The next time Alex woke, she found herself in a different location. She rubbed at her eyes, rubbing the blurriness away to clear her vision. Once cleared, she took in her surroundings. "What the hell..?"she looked around, seeing herself in some type of med-bay room. She went to sit up but deeply regretted her decision as pain spread across her body. "Oh, your awake!" a voice came from the doorway. She lay back in the bed and looked up to see an older man coming into the room with a kind and relieved smile on his face. "W-Where am I?" she asked, almost gasping in shock as she heard herself. My voice is much..higher. Childish even!
"You're in the hospital little one!" he smiled. Little one? Last time I checked I was near 6 ft.."My names Pete, I'm the towns doctor." he waved. "Doctor..?" "You seemed to wash up on the beach this morning! Worried us all sick!" he checked her injuries as she worked out what was said. The beach? We never had a beach in town..some pain rising from her arm snapped her from her thoughts. "Oops, sorry." he smiled sheepishly, pulling back. "How am I injured?" she said aloud. "You seem to have broken a few bones..a few scrapes too but nothing too serious." he told her. "Hm. Never broke a bone before.." he chuckled. "So, who was the man who brought me here? I remember seeing someone in a straw hat before I blacked out again.."she asked. He smiled and went out the door before another man came in, with the same straw hat as she saw before.
He was a taller man with dark red wavy locks. "I'm relieved to see you're awake!" he came over to the side of her bed. "Mm."she hummed in response. "Thank you for saving me." he smiled. "Anything for beautiful young lady!" she blushed. "Young?" she titled her head slightly to the side. "Yes, you do remember your age right? You seem about..seven?" he said as he took a look at her as if trying to double check his deduction. "M-May I have that mirror?" she pointed at a small hand mirror on the desk behind him. He turned and grabbed it, handing it to her. She noted that her hands were smaller than before as she held onto it.
She took one last breath before turning the mirror up to get a good look at herself. She almost screamed. She looked totally different. She now was much paler, as if made of porcelain. Her features were different from when she was seven, back then she usually had a more chubby look to her. Now it was more defined, but not too much for a child at the age of seven. And she did look seven. She could tell.
She now had a button nose, different from her usual straight nose. Her eyes were now a chocolate brown instead of a dull blue, and were more soft and round than her old cold and scary woman eyes from before. Instead of her usual long, red-ish brown curly hair, she now had shorter black hair that seemed to be more straighter, with a slight wave to them. She went to check her ears when she felt nothing there. She lifted her new black locks to see nothing there. "What..?" she noticed something twitch on top of her head and looked up to see fluffy black wolf ears on her head, with white insides. "Oh my god.." she felt that scream climbing up her throat, but she pushed it back down.
"I was pretty shocked myself!" the man's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Never seen a wolf child before!" he chuckled. "Wolf..?"she yanked the blanket off of her to see a black matching tail there near her legs. She jumped slightly as it wagged for the first time. "Okay this is..crazy." she breathed. "Do you remember anything from before?" he asked. She pulled the blanket back on her body, not liking the breeze on them as she seemed to be now dressed in a short hospital gown. "Uhm. Yeah. Yeah I do." "Like what?" she thought for a moment. "Well..."she dragged on. "My names Alex. I'm eight"I guess so.."and I don't seem to remember how I ended up in the ocean?" he stared at her for a moment, taking in the new information before shrugging. "It should come to you later I suppose."
"What's your name?" she asked, one of her ears tilted to the side. Oh god. Gonna take a while to get used to that! "Shanks."he answered. "Nice name!" she smiled, causing him to laugh. "Same to you, Alex!"
Pete came back into the room just as they were about to start a conversation. "So Alex, how ya feeling?" he asked. She looked at her body, shifting slightly. "Well." she started. "My arm and my leg hurts. But other than that, fine." Pete looked a bit shocked. "Just both those? But you had both your legs broke and your other arm sprained?" he went over to check said limbs. Probably from the fall..but how can I still be alive? AND WHY AM I SUDDENLY SEVEN YEARS OLD!? "So, how long am I going to have to stay in bed?" she asks. "A few days atleast, maybe a week or two to get your broken limbs healed up a bit." he tells her as she pouts a bit at that unwanted answer, making them chuckled at her adorable child face, her ears going downwards. "Don't worry, you'll be up in no time! Then we can finally try and figure a way to get you back home!"Pete says as he waves, before walking back out.
