The Wild Child!


"Oww…my head…" Corona groaned as she slowly began to regain consciousness. After being knocked into the river by the rampaging gorilla a few hours ago, the marine recruit found herself at the end of the river bank. She then slowly climbed her out from the shallow water and inspected her new surroundings. "Well this is just perfect. I'm now lost in a jungle filled with wild and ferocious animals. What else could possibly go wrong?" She stared up into the sky and soon shield her eyes from the warm rays of the bright sun hanging over the sky.

"It's morning already? How long have I been unconscious?" She mused to herself while rubbing her chin. After taking a moment to think of some kind of plan to return to her comrades, she soon found herself staring at a campsite across the river. She didn't think much of the campsite until she caught a glimpse of the marine symbol on one of the tents. She quickly rushed across the river and eventually reached the campsite.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Corona called out to no one in particular. After a few seconds of complete silence, Corona took it upon herself to search through the seemingly abandoned campsite. "If I'm lucky, this might be the missing marines' campsite." She started to search through the tent. She only managed to find simple things like sleeping bags, empty food cans, empty water bottles, and dirty pairs of clothing.

"Nothing useful." Corona sighed as she left the tent to search other areas of the campsite. But unlike the tent she searched, everything else looked destroyed and like it had been ransacked. "How come the tent is alright but the rest of the campsite isn't? Perhaps the missing marine moved here recently?" She pondered to herself as she continued to search the area for clues as to where the missing marine had disappeared off to. She soon came to a stop in her search once she heard rustling sounds coming from a nearby bush. Immediately acting on instinct, she reached for her sword but then gasped upon grabbing nothing but air. She then rolled her eyes upon remembering that she had lost her sword when she was attacked by the gorilla earlier.

"Great…just great." Corona sighed before she slowly walked towards the rustling bushes. Once she had finally reached them, she moved the leaves aside and saw a baby gorilla there. "Awww, it's a baby gorilla. Oh look how cute you are. What are you doing out here all by yourself little fella? Where are your parents?" She reached her hand out to comfort the frightened gorilla. The baby gorilla flinched as Corona's hand came closer before it eventually fled from the scene in a panic.

"Hold on a second little guy! Come back here! I'm not going to hurt you!" Corona watched the baby gorilla flee up the forest trail. She continued to follow the trail with her eyes and eventually saw a large tree house at the end of the trail. "A mysterious tree house built at the end of the trail? Yeah, if that doesn't rise up in flags, then I don't know what will." She shook her head and sighed before she decided to search there for the missing marine. After about thirty minutes of walking had past, Corona found herself standing in front of the entrance to the tree house.

"I might as well keep this civil in case someone really is living in here." Corona said before she knocked on the front door a few times. "Hello? Is anyone in here? If so, please answer me!" She waited for about a minute before she knocked on the door again. Upon not receiving an answer from anyone, she took it upon herself to just enter the tree house. The inside of the tree house looked the same like the campsite, ransacked. There were claw marks all over the place, broken shards of glass were scattered across the floor, moss and plants were growing from out the walls and floorboards, and overall, this wasn't the safest place for a person to be. Corona immediately picked up on this and intended to leave the tree house until she heard noises coming from what appeared to be a makeshift tent out of torn and tattered blankets.

Recognizing the sound, Corona mustered up her courage and walked further into the tree house. She carefully paced herself while walking for the floorboards creaked loudly and appeared as if they could snap at any moment. Once she reached the makeshift tent, she brushed the blankets aside to see the baby gorilla she encountered earlier. "Hello there again little fella. Is this your home? Where are your parents?" She sincerely asked the visibly frightened gorilla. "You shouldn't be here little guy. This place isn't…" The female recruit's eyes widened upon hearing a loud creaking sound coming from behind her followed up by chuffing sound. She slowly turned around to see a large tiger standing at the entrance of the tree house, blocking her only escape route.

