Chapter 9

By the end of the day, Shifter found she was right about Nami: The redhead had stolen Luffy's ship and sailed away. Luckily, Shifter was able to exercise the friendship she wanted with the Straw Hats right there by offering Zolo, Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku[Johnny and Yosaku, as she learned later, being old friends of Zolo's]passage on her ship to go rescue Nami. Of course, she also learned a little about Zolo during the time she spent with the crew, and she liked his determination. Scarred up from a battle with the Hawkeye Mihawk so that he was practically bleeding to death, he was still determined to follow his captain's orders and save Nami on his way to beating Mihawk one day.

In the end, though, all that mattered was that they were on their way to an island overtaken by the Arlong pirates.

Johnny and Yosaku were all too happy to explain what they were all in for, though they weren't one hundred percent sure themselves. Shifter listened intently to them anyways, until Ichigo distracted them with her devil fruit power[which the two of them thought was the greatest thing in the world].

Shifter turned to Zolo, who'd also kept to himself and didn't get distracted by Ichigo's little sideshow.

"What's your take on this, Mr. Mysterious?" she asked.

He glanced up at her.

"Which part? The part about Arlong or the part about Nami-San?"

"Any of it, really. I just want you to speak a little more."

"Well, I don't really know much about Arlong at all, but I'm not surprised at all about Nami-San betraying us. Capitan-Sama has put too much trust in her, and I can't believe he still does after all this."

Shifter shrugged. "He's not too bright, as far as I can tell, but maybe he has his reasons."

Zolo simply nodded, his eyes wandering away from her.

"You know, your unwillingness to talk reminds me of my own swordsman. Maybe it's just a swordsman trait?"

Zolo smirked slightly. "Maybe."

"Perhaps the two of you will get along swimmingly, since neither of you can get along with anyone else."

He shrugged. "We'll see."

Shifter grinned and hopped over to where Tenshi sat.

"I think you should talk to that Zolo character."

Tenshi glanced up at Shifter quickly, seeming embarrassed.

"N-nani?" she stuttered.

"Zolo-San. He reminds me of you a lot. You both like swords, you know."

"Yeah...?"

"Hai, and he's trying his damndest not to talk to anyone."

Tenshi giggled. "That does sound like me, doesn't it? Gomen..."

"Don't be gomen! It's okay, Tenshi-Chan; you're just shy. We have a little ways to go with him on our ship, so why not make friends? I should be taking care of my son, anyways."

"Oh, Shifter-Sama, I couldn't..."

"Tenshi-Chan, just go talk to him about...swords, or something," Shifter said as she took her son from Tenshi gently.

Tenshi stood, sighing heavily.

"Okay, Shifter-Sama. If you say so."

Within minutes, Tenshi was sitting next to Zolo, the both of them being as quiet as humanly possible. Shifter rolled her eyes, but didn't interfere any further. It was high time Tenshi made some friends of her own, and she needed to do it on her own.

Johnny and Yosaku were at Shifter's side in seconds, much to her surprise, observing Tenshi and Zolo just like Shifter was doing.

"Who's she?" Johnny asked.

"That's Tenshi. She's my crew's swordsman."

"Is she trying to make friends with Zolo-Nii-San?" Yosaku asked.

Shifter nodded. "If only they'd just see how similar they are to each other..." She sighed. "But, unfortunately, Tenshi-Chan is shy."

"So is Zolo-Nii-San," Johnny said. "I don't think they can do it."

Shifter turned to them, a glint in her eye. "Wanna bet?"

By the time they'd arrived at the island[Shifter couldn't remember its name, and didn't much care to], they could really see the Arlong Pirates at work. There were tough-and-scary-looking fishmen everywhere, seemingly guarding the island or talking to each other...or both.

"Geez...looks like we won't make it to Nami-San in one piece..." Shifter remarked.

"Was that a pun, Capitan-Sama?" Ichigo said.

"No, Ichigo-San, but good ear."

"What do you propose we do, Capitan-Sama?" Tenshi asked.

"The only way around these fishmen is through them, and the only way through them is the underhanded way! Am I right, men?" Shifter declared.

Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku, and Ichigo cheered in agreement.

Zolo frowned.

"Why don't we just fight through them? It makes more sense..."

"Have you ever even fought a fishman?" Shifter huffed at him. "No. I've done it before, and even I almost died. Then again...I didn't have my devil fruit ability...perhaps it's a possibility..."

Of course, with this change in loyalty came a price. Soon enough, Shifter, Tenshi, and Zolo ended up tied to the ship as Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku, and Ichigo flew overboard!

Zolo was pissed, so the two girls tried to keep their distance.

"Should've seen this coming," Shifter said. "I knew Usopp-Kun was a coward, and perhaps Johnny-Kun and Yosaku-Kun...but I expected more from Ichigo-San."

"Don't blame Ichigo-San, Capitan-Sama. She panics under pressure. We both know that."

