So, I don't seem to have any consistency in chapter length. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Warnings: Brief Language

I stood rooted to the spot as Syla let go of me, turned and attacked her partner instead. What. Just. Happened?

Shogun had spun around to dodge the diamond blade and pulled two long, deadly-looking katana from under his loose shirt. He swung them both in a horizontal arc and Syla, who had jumped high into the air, landed again immediately to deflect the cutting slash of air aiming straight toward my head.

Long, thin loops of white chain flew around the small girl and were somehow blocking the blurred flurry of blades as Shogun attacked with a speed that was eerily similar to Zoro's. No wonder the swordsman had a problem getting out of the dojo the other day, even as strong as he was.

Shogun broke through the chain shield and struck with another fierce blow, but the chains had wrapped around Syla's arms and she deflected it, the force of the sudden attack pushing her back several feet. He was immediately on top of her again and I could feel something dark and violent pulsing through the air as I watched the vicious struggle from a few yards down the road.

There's no way he's an ordinary person, I thought numbly. He's too strong for that.

My suspicions were confirmed as Shogun raised his head and I caught a glimpse of graying skin and long, razor-sharp teeth. His entire face seemed to have transformed during the fight. What the hell was he?

The dragon girl sprung from the ground again and swung around in a kind of corkscrew charging maneuver, the chains of her weapons still wrapped around her limbs and torso like armor. "Go!" she yelled over her shoulder and turned back around, pulling the chains loose from her arms before looping them in the air and tightening them around both of Shogun's blades to stop his next assault. "Lumbra!"

I backed away as the giant black wolf I had seen before appeared in the air above Syla like an enormous shadow. Within another second it had solidified into a mass of rippling muscle and fur and fell on top of Shogun, biting and snarling with its hackles raised. The sight was enough to spring me into action and I turned and ran down the road.

The frightening energy exploded very suddenly and the power of the dark waves threw me forward onto the packed dirt. I rolled on impact and scrambled to my feet again without stopping to think about what was going on behind me. Yes, running away was definitely a good idea right now. There was no way I would survive for more than a second if Shogun caught me.

An enraged cry cut through the air but I didn't turn to look. I was too busy running as fast as I could, trying to put as much distance between myself and the two fighters as possible and heading for the ship and the safety of the crew. If I could get to them…

I began to lag a little despite myself, I had never been a very strong runner. I thought fleetingly of Syla, still down the road and fighting off something that clearly wasn't human, just to give me a chance to escape. I thought I probably should have felt a little guilty but was far too occupied with the pounding of my heart to really explore that emotion.

The sounds of angry shouting and the clashing of weapons reached me even from so far down the road and I sped up again. I could still feel the dark, chilling spike of energy that had hit me while I stood on the road before, although it was a little less forceful now. Gradually it began to fade completely, as if it was being wrapped inside a thick blanket. I fought down the urge to glance over my shoulder and kept going instead.

I guessed I was nearly half-way down the long track when I felt a hand grab my arm and I screamed loudly.

"It's me," Syla said, falling into step beside me and taking my wrist in one small hand.

"What the hell?"I shrieked anyway. It wasn't all that comforting to have her running so close to me, not when she had been an enemy up until a few minutes ago and for all I knew still was. "Who's side are you on?"

"Yours," was the short reply.

"But," I faltered, "Zoro said- He said you were the one after me!" I was panting, trying to keep up with the nimble girl as she pulled me along by my wrist.

"Zoro's been wrong before," Syla replied and I could hear a slight, biting edge to her voice. "Think about it. Who told him such a thing to begin with?"

If we hadn't been running for our lives I would have slapped myself in the face. As it was I simply groaned, although it was more from the running than anything. "Shogun."

"Yes," she agreed.

"But I still don't get-"

"Shogun wants to know where the Gems are hidden," Syla explained without waiting for me to finish my sentence. "He told Zoro I was the one after you to throw the swordsman off his trail for awhile. I went to Shogun and offered my help, my reason being that I wanted to use your abilities as well." She grinned, not even out of breath after the fight and the run. "You can about guess who was thrown off at that point."

