Hi everyone!! I've decided that I will be updating on holidays now, too! So happy Thanksgiving everybody! My SBS is now back thanks to some questions from my good friend, anonymous!!

Anonymous: Why does Ai speak Japanese anyway? Will Kuro Neko tell Ai and Koji about his relationship to the Pirate King, or is that gonna remain a secret? And is Kuro Neko as simple-minded as Luffy is?

Whoa, you have a lot of questions! The reason why Ai speaks Japanese is because her mother, Seika, spoke Japanese and she wanted one of her children to know Japanese. And no, Kuro Neko will not be telling Koji and Ai about his relations to Gold Roger, or anyone else just yet. And for your last question, it depends on the situation that he's in. If it's something Kuro Neko has never seen before, like snow, then he will be simple-minded about it. But compared to Luffy, I think they're almost even that way.

Now onto the first chapter of the Ivy Rosethorn arc! I hope you enjoy it!!

Chapter 7: Ai is Kidnapped

Kuro Neko awoke to the familiar scent of breakfast being cooked. The raven-haired man sat up and ran a hand through his messy hair. Yesterday, he had got two new crewmates from Inferno Island, beaten a bunch of Marines, and went back out to the sea for their next adventure on their journey to the Grand Line.

The captain got up from bed and crossed the room to the desk with navigational equipment on it. He picked up his hat and shoved it on his head, grinning as the smell of breakfast grew stronger. After retrieving his father's coat from the chair, he made his way downstairs to check on his first and second mates.

"Hey guys, are you up yet?" he called, knocking on Koji's door.

The cougar boy opened the door and looked at him sleepily. Koji's black hair was a mess and his pajamas, a pair of blue boxers and a thin blue undershirt, were wrinkled. Upon closer inspection, little cougar faces decorated the boxers.

"What'dya want, man?" Koji groaned, rubbing his eyes. "I'm tryin' to sleep here!"

"Breakfast is ready, so get up!" Kuro Neko said cheerfully. Then a mischievous grin appeared on his face. "Nice boxers, little cougar boy."

Koji blinked and turned red as he realized what his captain said. Leaping behind the door to hide his lower body, he snarled, "That's not funny!!"

Kuro Neko managed to stifle his laugh as he left Koji's room. When he reached Ai's room, he once again knocked. The brunette opened the door and smiled when she saw him. "Ohayou, Kuro Neko-sama!" she said. "Ogenki desu ka?"

"Huh?"

"How are you?" Ai said, rephrasing her previous statement.

"Oh, great! Breakfast is ready, and nice room!" Kuro Neko complimented.

"Arigatou!" Ai said, looking at her room. The walls were red and roses filled the room. The ocarina she used the previous night was resting on a table covered in red lace and flowers. "You like it?"

"Yeah, I do!" Kuro Neko said. "I'm going to get breakfast! See you up there?"

"See you up there!" Ai said, closing the door.

Kuro Neko ran down the hallway and the up the stairs. When he reached the deck, he ran up another flight of stairs and entered the galley. Jarred was cooking some eggs and bacon, just some of the food the stocked up on at Inferno Island before they fled. The panther's mouth was watering at the sight of all that food.

Jarred turned and glared at the staring panther. He sighed and said, "If you swipe anything from my plate or this pan, you'll feel the wrath of my fork. Got that?" He raised the fork to further symbolize his point.

Kuro Neko nodded before seating himself at the table. Koji and Ai came up a few minutes later when the food was ready. "Enjoy your meals." Jarred said, sitting down to eat.

A few minutes into the meal, Koji spoke. "I thought I heard a ship last night. It sounded real close, almost too close."

"I didn't hear anything, oniisan." Ai replied.

"Neither did I." Jarred agreed. "You're probably hearing things, Koji. This is your first time on a pirate ship so your mind's playing tricks on you to scare you."

"I thought I heard plants last night." Kuro Neko added. "Maybe we passed an island."

"Yeah right!" grumbled Jarred. "I had night watch last night and didn't hear a thing. I didn't see anything except night stuff."