"Of course a tiger would show up here." Corona mentally slapped herself as she took note of the claw marks all over the tree house again. Now that her escape route was blocked off, she had no other choice but to fight her way out. But without a weapon to protect herself, she was pretty much defenseless against the large tiger now slowly making its way towards her. "Uhh, nice tiger…good tiger. No need to come any closer now. Please go away before I have to get rough with you." She said nervously pleaded with the tiger as it drew closer. She looked over her shoulder and frowned upon seeing the baby gorilla tremble and whimper in complete terror. As the tiger lunged for Corona and the baby gorilla, Corona quickly grabbed the baby gorilla and burst through the wall of the tree house in order to escape. This proved to be short lived though as the tiger immediately gave chase after the two.

"Not good, not good, not good!" Corona repeatedly yelled as she ran off the trail and entered into the thick jungle, hoping that she could find a place to hide from the tiger. Fortunately for her she didn't have to check over her shoulder to know when the tiger was gaining on them, the baby gorilla would constantly cry out to her when the tiger got too closer for comfort, causing her to increase her speed just by a bit. After spending about ten minutes running from the persistent tiger, Corona finally managed to lose it.

"Oh thank god…I'm even more exhausted now thanks to that damn tiger." Corona panted heavily as she placed the baby gorilla down and took a seat on a nearby tree root to catch her breath. After taking the moment to catch her breath, the marine recruit looked around her surroundings and sighed in frustration. Thanks to having to run away from the tiger earlier, she was now even more lost than she was before. The fact that her head wound was beginning to act up again didn't make the situation any better for her. "Ever since that gorilla attacked us the other day things have only been getting worse for me. I sure do hope that Wyatt and Miles are okay." She sighed again as she looked down to the baby gorilla. She reached to pick up the baby gorilla until she was slammed into a nearby tree by an unknown assailant.

"Aghhh…what the hell?" Corona grunted in pain as she brought herself back up to her feet and looked around to see who or what had attacked her. Her eyes widened in horror once she found that she was now all alone, the baby gorilla and the unknown assailant were both nowhere in sight. Before she could piece together what was happening, she was knocked back into the middle of the area. She then groaned in pain and looked around to see who or what was attacking her, but to no avail once again. The only thing she could see was the bushes around the area rustling. Figuring it to be another wild animal, Corona rushed to her feet and tried to escape.

The marine recruit only managed to get a few feet away from the area before she was slammed onto the ground for a third time. Only this time, she was being held down by the unknown assailant. Corona's eyes widened once she got a good luck at the assailant, it wasn't a wild animal, it was a human, a girl to be exact. The girl had light blue eyes and long, unkempt teal hair that dropped down to her lower back. She was currently wearing a black tank top that stops above her naval, torn and tattered black pants that stop at her shins, and black sandals. Corona soon felt a moment of relief upon meeting another person in this jungle, but it immediately went away once the girl slammed her fist on the ground inches away from her face.

"Whoa! Whoa! Easy there! I'm friendly!" Corona cried out as the girl glared at her. Before she could open her mouth to speak again, she found herself suddenly being strangled by the girl. Her eyes widened and ragged gasps escaped from her mouth as she desperately tried to force the girl to release her. As the strangulation continued, Corona began to slowly drift away into a state of unconsciousness. Before she could do so, she was suddenly released from the strangle hold once the tiger that pursued her earlier made a miraculous return.

The girl slowly stood to her feet and glared at the vicious tiger baring its fangs at her. She reacted to the arrival of the tiger by dropping down onto all fours, mimicking the tiger's movements as the two began to circle around each other, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. As those two had their little standoff, Corona crawled away out from danger and took refuge inside of a nearby tree. She then watched in amazement as the girl and the tiger engaged each other in battle, clawing and roaring at each other.