The road forked and Syla darted to the right, still dragging me along with her. "I apologize for taking you," she continued. "Shogun's original plan was to attack the Straw Hats' ship instead. I managed to convince him a more subtle approach was better." She looked over at me. "One person is easier to guard than an entire ship, don't you think?"

I could see that she had a point, even if I didn't exactly appreciate being kidnapped in the first place. "Why didn't you just tell Zoro?" I wheezed as a sharp pain jabbed at my sides. My legs were burning with the effort of keeping my body moving.

"As if he would have listened to me," Syla scoffed. "You saw his reaction for yourself."

I had to agree it did seem unlikely the stubborn man would have paused long enough to hear another side of the story, not when he seemed to hate Syla so much. I pushed the thought aside for the moment. "What about Chopper?" I asked instead, now nearly breathless. If she had done anything to actually hurt the doctor I wasn't about to forgive her for it, even if she had just saved my life.

"He's alright," Syla answered. 'I might have scared him a bit, though. Sorry about that."

We fell into a kind of tug-of-war between my exhausted feet and Syla's strong grip, and my feet seemed to be winning.

"We need to move faster," Syla urged. "The Lumbra wont hold him for much longer." She pulled me to a stop and moved in front of me, grabbing my legs to hoist my body onto her back.

I wanted to ask what she was talking about but pushed that thought back as well when she took off again so fast I nearly over-balanced. I was reminded of the strength with which she had pulled me from the river and was glad she was on our side. Apparently.

"What's a Lumbra?" I finally managed to ask. The question was more to keep myself distracted from the terrifying thought of a pursuer than genuine curiosity.

"A Shadow Wolf," Syla answered without letting up on her pace. "They come in quite handy, actually. You've seen one before."

"That- thing?" I sputtered. "That's right! You chased me to the river, didn't you?" I had nearly forgotten about that little event in the midst of fleeing for my life. Again. "Why?"

"I was just trying to get you away from Shogun," Syla explained. "I didn't think you would actually fall in." By her dry tone I could tell she was less than impressed with my forest-prowess.

I grumbled a little at that and stayed quiet for the rest of the trip, trying not to pull on her ridiculously long hair as I held on to her shoulders.

The distance we had already traveled was a welcoming realization and I recognized that we had to be nearly to the shore by now. Still, it was slightly uncomfortable. The speed of Syla's movements was nearly frightening and she was too small to really feel safe holding on to, but the power in her grip was reassurance enough for me to know I wouldn't fall. She skirted the edge of the town and hopped down a few short drops in the rocks, never breaking stride.

We were now in sight of the docks and Syla slowed to let me down, pulling me along the wood to the very edge. I was surprised to see the Sunny had been turned around and was sitting with the lion figure head pointing out toward open water, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Maybe they were still looking for me then, if they hadn't left yet.

I stumbled along behind Syla and heard the angry shouts of the crew from the aft deck as they ran to the railing.

"Renna!" Nami exclaimed. She appeared first with Chopper and Franky beside her and I was relieved to see that Syla had been telling the truth about the reindeer. Brook followed them with an air of caution as Robin's bright gaze pierced us even at such a distance from where she stood beside Ussop.

"Mermaid!" Luffy appeared next as he shouted down to the docks. "Where'd you go? We were looking for you!"

Sanji was standing beside his captain and snarling, although I couldn't make heads or tails of the words.

"Why is that woman with you?" Nami demanded. She turned her eyes to Syla. "What did you do?

"Hand her over!" Ussop scowled. He was reaching a hand into his red side-bag.

Before any real threats could be made however, the dragon girl shoved me forward and addressed Luffy. "Straw Hat! Take her, quickly!"

Luffy, now standing with one foot on the railing as if preparing to spring from the ship, didn't bother to ask any questions as he stretched out one arm in a lightning fast move and grabbed me carefully around the waist, yanking me high into the air toward the deck. I had the awful feeling of being airborne before plowing into the captain with bruising force and a short scream. That was definitely going to leave a mark. Thank the stars for Luffy's rubbery skin or I probably would have broken something.

As we both clambered to our feet I heard a blood-chilling roar of rage from the heart of the small island and I ran to the railing to scan the shore, catching a movement out of the corner of my eye as I did so. I immediately turned my attention back to the docks.