"Well, thanks to her, we're stuck here, so it doesn't matter much whether or not we blame her," Zolo said.

"Hey, Usopp-Kun and your friends had just as much a part in it as - "

Shifter was interrupted when two fishmen boarded their boat.

"What's this?" One of them asked.

"I think their crewmates abandoned 'em."

Shifter chuckled a little, but Zolo remained pissed. Tenshi, caught between the two, did nothing to betray an emotion.

Within minutes, the three were captured. Tenshi, Shifter, and her son were thrown into some kind of prison cell, and Zolo was taken elsewhere. Tenshi was worried.

"Do you think they're going to kill him?" she asked.

"Tenshi-Chan, calm down. I don't think they're going to kill him."

"What are they going to do? You saw the scars from that fight with Mihawk!"

"He's a strong guy, Tenshi-Chan..."

"I don't care! He can still get hurt!"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked him."

Tenshi blushed.

"Shifter-Sama...I just met Zolo-Kun..."

"That doesn't mean anything! Look, you're blushing!"

"Shifter-Sama...!"

"You can't fool me, Tenshi-Chan," Shifter interrupted, holding up her left hand. "I'm married, remember?"

"Oh...yeah..."

"Love at first sight! That's just like me and my husband."

"...Tell me more about him. You never even told me his name."

"Well, alright. If you insist."

Shifter was a marine, on her way to capture the Red Haired Pirates. Her fleet commodore had finally found where they ended up, and he sent her along with a few other marines to apprehend them. Unfortunately, her group was defeated within minutes, leaving her at the mercy of these pirates.

They brought her before the captain, Red Haired Shanks.

Shifter stared defiantly into his eyes, trying not to show how weak she felt under his intense gaze. Shanks looked at her with a fair amount of intensity, but it only lasted a moment.

A grin spread across his stubble-lined face as he looked her over.

"So, the marines finally sent one of their people after me!" he laughed. "I was starting to miss them, actually. I haven't had a good fight in a while. Not that your men put up what I'd call a good fight."

"Shut up, baka!" Shifter snapped. "Those were some good nakama of mine, and you killed them!"

"Hey, calm down," Shanks said. "I didn't kill them. I only knocked them out and sent them back the way they came on their ship."

Shifter quickly unsheathed her sword and pointed it at him.

"Don't feed me that shit! I don't want to hear your excuses, baka!"

Shanks laughed and approached her, seemingly ignoring the sword pointed at him.

"D-don't come any closer! I mean it! You're under arrest!"

But, Shifter couldn't move the sword even an inch as the man kept coming nearer. There was something about him that kept her from wanting to harm him, even though he was a filthy pirate. He placed his hand on the blade, stilling the shaking that Shifter didn't know she'd started, and smiled at her.

"Oh, am I?" he finally responded, cocky.

Shifter raised an eyebrow and backed up a step or two.

"You promise to fight better than your men did?"

"I'll fight better than anyone of your reputation ever could, baka!"

Shanks chuckled.

"Is that so?"

Without warning, he yanked the sword from her grasp, sending her falling backwards. Then, he pointed the blade at her throat.

"Looks like you're under arrest now," he told her with a smirk. "I'm taking you prisoner."

"After that," Shifter said with a shrug, "I'm not really sure what happened. I had to work for the crew for a whole year, and I guess I started realising my feelings for him. Then, I got pregnant with Kei here and I had to start thinking about his future."

"Have you seen Shanks-Sama since?" Tenshi asked, obviously invested in this story.

Shifter shook her head sadly.

"I'm hoping to reunite with him. He told me about this boy he used to know named Monkey D. Luffy-San."

She grinned.

"I'm glad I remembered his description, because I'm sure he knows where Shanks-Kun is."

Kei began to cry, and Shifter frowned at him.

"Oh, no...all this is upsetting him," she worried, rocking him back and forth.

Footsteps approached their cell, and Shifter gasped, trying to shrink back into the shadows.

"Oh, no...I hope they don't try to hurt Kei."

Tenshi shuddered, knowing she couldn't reassure Shifter of any such thing.

Suddenly the footsteps became...lighter?

A cat stepped into the cell, squeezing through the bars.

"Nani?!" Tenshi and Shifter exclaimed, staring at it in bewilderment.

Why would a cat hang out with a bunch of fishmen?

"Kon'nichiwa!" the cat said, grinning real big.

"Nani?!" they cried even louder.

It then proceeded to morph into a short blonde girl. She had grey cat ears and a cat fang hanging out of her mouth. Her long, blonde hair was gathered into two parts, each part banded at the end with a pink bow. She wore a pink lolita dress and pink tennis shoes, and her knee-high socks did not match. She grinned mischievously at Shifter and Tenshi through big teal eyes.

"Kon'nichiwa," she repeated. "I'm here to help you escape!"

"NANIIII?!"