Hi again!! School's keeping me busy but here's the SBS Corner again:

Gem Kerr (Saya Minatsuki): Will Kuro Neko have a love partner? And when will they meet Luffy and the gang?

Yes, he will. She won't appear for a while but I will tell you that she will be the crew's navigator. And as for your second question, they'll meet pretty soon. Maybe in the next chapter, but I know they will appear soon. These two crews will be meeting multiple times throughout this story as far as I know.

Lipana: If Kuro Neko's really the son of Gol D. Roger, why doesn't he have a D. middle initial?

He does have the D. middle initial, it just hasn't been used yet because he hadn't known he was a D. until last chapter. He'll rarely use it but it is still there. Plus, he's a little different than the other D.'s.

Anonymous: Isn't a panther and a leopard the same thing? And what is the old lady's name?

Yes, I had another person mention this before. I know they're the same thing, I just love panthers so much that I made a separate Devil Fruit for the two. And for your second question, I haven't thought of giving her a name. She's just been 'woman' or 'old lady' to me, maybe I should think of a name later.

Now onto the story!!

Chapter 4: The Dawn of Adventure

Windy Village in the East Blue, 6 years later

Jarred and Kuro Neko were sitting on the docks on the edge of the village, watching the rising sun. Today was the day when they would leave Windy Village. Six years have passed since that fateful day when their foster mother died and Kuro Neko found out his heritage. Today, they would finally leave this place and be pirates.

"Today's the day, right guys?" asked a tall man of around 24. It was their old friend Daddy Long Legs, or Willis.

"Right, Willis," said Jarred, glancing at the golden band around both of his wrists. "Today, we are officially pirates."

"Yeah, we're finally leaving this place." Kuro Neko said calmly, watching the sunlight glitter on the three golden bands on each of his wrists. They had been presents from his dead mother, Willow D. Roger, on the day their foster mother died.

"Well then," said Willis. "Why don't you guys gather your supplies and I'll finish your ship's repairs."

Three years ago, Willis and the shipwrights of Windy Village started building a ship for Kuro Neko. Their dead foster mother's money was used to pay it off and then some. Their ship, the Neko Neko, had gone through many repairs until it could finally go through the Midnight Hurricane, a devastating storm that hits the island once every four months, with barely any damage.

"Sure. Let's get ready, Captain Kuro Neko D. Roger!!" laughed Jarred, retrieving his jacket and shoes from the edge of the dock. He then retreated lest he get splashed by Kuro Neko for saying his full name aloud.

"Get back here, you!!" growled Kuro Neko, grabbing his father's jacket (he found this out when he found his foster mother's diary last year) and his shoes. He ran after the jaguar zoan and raced towards the house they lived in for most of their lives.

Both boys had changed in the last six years. Kuro Neko was 22 and has learned to fight with a sword and practiced guitar, but he also gained a calm and quiet personality. He acts lazy unless they were training and he even got his hands on an excellent grade sword called Kuromizu, or Black Water. He also started wearing a hat in order to make him seem a little more intimidating, which worked on Jarred.

Jarred was 18 and has improved his swordsmanship skills. He, too, got his hands on two excellent grade swords called Akayuki, Red Snow, and Shirokaze, White Wind. He's also learned how to vanish while attacking, making an injury appear moments after he reappears from attacking. He says it's similar to a rokushiki move called soru, but he just barely has the skills to focus on where he's going while using it.

The two zoans raced inside and went up the stairs into their respective rooms. An hour later, both came out of their rooms with their backpacks full of things to take with them. Doctor had said he would take care of the house while they were gone, so they didn't have to worry.

After returning to the docks, both boys looked at their ship and their flag. The ship was a large ship, just a little bigger than a caravel but smaller than a galleon. It was stocked with everything they might need at sea and had a boys and girls cabin, incase any ladies wanted to join the crew. Their flag was a skull and crossbones, but the skull had fangs in the mouth and cat ears on top while the crossbones had three claws on each end and a tail looped around it. Whiskers were on either side of the skull's face.

"Well, how do you boys like it?" asked a dark-skinned shipwright. It was Zero, or Marcus.

"We fixed it up good this time, boys. You'd better take good care of her or I'll hang you from the bow by your tails." A heavily-muscled shipwright growled. It was Caveman or Davis.