Home huh..she lowers her head in defeat as a depressed look spreads across her face. Shanks opens the door to leave, but quickly catches that look before stepping out to leave her to her thoughts.
As the soft click of the door comes to her new ears, she sighs a shaky breath before finally breaking down, harder than she's ever done before. And to think I was finally free..
.
.
The next day Alex was waken up by the sound of people outside talking and laughing loudly. She sits up, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she rubbed the remains of her tears from last night from her face. She had managed to fall asleep during her episode. She looked around before throwing the blankets off her small form and swinging her little legs over the edge of the bed. She hopped down to the hard wood floor below her and took a moment to get use to the height difference. "This is trippy.." she shook her head to get out of her thoughts and walked over to the door, pulling it open and stepping out. She took a look around to see if anyone was around before heading out the building.
Outside, was what shocked her. She was nowhere near her own town. She never recognized this place, so where was she? She looked around, seeing people enter a bar and decided to go towards there. Once there she noted that it was loud. She recoiled in slight pain as the loud noise adjusted to her now more sensitive ears. Damn these things!she got a hold of herself moments later and walked in, looking around. Everyone was dressed in older day looking clothes, drinking and joking around with everyone. Did I like, go back in time or something? Jeez..she went up to the bar and climbing one of the stools, sitting on the seat and looking around more. "Why hello there." a soft female voice came from behind her. She turned to meet eyes with a dark green haired woman, with a welcoming smile to her face. "And who might you be?" she asked. "A-Alex miss." she stuttered. She wasn't use to talking to strangers, it made her nervous.
"Are you new to the island?" she asked. Island? I am so confused.. "Uhm, y-yes?"
"Alex!" Shanks voice came up from behind her. She turned to see the man coming up behind her. "You're still supposed to be in bed resting!"he lightly scolded her. "But I feel completely fine!" she wiggled about in her seat. It was true, she didn't feel broken at all. Well, her limbs didn't anyway. She didn't take any time to think about it, but it was a bit strange to have a broken limb heal in just overnight. "What?" he raised a brow. "Yeah!" she smiled. "Well if you say so.."he scratched his head before sitting at the bar next to her.
"Shanks!" a younger voice called out behind them. A younger boy with black hair came running up to Shanks, jumping up to sit on the counter before them. "Hey Luffy!" Shanks greeted. "Who's your friend?" he asked, looking at Alex. She hunched over a bit in shyness. "This is Alex!" he ruffled her locks, making her look up at them. "I'm Luffy!" he told her. "Hi.."she blushed lightly. Seems to be about..5? Hmph. I guess I'll just go with this all for now! "So, Alex do you remember anything now?" Shanks asked. She shook her head, her black locks shaking around her shoulders. "She's a dog! Cool!" Luffy gasped in amazement as he tugged on her left ear. "H-hey!" she grabbed at her ear, a heavy blush spraying across her cheeks. God these things are sensitive!she screamed inside her head. "Shishishi! Sorry!" he smiled a toothy smile, making her slight anger at him disappear. "Ah! That reminds me!" she looked down at her gown she was still in. "Where are my other clothes?" she looked up at Shanks. "They should be back at the clinic." he pointed a thumb near the building outside. She smiled her thanks before jumping off the stool and dashing off to get changed back into her clothes.
Once back in her clothes she took a look in a full length mirror. She was MUCH shorter than her 16 year old self. She had freckles on her nose and cheeks. She wasn't use to being this pale. She was like a glass doll! She looked at her face more to notice a mole on the tip of her nose, right in the mirror. She snorted, it looked pretty silly. She looked down at her clothes. It seemed her clothes changed as well as her body. Her shoes were now just to her ankles, and her tank top didn't have a panda on it anymore. She seemed to deflate at that. She loved pandas.
She sighed and ran back to the bar, to see Shanks wasn't there anymore. She hopped up onto the stool bar she sat on before and turned to Luffy. "Say Luffy, whose your friend?" a blonde man came over and leaned against the counter. "This is Alex! She's a dog!" Bonk! "Ow!" Luffy grabbed his head as a small bump started to form. "I'm not a dog!" she growled, lowering her fist she used to hit him on the head. "Hey Alex, I'm Yasopp!" he poked the tip of her nose where the mole was. She went cross-eyed as he did that.
