Ch. 8- Attack of the Yonubi


One Piece © Oda

Blizzard and the Yonubi © Me


Quick author's note: This chapter introduces the Yonubi, a fan creature I made up for the story. It's based off the nine-tailed fox of Japanese folklore, only it has four tails instead of nine.

Enjoy!


About 10 minutes later, Luffy was digging in to some roasted scorpion, accompanied by the bird. Nami, however, wasn't really all that hungry. She was too busy drying her wet clothes and changing into some new ones. Her hair was done up in pigtails and her new outfit seemed rather revealing.

"So, Luffy," Nami called as she turned to him. "How do I look?"

Luffy turned to face Nami, but nearly choked on the scorpion meat he was eating. The colors on Nami's shirt seemed to bring out her hair even more, and that's why he almost choked.

She looked drop-dead gorgeous.

"Uh…I…err…" Luffy mumbled, trying to get out the words that were now trapped in his throat.

"Aww…" Nami cooed. "You're at a loss for words."

She sat down on in between Luffy and the bird, warming herself up in front of the bonfire.

"So where are the others?" she asked Luffy.

"I dunno," Luffy answered as he took another bite of his scorpion meat. "This place is so huge. I haven't run into anybody, yet. Anyway, let's have lunch! This scorpion meat is outta this world! Right, Billy?"

The bird let out a squawk in agreement.

"No thanks, Luffy," Nami said. "I'm not all that…wait…who's Billy?"

"The bird," answered Luffy. "I gave him the name because his feather's tickle."

Luffy pulled on the newly christened Billy's cheek.

KRRZZZZT! Billy gave Luffy a small shock, but due to his rubber skin, it didn't bother him.

"Oh, yeah," Nami said in realization. "You're immune to electricity."

Luffy handed Nami a scorpion leg.

"Here, have some," said Luffy.

"Luffy, I said I'm not really…" Nami was about to argue that she didn't want any, but how could she say to that sweet face of Luffy's? Heaving a sigh of defeat, Nami tore off a piece of meat and started to eat it.

"Anyway," Nami started, "since we found the Sunny, what should we do, now? Should we wait for the others or should we go find them, ourselves?"

"Let's go find them," said Luffy, "but wait till I finish lunch, first."

"Sure," Nami said.

Grrrrrrr…! A low growl suddenly sounded off, causing Luffy, Nami, and Billy to go alert.

"What was that?" Nami asked, clutching Luffy's arm.

"That's not my tummy, if that's what you're thinking," said Luffy.

Billy backed away, rather fearfully, shaking in his feathers.

At that moment, Luffy spotted a large, shadowy figure behind the trees. It was much too big to be Blizzard, that much he was sure of, but it had the large frame of a canine.

The creature stepped out of the shadows, revealing itself to be a giant, 8-foot-tall fox, four lashing tails that were at least 15 feet long, and glowing red eyes.

Nami gasped, her grip on Luffy's arm tightening, while Luffy just stared back at the beast with glaring eyes. This creature was obviously frightening his navigator, and needless to say, he was none too thrilled about it.

The fox growled, a mouth full of fangs exposed, jaws dripping with drool. It licked its chops hungrily, not at the Straw Hats, not at Billy, but the roasted scorpion that Luffy was feasting on. Luffy, however, seemed to notice this.

Normally, the Straw Hat captain wouldn't give up his meal without a fight, but seeing as how Nami was here, he couldn't risk her safety. Slowly standing up and gesturing Nami to do the same, Luffy began to lead his navigator away.

"It just wants the scorpion," he told her. "Let's just give it what it wants, get on the ship, and wait for it to go away."

Nami nodded. For someone who usually thinks with his stomach, what Luffy said made a lot of sense.

As the two turned to leave, the fox prepared to eat some of the scorpion meat that was left behind. Just then, an unfamiliar scent came to its nose.

It was the sweet scent of tangerines.

It looked up, tracing the source of the smell to Nami. It licked its chops hungrily, again.

It preferred its food to be alive, anyway.

The fox charged, prepared to pounce on Nami. However, at the last second, Luffy spotted it, and pushed Nami down to the ground.

"LOOK OUT!" he cried.

The fox ended up jumping over the two, but it wasn't prepared to give up, just yet. The beast charged, again, but Luffy was already one step ahead of it.

"Grab on to me, Nami!" Luffy demanded.

Nami nodded her head and grabbed onto Luffy, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

WROING! Luffy stretched his arms and grabbed onto the Sunny's railing.

"Gum Gum…ROCKET!"

WOOSH! Luffy propelled himself and Nami onboard the ship, just as the fox lunged at them again.

That did it. Luffy had had just about enough. No one, absolutely NO ONE, dared to attempt harm on his navigator, like that and get away with it.

Now it was personal.

"You stay here," Luffy told Nami. "I've got a bone to pick with him."

"Luffy, wait!" Nami said, trying to stop her captain.

"Billy!" Luffy called to the bird. "You stay here and watch Nami for me!"

Billy quacked and raised his wing in a salute, showing that he understood.

With that, Luffy jumped off the ship, preparing to face off with the monstrous fox.

Nami and Billy could only watch.

"Hey!" Luffy called. "Over here, you fleabag!"