"Yeah, just hope you don't fall in!! Devil Fruit users can't swim, right?" laughed a shipwright with brown hair and glasses. It was Bookworm, or Alec.

"Yeah, don't fall in! Don't fall in!" sang two younger shipwrights. It was Chibi and Twitchy, or Carlos and Allen.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up!!" called Jarred, sending them a glare that silenced the two youngest shipwrights.

"Well, we're leaving now. Hope you all remember us because we're going to be the best pirates. I'm gonna be the king and follow my father's footsteps all the way to Raftel." Kuro Neko said.

"Remember this name: Kuro Neko D. Roger! It'll be famous!!" cried Jarred, hopping onto the ship's deck and waving goodbye to the villagers.

Kuro Neko sighed and hopped onboard, cutting the rope attached to the deck with his sword. "See you, everyone!!" he yelled, waving goodbye to Doctor and the villagers.

As they left the harbor, Kuro Neko spotted something on the railing of their ship, the Neko Neko. It was a silvery thing surrounded by a ghostly aura. Kuro Neko walked over and picked it up, looking at the odd marking on it. It looked like a compass but was different than any he'd ever seen.

"Hey Jarred, what's this thing?" he asked.

"Huh? What thing?" asked Jarred, jumping down the stairs onto the deck. "Oh, that. It's a log pose and they're used on the Grand Line. But I've never seen a silver one before, and those markings look like some ancient language."

"A log pose, huh?" he mumbled, looking at the compass thing. "Will it be any use here?"

"No," said Jarred. "I'll tell you everything once we get there, okay?"

"Okay! Let's eat, I'm starving!!"

"Okay… maybe we should find a cook, because I suck at cooking and you do too." Suggested Jarred.

"Sure! But let's eat something we don't have to cook then!" Kuro Neko called. "Like apples!"

Jarred caught the apple his captain had tossed at him. "Okay…" he mumbled, taking a bite. He wasn't one who liked fruit much but he would eat it if he had no choice, like right now.

Suddenly the ship started to rock violently. "Hey, what's that? Is it an earthquake?" Kuro Neko cried, grabbing the railing.

Jarred clung to the main mast and yelled, "We're at sea, you idiot!! It's probably the Sea King that—oh, man!! Hang on, captain!"

Suddenly a giant Sea King, or Neptunian, burst from the sea and threw the ship high into the air. Both pirates were tossed into the air and landed on the deck when the ship crashed back into the ocean. "Now what?!" yelled Kuro Neko.

Jarred raced downstairs and lit one of the cannons, aiming at the Sea King. "Fire!!" he yelled.

The cannon collided with the Sea King and exploded, a huge splash signaling that the Sea King was either dead or had left. As the smoke vanished, the Sea King was gone. "Is it gone?" called Kuro Neko.

"Yeah, it's gone!" yelled Jarred. "It must have left, stupid Sea King."

The ship got moving again, headed for an island that was two days sailing away. They would look for crewmates and then head for the Grand Line. Kuro Neko went into the captain's cabin and put the silver log pose on his desk. He then turned and inspected his new room.

It was mostly red and black with tints of gold in a few places. A large bed lay against the far wall by a window, the blankets and sheets were a rich red and gold color. A large oak desk rested against the nearest wall and had the usual navigational stuff on it (he'd give all that to his navigator when he got one). The room had thick black carpet and a closet to put his clothes and things.

"Wow," he said. "I think they went a little overboard when they redid my room. I may be a captain but I'm not a king, yet."

Jarred walked in and his jaw dropped at the sight of Kuro Neko's room. "Wow, your room's better than mine." He said, leading his captain to his own room.

As soon as they walked in, Kuro Neko saw the difference. Jarred's room was smaller and he had a simple bed in one corner. The carpet was black and the window was smaller, but there was a large mat on the floor and a pole stood in the middle of the room. Kuro Neko guessed this was both Jarred's bedroom and training room. "How do you like it, Captain?" Jarred said, whistling.

"So, you're gonna train and sleep in here?" Kuro Neko asked.

"Yeah, got a problem with it, Captain?" Jarred growled, an edge in his voice.

"No, shorty, I don't have a problem with it." Kuro Neko teased. "It just seems odd, that's all."