A very loud boom was heard nearby. The four pirates stood up and went down to the deck. Once there, Jarred peered over the railing and saw a large caravel not too far from them. "Hey, Kuro Neko!" Jarred called. "There's a ship over there!"

"Maybe they were what I heard last night." Koji mumbled, standing beside Jarred. Then he saw the plants. "There are plants on that ship! That must've been what Kuro Neko heard last night!"

"Greetings, pirates!" giggled a little green-haired girl standing on the deck of the ship. "Nice to meet you! Who're you?"

"Why would you want to know?" growled Jarred, a hand closing around the Shirokaze. "You're a pirate, just like us! But you're a little girl."

"I know!" laughed the girl. She looked at Kuro Neko happily. "So you must be the captain! I'm the captain of this ship, the Rosethorns!"

"There's no way you could be a captain, little girl-chan." Ai said gently. "Kuro Neko-sama, what happens if this crew wants to fight us?"

"Then we fight back, sis!" Koji said gruffly.

"Oh, you're so pretty!" the girl cried, but she wasn't on her ship anymore.

"Where did she go?" Kuro Neko asked, looking every direction in search of the girl.

"I'm right here, silly!" the girl giggled, reappearing in front of them. "What's your name, girl?"

"My name is Ai, and yours is?"

"Ivy," the girl said, walking towards her. "My name is Ivy Rosethorns, captain of the Rosethorns ship. And you are now my prisoner, Ai."

The group fell silent. "What?" Koji ground out hatefully. "My sister is staying here. And it's not as if you could take her anyway."

"Really?" Ivy asked, a cruel smirk crossing her face. "Just try to stop me."

"Gladly!" Jarred said, raising his fist to hit her. "This'll teach you to talk like that, you little—hey! What the heck?!"

Jarred's fist was engulfed by vines that were growing out of the wooden floor of the deck. Jarred could only stare as his hand was constricted by the vines before he pulled out the Shirokaze and sliced the vines apart, freeing his hand. The swordsman glared at Ivy and yelled, "What the heck was that?!"

"My power, silly!" Ivy giggled. "I ate a Devil Fruit known as the Vine Vine Fruit. It gives me control over plants, mostly vines, and that's why my ship is covered in plants."

"Wow, that's cool!" Kuro Neko cried.

"Shut up, Captain!" yelled Koji. "With those kinds of powers, that girl could really kidnap my sister!"

"Shinji rare nai!" Ai cried. "Another Cursed Fruit eater?"

"That's right! And as I was saying before, Ai, I'm making you my prisoner." Ivy said, grabbing her hand and running towards the mast.

"Let go of my sister!" yelled Koji, pulling out the Hoshikazan and Tsukikazan. "Lunar Twin Axes!"

Koji threw the two double-bladed axes at the young girl. Ivy smiled and said, "Vine Vine Forest!" Vines erupted from the deck, creating a giant vine forest. Ivy's voice echoed throughout the forest. "See you later! But don't worry, I'll come back to finish you guys off later! Ha ha ha!"

"Sis," Koji gasped. "No!" He watched helplessly as the Rosethorns sailed away from them, taking Ai with it.

Onboard the Rosethorns ship…

Ivy walked downstairs with her new prisoner, the cuffed Ai. Ai looked around and noticed there were no other crew members on the ship and no other prisoners too. If there was really no one else on this ship, then she was left all alone with this girl. For now, she would play her silent or Japanese act. This Ivy person was not going to get a single English word out of her.

Ivy arrived at a clean cell closest to the staircase. After shoving Ai inside, Ivy entered and shut the cell door behind her. Sitting on a barrel of grog close to the door, she watched the cougar zoan look around her cell for any signs of an escape route. "There's no escape, Ai." Ivy said.

Ai glared at Ivy, thinking that if she were in zoan form, her fur would be bristling. "Hontou? Houtteoite, baka." She growled.

"Oh, you speak Japanese too! I do but I like speaking in English better." Ivy exclaimed, rocking back and forth happily on the barrel. "I can understand everything you're saying."