The fox turned to Luffy, growling.

"You'd make a pretty good scarf for a stuffy old lady!" shouted Luffy, mockingly.

The fox growled, angrily before it charged at Luffy, who smirked as he stretched out his leg.

"Gum Gum…WHIP!" he cried.

BAM! Luffy's foot hit the fox right in the jaw and sent it flying to the side. The beast stood up, shaking its head to relieve itself of disorientation, before it charged at Luffy, again. This time, Luffy jumped over it, high into the air.

"Gum Gum…STAMP!" he cried as he stretched his foot down.

POW! The sole of Luffy's foot stamped itself into the fox's skull.

He wasn't done there. Luffy stretched his arms out, once again, grabbing the fox's ears.

"And a Gum-Gum…MISSILE!"

BANG! Luffy plummeted toward the fox, bashing his skull into its back and creating a huge cloud of dust.

Nami and Billy gasp silently, watching with anticipation.

As the dust cleared, it revealed Luffy, standing on top of the seemingly defeated fox, laughing triumphantly.

"I won!" he declared.

Nami heaved a sigh of relief. She had to remind herself that Luffy wouldn't go down, so easily.

As Luffy stepped off of the fox's body, he didn't notice that one of its eyes were opening.

Nami, on the hand, did notice.

"LUFFY, BEHIND YOU!" she shouted.

The moment Luffy turned around, he was quickly caught off-guard and was blindsided by the fox's four tails. The rubber-man was sent rolling to the side and crashed into a nearby tree.

"Luffy!" Nami cried. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," he answered her. "I'm made of rubber, after-"

Luffy couldn't finish his sentence, for he suddenly got the wind knocked out of him when the fox stamped one of its front paws into his chest, pinning him against the tree. The beast licked its chops, hungrily, a waterfall of saliva cascading from its maw. It was no longer interested in eating Nami. The scent of meat that Luffy gave off made him even more appetizing.

Just as the fox prepared to bite down on Luffy's skull…

AAROOOOOOOOOO~! A long howl sounded off, getting the fox's attention.

KAPOW! A white blur jumped out of nowhere and hit the fox in the jaw, sending it flying across the clearing and causing its to become stuck in a hollow tree.

Luffy, who was just sitting up to catch his breath, he saw that it was Blizzard, come to the rescue!

"Blizzard!" Luffy cried as he got and ran to hug his dog, who wagged his tail and whimpered happily. "I'm so glad you're okay, buddy."

Blizzard licked Luffy's face, making him chuckle. However, he knew that now wasn't the time to enjoy a reunion. There was still that fox to deal with, after all.

As the fox struggled to get its head free, Luffy suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, buddy," Luffy called to Blizzard. "You wanna have some fun?"

RUFF! Blizzard barked, as if to say, "Hell, yeah!"

By this time, the fox finally managed to free its head from the tree. The moment it did, a short whistle reached its ears.

"Hey, Foxy!" Luffy called. "Over here! Kiss my rubber ass!"

SMACK! SMACK! Luffy turned to the fox and slapped his butt.

Now he had done it. The fox was now completely infuriated by Luffy's teasing gesture and charged like a bat out of hell.

Luffy turned to face the fox, a sly grin on his face, before he stretched his arms back.

"Gum…Gum…" he started.

Behind Luffy, Blizzard was poised to attack just as Luffy grabbed the wolf-dog by the scruff of his neck.

"WHITE ARROW!" shouted Luffy.

WOOSH! Luffy threw Blizzard over himself, straight at the fox, like knocking an arrow from the bow. Blizzard spun like a top, executing his Twister Fang attack.

By the time the fox realized that he had fallen right into their trap, it was too late. Blizzard made impact, right into its white underbelly, sending it crashing into the trees behind it.

There was a pause. Luffy, Blizzard, Nami, and Billy watched, anticipating the outcome.

Suddenly, the fox jumped up and ran off, yowling in defeat.

Winners: Luffy and Blizzard.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. "We did it! YAHOO~!"

ARROOOOOOO~! Blizzard let out a victorious howl, and Luffy joined not long after.

"Good job, boys!" Nami praised as she and Billy hopped off the ship. "You really showed that fox what for!"

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed, his hands on his hips. "No one messes with the Straw Hat Pirates. Right, Blizzard?"

ARF! Blizzard barked in agreement.

Luffy reached into his pocket and held out a cookie, but not just any cookie: a peanut butter cookie.

"Here you go, Blizzard," said Luffy. "I saved it just for you."

Blizzard gratefully took the treat, munching and chomping on it before swallowing and licking his lips to sweep up any remaining crumbs.

"Okay," said Nami. "Now that that's taken care of, we should probably before that fox decides to come back…with friends."

Billy nodded his head.

"Right," Luffy said. "But before we go…fighting that fox made me hungry, again. Can I just finish the scorpion, first?"

"No, Luffy, you idiot!" Nami snapped. "We're leaving!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

"Okay! We'll go! Man, you're scary."

And so, after putting out the bonfire and surveying the area for any animals that may come out to ambush them, Luffy, Nami, and Blizzard hitched a ride on Billy and took flight, headed off to find the rest of the crew.


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