"Alright, who're you calling shorty, grandpa!!" Jarred snarled. He hated being called short and for good reason.

"I'm only four years old than you, Jarred." Kuro Neko pointed out.

Jarred fell silent for a while, and then said, "So?"

Kuro Neko sighed and left the room, deciding to explore his ship some more. Willis and the others tended to remodel the ship a little after each repair session, so there were always more things to see and more rooms to explore.

A few hours later, Kuro Neko collapsed on his bed in his room. There were individual rooms now instead of cabins and a bathroom was installed in each. The kitchen was made a little bigger and the library was bigger too. So much had changed and was making the panther zoan's head spin. He needed a nap and maybe a hot meal afterwards… even if they didn't have a cook, Jarred made good chicken and rice.

After these thoughts went through his head, Kuro Neko curled up in bed and fell asleep.

Jarred's room, 3 hours ago

"Geez, he's being quiet lately." Jarred muttered, attacking the pole in his room with both swords. "Guess he's checking out the new rooms. Knowing him, I'll be making dinner later."

For the next three hours, Jarred attack the pole with his swords and his zoan ability. By the time he was done, he collapsed on the floor. He was spent and definitely needed a nap. Jarred closed his eyes and took a snooze for about half an hour.

He woke up to the sound of Kuro Neko's lazy voice yelling, "Jarred, what's for dinner?"

Jarred has locked his bedroom door so he wouldn't be disturbed during training. "Must've forgotten to unlock it before taking my nap." He mumbled, getting up and stalking to the door.

After unlocking it, the swordsman walked to the kitchen and checked through the supplies. Not much but it'll have to do. Tonight's dinner was going to be chicken, rice, and some bread. He was done within the next 40 minutes.

"Jarred!! When's dinner? I'm starving here!" came Kuro Neko's pitiful voice.

"Right now!! Get your lazy tail down here or I'll eat all of it!" threatened Jarred, already filling his plate so he got a good share of food before the panther came down and ate it all.

Kuro Neko raced down the stairs and snatched a plate, piling food on it within moments and sitting across from Jarred at the table. "From now on, this is my chair!!" he declared before shoveling food into his mouth.

"Hope you choke." Jarred mumbled, eating a bit slower though dutifully guarding his dinner. Kuro Neko was known to steal food.

After finishing the meal, Kuro Neko went out on the deck and watched the moon and stars appear in the sky. He noticed the three stars representing his parents and foster mother. He bowed his head and prayed to Midnight, the god of the night. He raised his head afterward and went back inside.

After finishing his food, Jarred washed the dishes and muttered under his breath about how he wasn't a cook and shouldn't be washing dishes. After putting the dishes away, he went back downstairs to his room and resumed his training.

Just as he walked into the hallway, he bumped into Kuro Neko. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Kuro Neko looked up and said, "Where are we going next? Any ideas, Jarred?"

"Well," Jarred started. "I'm not sure but we should head to the next island. My father went there a lot and I think it's called Orange Town."

"Orange Town?" asked Kuro Neko calmly. "Sounds good. Hopefully we get more crewmates there. Let's go there!"

"Okay," said Jarred. "We're already headed in that direction anyways. Might as well go there."

The ship continued to sail towards Orange Town. Two days later, they spotted Orange Town. "Hey, we're here! Get up, you lazy panther!" yelled Jarred.

Kuro Neko came down to the deck wearing his father's jacket on his shoulders. He smiled when he saw the island. "I have a feeling we're going to meet some very helpful people here." He said calmly.

The duo peered at the island, only to see a massive explosion erupt from the island. "What the heck was that?!" yelled Jarred. "I say we avoid this island, Captain!"

Kuro Neko merely smiled mischievously. "No," he said quietly. "We'll go there. I know we'll meet someone of interest there, and I want to see them."

Jarred sighed and knew his captain's mind was made up. Ignoring the smoke and flames from the island village, he steered the ship towards it. Whoever this person is had better be worth it or he'd eat his jacket.

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I hope everybody liked chapter 4. They've finally set sail after three chapters, yay!! Thank you all for your reviews and questions!! In the next chapter, which might be long, the Neko Neko crew will encounter the Straw Hats. Bonus question: Can anyone guess which villain is at Orange Island? Hint: Red nose. Bet most of you know who it is now.