was just warm and not too hot. He was in a trance as he finished the soup in seconds following which he felt like he was in pure bliss. It was the most delicious thing he has ever eaten and he felt like he was in heavens.

”Lad!! Is your mouth okay? It was still piping hot.” said the old man with some concern while observing Soma.

”T-thanks..for..the soup” said Soma while stuttering ”W-what happened to me? Where am I??”