"Dakara?" Ai said defiantly. "Shirumon ka."

"Well, I care!" Ivy said. She then reached out a hand to touch Ai.

Ai hissed and slapped her hand away. She would have gladly scratched Ivy but the cuffs were made of seastone. "Sawarahaide!" she shrieked. "Houtteoite! Acchi ni ike!"

"Why should I?" Ivy asked huffily. "I can touch you if I want. I am the Captain, after all!"

"Well you're not my Captain!!" Ai yelled at her.

Ivy froze for a moment, but then she snapped her fingers. Vines grew from the ground and wrapped around Ai, lifting her from the ground and slowly crushing her. "I don't care about that!" she spat. "My mission is to eliminate you four and anyone else who has joined you. I won't hesitate to kill you right now."

Ai's eyes were tearing up from the large amount of pressure used to crush her. "Mate!" she choked. "Tomare!"

"Why should I stop? I'm supposed to kill you!" Ivy growled. "Maybe I should kill your friends first and then kill you?"

"Lie!" Ai managed to cry. "Ikasete! Ikasete!"

"Why should I? You're just another pirate!" Ivy snarled. "The only difference is that you're from that pirate-loving island, Inferno Island. But look where pirates got that island! They were all killed, and only you and your brother survived it!"

Ai gasped for breath. The vines were cutting off her windpipe. "Dare ga itta no?" she said in a choked voice.

"Someone called Colonel Aero." Ivy said, smiling at the agony written on Ai's face. "I heard he was recently attacked by four pirates on the new Inferno Island. You and your friends did that, didn't they?"

"Hai. Dakara?"

Ivy smirked cruelly. "My master has ordered that you all be eliminated. The four of you, mainly your captain, are in the way of his plans."

"Nani?" Ai choked, tears of pain pouring down her cheeks. "Doroyouni?"

"I can't tell you." Ivy said. "Now, do you want to die?"

"Lie," Ai hissed. "Zettaini ariemasen!"

Ivy started laughing. Ai growled, wriggling in the vines but the more she struggled, the tighter they became. "Do you think anyone will come for you? I think not, Ai." Ivy said, laughing. "Might as well give up while you're ahead. Once a pirate, always a pirate! Your crew probably abandoned you to save their own necks!"

"Damare!!" a strangled scream came from Ai. "Warawanaide! Machigattemasu! Sore wa fukanou desu!"

"Oh, it's very possible." Ivy said, smirking. "You just don't want to believe it."

"Damare!!" Ai screamed.

An explosion sounded nearby and the ship violently lurched from side to side. The plants unraveled themselves from around Ai, causing her to drop to the ground. Ivy jumped down from the barrel and raced to the cell door, unlocking it and running upstairs towards the deck. Ivy made the one mistake of leaving the cell door wide open in her mad rush to get upstairs.

Ai got to her feet and stumbled towards the door. Just as she reached it, she collapsed. Another woman was walking down the hall and, seeing Ai falling, ran towards her and caught Ai. Gently lowering her to the ground, a gentle voice asked, "Hey! Are you alright, kid?"

Ai opened her eyes and saw a young woman with short dark blue hair and blue eyes looking down at her. The woman wore a blue T-shirt and black pants, black boots, and a silver ring around each wrist. A long, rectangular black thing was strapped to her back.

"I'm fine," Ai managed to say. "Who are you?"

"My name's Mina. I'm the navigator on this ship, or so the captain says." Mina growled. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"The Captain caught me and locked me up. She was choking me with those plants and she said she was going to kill me and my friends."

"Where are your friends?" Mina asked, helping Ai stand up. "Are you a pirate?"

"Yes, I am." Ai gasped, leaning against Mina for support. "My friends are probably close by. That explosion sounded like my brother's Hoshikazan and Tsukikazan."

"Hey, need help getting there?" Mina asked. "Cause I can get you there pretty quickly. But there's one catch."

"What is it, Mina-san?"

"San?" Mina asked, confused. "Do you speak another language or something?"

"Yes, I speak some Japanese." Ai said. "What is the catch?"