"Nice to meet you." she smiled, wagging her. Hah, got control of it! "You know, I have a son about your age. Name's Usopp. Long nose, black curly hair." he started to describe his son. "Got it from his mother." she smiled softly. "Seems you love your son very much.." he chuckled lightly. "Yeah, had to leave him behind to sail across the world though.." her ears perked up, tilting her head to the side. "Don't you miss him?" he smiled. "Of course I do!"
"Sounds nice.."she whispered. Shanks came back in and lifted Alex up before letting her sit in his lap as he sat down in her seat. She blushed. I'm not a kid! Oh wait, right. I am. DANG IT!
Her tail started to wag lightly. Am I enjoying this!? God I am turning into an eight year old aren't I! She ignored her thoughts and leaned into his stomach. "So Alex, think you remember anything now?" he asked, looking down at her. She frowned at this, shaking her head furiously. "You don't?" he frowned. "I don't want to go back!" she blurted out. She covered her mouth with her tiny hands. "Why not?" he inquired. Makino had come over to hear aswell, slightly worried about the girl. "Uh. I mean. I-" she growls in fustration, but with her childish voice it sounded more like a puppy trying to growl the first time. They laughed lightly at this as Shanks pet her. "I give up~!" she whined, leaning further into his stomach. "Alex," Makino's soft voice brought her from her mock depression. "Would you like something to eat? You haven't eaten anything for a while have you?" she was about to protest, but her stomach made a loud and noticeable growl. Makino giggled. "I'll take that as a yes! I'll be back." she went back to get something for the young girl to eat. Oh so my stomach can growl that loud but I can't!? Hmph.
"So Alex, what do you like to do for fun?" Luffy asked as he sipped his milk Makin brought him earlier when she was out. She put a hand to her chin, thinking for a moment. "Hmm.." now what would an eight year old like..? "I like to have adventures!" she threw her hands up cheerfully. It was true, but she never really had any adventurous events happen to her except the night before..and she wasn't going to tell them any of that anytime soon.
"Me too!" he smiled. "You'll get along great then!" Shanks laughed. Makino came back with a plate of food and a glass of water for Alex, who thanked her before quickly digging in. She finished in less than 3 minutes. "Yupp, you'll fit right in!" they all laughed as another blush came across the girl's face.
"Want a tour of the town Alex?" Luffy asked. "Sure!"Might as well know where I am. She hopped off Shanks' lap and headed out the door with Luffy, waving to the others before catching up with the younger boy.
Luffy and I ran around the island, as he insisted in taking me to see every single inch of the whole area. Meeting other people, which made me a bit nervous but they seemed really nice and friendly. Their tour ended when they entered the bar once again. "Hey Luffy, Puppy-chan!" Shanks greeted them. She tried to growl at him for the nickname, but it came out too cute to be anywhere near threatening. The two of them went up and sat up on the counters near him.
Suddenly a group of shady looking men came barging into the bar. Alex was too lost in her shock to see everything that happened, but she snapped out of it after they left. "Shanks!" she hopped down to his aid. He was soaked in sake and on the floor, yet he still had that same smile on his face. "It's fine Alex!" he pet her. "It's not!" her voice shook. Luffy began to shout in anger, only for Shanks to make him stop and pout. Alex sighed and watched the boy as he sat down grumpily, taking out a strange looking fruit from a small treasure chest and eating most of it all in one bite. Shanks turned just in time to find him eat most of it all and shout in shock. Alex jumped up and clung to his shoulder, watching with curiousity. "Luffy! Did you just eat what was in that chest!?" Luffy looked up at him. "Yeah. Didn't taste good though.." he said nonchalantly. Shanks picked him up, hanging him upside down and shaking him around. "Spit it out! Right now!" Luffy cried out in confusion before his legs stretched out further than normal and his face hid the wooden floor, before slowly coming back up. "W-What?"
"You fool! That's a Devils Fruit! You won't be able to swim anymore!" Shanks yelled at him.
"WHAAAT!?"Luffy screeched, making Alex cover her ears in pain as she slipped and fell onto the ground. That boy's got some lungs on him!
"Can't swim? Guess you're an anchor now, ne Shanks?" she giggled as she was lifted up. "Shut up!" Luffy pouted as he drank his milk. Wonder what will happen next..?