Ch. 10- Blizzard's Struggle

One Piece © Oda

Blizzard © Me

Meanwhile, back with Luffy and the others on the Sunny, the ship was now stuck in a gigantic spider web.

"Well, this is a fine kettle of fish," Sanji grumbled.

Zoro, Robin, and Franky took a look around.

"Looks like that skeleton-guy's ship is stuck, too," said Zoro, spotting Brook's ship tangled in the silky webbing.

Franky looked down and saw that the Mini Merry II was stuck, as well.

"So is the Mini Merry II," Robin said.

"I can't help but feel that maybe the ghosts WANTED us to come to the island," Zoro said under his breath.

He was unaware that Luffy and the others had already disembarked.

"C'mon, Zoro!" Luffy called to the swordsman. "Since we're stuck, we might as well go exploring!"

XXX

Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Robin, and Franky walked down the stairs that Usopp, Nami, and Chopper had used to escape from the moat they were in trapped in earlier.

"Wanna tell me why there are stairs here?" asked Sanji.

"Well, it said 'entrance'," Luffy replied, "so I guess it doesn't matter, does it?"

At that moment, Luffy noticed the skeletons littered along the ground.

"Man, look at all these bones," he said.

Grr…!

Luffy looked down at his stomach and rubbed it gently.

"Man, I'm getting hungry," said Luffy. "My tummy's grumbling, again."

"Something tells me that wasn't your tummy," Zoro said.

He soon realized he was right when something slinked out from the shadows.

It was that same stitched up tiger that Nami, Usopp, and Chopper ran into.

Grr~! The tiger growled menacingly at what he thought was his potential prey. It didn't realize how wrong a choice it was going to make.

"A tiger?" Sanji said, questioningly. "They've got tigers running rampant on this island?"

"It looks kind of cute," said Robin.

"Is he looking for a fight?" asked Franky.

"Pretty brave for a pussycat," Zoro acknowledged.

"Do you think he tastes yummy?" Luffy asked, licking his lips hungrily.

The tiger froze. How could these people not be afraid of him like those other three were?

Did they have a complete lack of fear?

Regardless, the tiger felt challenged.

RAAAAOOOOWWWR~! He roared in their faces.

Zoro prepared to unsheathe his swords.

"Well, I guess I'll-" the swordsman began before his captain cut him off.

"Wait a minute," Luffy said. "I wanna tame him!"

"What?" Zoro questioned. "Are you out of your mind? He's not your everyday housecat! He's a wild animal!"

"Don't be silly," reprimanded Luffy. "Cats are cats."

Grr~! The tiger continued growling at Luffy.

"Okay, kitty," Luffy said, softly before he held out his hand. "Shake paws!"

CHOMP! The tiger lunged at Luffy and bit down on his skull.

"And you just warned him, too," Franky sighed.

Pat, pat. Luffy calmly petted the tiger's muzzle, much to his surprise.

"Okay, okay," he said. "Good kitty. Now let me go."

The tiger slowly released Luffy's head from his jaws.

"That's it," Luffy said. "Good kitty-kitty."

POW! SLAM! Luffy landed a punch on the tiger's face, causing it to collide with the wall.

"BASTARD!" Luffy growled.

The tiger lay unconscious on the ground.

"Down, kitty," said Luffy.

"That idiot," Zoro and Sanji grumbled in unison.

XXX

"I'm surprised he's still alive. It has some pretty nasty-looking wounds."

"This is a weird looking tiger if you ask me."

Luffy chuckled.

"If this tiger is the first of what we're gonna be seeing on this island, then I can't wait to see more!"

The defeated tiger, whom Luffy had affectionately named "Stripes", whimpered as he carried the Straw Hat captain atop his back.

"You're not looking very good, Mr. Stripes," said Robin.

"Don't pity the cat," Zoro retorted. "You're only gonna hurt his pride."

"Nami~!" Sanji called. "Nami, where are you?"

At that moment, Luffy remembered that Blizzard was lost on this island, too.

FWEET! Luffy put his index and middle finger in his mouth, making a high-pitched whistle.

"Blizzard!" he called. "Here, boy! Blizzard! Where are you?"

No answer came.

Luffy sighed, disappointed and worried.

"It's okay, Luffy," Robin said, trying to assure him. "We'll find Blizzard. Don't worry."

"I know, Robin," Luffy said. "It's just that…Blizzard's my very first dog. He's also my best friend. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him."

"Will you relax?" Zoro asked. "You're being such a downer because your dog's lost. Quit pouting."

"Hey!" Luffy retorted. "Blizzard's a very important member of the crew, and don't you forget it!"

With that being said, Luffy remained quiet. However, worry was still toiling deep in the pit of his stomach.

I hope Blizzard's okay, he thought.

XXX

Blizzard was currently fighting off the zombie animals that had ambushed him, but around him, other motionless zombies lay on the ground, defeated. It seemed apparent that even though the wolf-dog was outnumbered, it was the zombies that were outmatched.

A trio of zombie monkeys lunged at Blizzard from behind, but the wolf-dog was too fast for them. He bit in an X-formation with his fangs. We'll call this his X-Fang attack.

The zombie monkeys fell to the ground in a heap, but the moment they did, Blizzard found himself face-to-face with a zombie boar. The boar charged at him, sharp tusks preparing to impale him, but the white wolf-dog just stared viciously at him, unafraid.

Suddenly, THUD! The boar fell to the ground just mere inches before Blizzard's face before it began to foam at the mouth and its eyes rolled into the back of its skull.

Blizzard huffed in annoyance. He didn't have to put a fight with this one.

The next one, however, might give him a bit of a tough time.

A zombie kangaroo attack next, and it was wearing boxing gloves, something that Blizzard didn't find fair. The zombie kangaroo threw punches and kicks at Blizzard, who only managed to dodge a few of them, but he fell prey to the kangaroo's strikes. He tackled the kangaroo in its stomach, forcing it down. He wasn't done there. He grabbed the kangaroo by tail with his jaws and then began to swing him around and around until he threw him towards a tree, causing him to collide with not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE trees at once!

Blizzard looked around at his enemies, looking for the next one that'd be stupid enough to attack him.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Blizzard, and before the wolf-dog could react-

GRAB! Something pulled Blizzard into an airtight embrace. Looking back, or at least trying to since he now found it hard to move, Blizzard saw his attacker.

The creature that was holding Blizzard seemed to be a large, stitched up bear, only he had patches of white-and-blue cloth around his fur. It wore a large cap with the same pattern as the patches, and it appeared too big for its head.

Whatever it was, Blizzard knew it was here to do him harm.

The wolf-dog tried to struggle from the bear's grip, but the bear's embrace grew tighter and tighter. Before Blizzard knew what happened, the air had been squeezed right out of him. He fell limp in the bear's arms.

The bear carried the now unconscious wolf-dog away.