"You have to let me join the crew."

"Why? Are you being held prisoner too?" Ai asked as they walked towards the stairs.

"Yeah, and I so want to get off of this ship!" Mina groaned as the walked up the stairs. "I can't navigate in that teeny tiny cell that the Captain so happily provided me with."

"How do you navigate?"

"Most use the air or the ocean, but I use the stars and clouds." Mina said as the arrived on the deck. "I'll tell you more once we reach your ship. Hang on!"

Mina pulled out the rectangular thing and opened it, revealing a very large fan. Ai noticed metal edging it to make it a weapon. Leaping into the air, Mina landed on the fan's surface and rested Ai on it. She then directed it to glide towards the Neko Neko ship. Ai smiled when she saw her friends and the plant-less ship.

Jarred was cutting down any plants that started to regrow while he also manned the cannons. Kuro Neko was steering the ship towards Ivy's ship, barking orders to Koji and Jarred. Koji was retying the sails to keep them steady while he also unleashed fast attacks with his axes.

The two girls landed on the deck and both ran towards Kuro Neko. "Captain, I'm back!" Ai cried over the explosions of the cannons. "And I brought us our new navigator!"

"What?" Kuro Neko called. "Can't hear you!"

"I said—"

Ai was cut off when the Rosethorns ship exploded. After the smoke cleared, all that remained was the smoldering remains of the ship that was quickly sinking. After a few moments of silence, the crew cheered before going to congratulate Ai on her safe return.

Koji was the first to notice Mina. "Who are you?!" he spat, grabbing his axes. "You're part of Ivy's crew, aren't you?"

"Yes, but not anymore." Mina said. "I was imprisoned on that ship. I helped this girl, Ai, and have agreed to be your navigator. That is, if you want me to."

"Yeah!" Kuro Neko said. "We need a navigator or else we'll get lost before reaching the Grand Line."

"Man, we don't even know anything about this girl!" growled Jarred. "She could be a spy for all we know!!"

"I promise you, I'm not a spy." Mina said, holding her hands up. "I was a prisoner just like your friend and we decided to escape together."

"Hmmm…" Koji thought for a moment before saying. "Well, we do need a navigator. I guess we might not find another one, so we might as well take her."

"Well then, I guess that means you're on the crew." Kuro Neko said. "Got any special talents and stuff?"

"I have my fan, Ichiarashi." Mina said. "And I can do this!"

Mina started to shrink and then transformed into a small, dark blue cat. The crew gaped at her before saying, "You ate a Devil Fruit?"

Mina transformed back with a fearful look on her face. "So what if I do?"

"We do too, Mina-san!" Ai said. "We do too!"

"Well then, I guess we better get out of here right now." Mina said. "Ivy doesn't die that easily, so we better get out of here."

That's when a familiar voice said, "Where are you going, my pretty little kitty?"

IVY!! Mina's mind screamed as she turned around to face her former Captain in the face.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to everyone who reviewed to far. This story will be going on for a long time and updates on holidays will be assured. Here's the list of what Ai said in Japanese and their English meanings:

Ohayou – good morning

-sama – higher status person

Ogenki desu ka – how are you?

Arigatou – thank you

Oniisan – older brother

-chan – children and girls/women

Shinji rare nai – unbelievable

Hontou – really?

Houtteoite – leave me alone

Baka – idiot/fool

Dakara – So?

Shirumon ka – who cares?

Sawarahaide – don't touch

Acchi ni ike – go away!

Mate – wait! (emergency)

Tomare – stop! (emergency)

Lie – no

Ikasete – let me go

Dare ga itta no – who told you?

Hai – yes

Nani – what?

Doroyouni –how?

Zettaini ariemasen – never

Damare – shut up!

Warawanaide – don't laugh

Machigattemasu – you're wrong

Sore wa fukanou desu – it's impossible

The Ivy Rosethorns arc continues! In the next chapter, the crew fights Ivy and her crew in an immense battle. What will happen when Ivy and Mina fight each other? Will revenge win out? Find out on the next chapter of 'Journey of a Black Cat'!!