Syla had fallen to one knee on the wood planks, her left hand clamped over the right arm of her jacket in pain. "Go!" she shouted. "He's breaking free!"

"Who is?" Nami demanded. She, along with the rest of the crew, was still glaring at Syla with distrust. I couldn't say I blamed them but there wasn't a lot of time to explain everything that had just happened.

"It's Shogun," I said frantically. I looked at Luffy as he appeared beside me. "It was always Shogun. He told her to kill me but she attacked him instead."

There was a rustling through the crew like wind through leaves. They were obviously weighing the truth of this statement, trying to decide if they should fight the dragon girl or make a run for it. A second roar shook the trees and sent flocks of birds flying into the sky with loud, startled squawks.

"What are you doing, Straw Hat?" Syla yelled angrily. I could hear the pain in her voice all the way from the deck of the Sunny. "Get them out of here!"

Zoro had moved to the railing to stand on the other side of Luffy. "What about you?" he shouted back. His jaw was clenched and one hand gripped the hilt of his white katana in an almost nervous gesture. It was the first thing I had heard him say since I had arrived on the docks with Syla, and his word surprised me.

The dragon girl forced a smile. "I'll hold him off. Just get as far away from here as you can, Zoro." Her tone had lost it's edge by only a degree or two, but it was enough.

The truth of every one of Syla's actions up to this point hit me all at once with the force of a thunderbolt. It had never been me she was trying to protect.

I made a split-second decision. One that I knew I could possibly regret later but at the moment seemed so very important. "Syla! Come with us!" I yelled as I leaned over the railing. "You can't stay here! He'll kill you!" I whipped around to plead with the captain. "Luffy, please! Don't let her die!"

Luffy didn't answer. He was staring down at the girl on the docks, the brim of his hat shadowing his expression.

"Chopper," I turned my head to seek out the doctor. He was standing in his gorilla-like form at the other end of the railing and looked over at my shout. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"This might not be the best time-" Ussop started in a little hesitantly, his voice tense with pre-fight adrenaline and a hint of fear.

"Are you?" I urged the doctor to respond, ignoring Ussop and the others as they stared at me with wary, thoughtful expressions.

Chopper seemed to consider the question for a moment. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "The thing that came out of the bay was made of water, but it had a pocket of air on the inside of it." He was studying me with a good amount of concern. "Why do you ask?"

I waved the inquiry away impatiently. "Then what happened?" My words were rushed. I had absolutely no desire to be caught by the beast that was Shogun, but I didn't think we could just leave Syla to die, either. She might be the descendant of dragons but she was no match for whatever was living inside the supposed old man.

"It just held on for awhile and spat me back out onto the ship," the doctor replied, still looking unsure of my reasons behind the sudden interrogation regarding his health.

"Don't you think that's a little odd for a Sea King?" I asked as I struggled to remain somewhat calm. I didn't wait for Chopper to answer before pressing on. "It was her. She took you as a distraction to get everyone else out of the area and away from Shogun, but never intended to hurt you. Then she saved me from the bastard, as well. Don't you see?" I saw the look of dawning realization on the doctor's furry face and, satisfied, turned back to the captain. "Luffy, she isn't bad. We can't just leave her, she'll die."

"Get the hell out of here!" Syla snapped, teeth bared. She was still holding her right arm tightly. "Shogun is practically a god, even in the New World! You can't fight him, Haeven!"

"I'm not trying to!" I yelled back at her, leaning over the railing again. "And you had better not, either!" I turned back to Luffy again. "She isn't bad," I insisted. "I know she isn't." I could see Zoro standing on the other side of the captain, his expression unreadable as he stared down at Syla with his one good eye. I knew he didn't trust her, but I also had the strong feeling something was missing from his story. Something vital.

"Renna," Nami said uncertainly. "You can't seriously ask us to save an enemy."

I shot a quick glance at the navigator. "But she-"

"It's fine," Luffy interrupted. "She can come with us."

I looked at him again and was reminded in an instant exactly why he was the captain. Gone was the goofy, care-free boy with the silly smile. In his place was a young man with eyes older than they really ought to be and an unbreakable conviction in his beliefs. The beliefs in himself, and the beliefs in his crew.

"She can come with us," Luffy repeated. "After we beat Shogun."