"How is that little girl fighting on par with that tiger? It's like she's a tiger herself!" Corona mused as she took a closer look at the girl. The girl had fangs similar to a tiger's and her nails had grown out and looked razor sharp. "No way, I must be seeing things." She immediately dismissed the strange abnormalities and continued to watch the battle between the girl and the tiger unfold. The two seemed to be equals in her eyes, but she was soon proven wrong once the tiger gained the upper hand by smacking the girl into a nearby tree with its paw. As the tiger closed in on the little girl, Corona began to contemplate on whether or not she should rescue her. Once the tiger lunged for the girl, Corona quickly sprung into action and grabbed the tiger's tail, preventing it from reaching the girl.

"Oh man! Why am I even trying to save you? You nearly killed me earlier!" Corona whined once the tiger slowly turned around and focused its attention on her now. She continued to slowly back away from the approaching tiger until she found herself backed up into a tree. Since she couldn't do left or right, she decided to quickly climb up the tree to escape. "Go away you damn tiger!" She cried once the tiger started climbing the tree as well. She desperately slammed her foot against the tiger's head constantly as it drew closer and closer to her. Once the tiger opened its mouth wide to take a devastating chomp out of her, the girl from earlier dropped down on the tiger's head, thus forcing it to bite down on its own tongue. As the tiger writhed in pain of nearly biting off its own tongue, Corona immediately seized the opportunity and swung her leg outward, landing a quick roundhouse kick against the tiger's face, sending it and the little girl crashing down onto the ground.

"Sorry about that! Are you okay?" Corona jumped down from the tree and rushed over to the little girl to make sure that she was okay. The little girl shook off the damage of the fall and focused her attention back on the tiger. The tiger slowly stood back up to its feet and glared at the two girls standing side by side. Figuring that it couldn't win against them, the tiger slowly turned around and ran off in a random direction. "Phew, thank god that's over." Corona sat down on the ground and sighed in relief, taking the moment to catch her breath. While she was doing that, the girl got down on all fours again and walked over to a nearby bush like a gorilla. She then reached her hands inside and pulled out the baby gorilla that Corona was protecting earlier.

"Oh, so that's where you ran off to huh little guy?" Corona smiled as she saw that the baby gorilla was safe and sound. "Hey, thanks for saving me back there against that tiger. I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't arrived." She thanked the little girl.

The little girl placed the baby gorilla onto her back and then walked over to Corona. She then stared at Corona for a moment before she proceeded to sniffing her. Corona blushed in embarrassment and reacted to the sudden action by pushing the little girl away from her. "W-What do you think you're doing? Why did you smell me all of a sudden?" She yelled. The little girl responded by tilting her head in confusion to Corona's outburst. "Are you even going to speak to me at all? Who are you? What's your name?" She continued to bombard the little girl with multiple questions, completely unaware that the little girl wasn't even paying attention to her. The little girl's attention was preoccupied on Corona's marine hat. As Corona continued to speak, the little girl quickly snatched the hat off her head and then ran off in a random direction.

"Hey! Give me back that hat! It belongs to me!" Corona yelled as she chased after the little girl, desperately trying to get her hat back.


South Blue: Jungle Island; Marine Ship


"What do you mean you lost her?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Jays shouted furiously at Miles and Wyatt as they sat on the deck of the ship on their knees with their heads bowed in shame. "Is this why it took you so long to return to the ship this early in the morning?"

"We were searching the jungle for the missing marine and then we were suddenly attacked by rampaging gorilla." Wyatt said while rubbing the large bump on his head he had received from Jays earlier.

"The gorilla knocked Corona into the river and then she was carried downstream. I wanted to help her but I can't swim and I couldn't leave Wyatt to handle the gorilla all by himself." Miles said while staring down at the gun in his hands. "I shot it...I can't believe I actually shot it...that poor gorilla..." He was visibly upset about ending the life of the gorilla.

"I don't see why you're so upset. Thanks to you shooting that animal, I'm still alive. I'm badly bruised and a few ribs of mine have been broken, but I'm still alive." Wyatt smiled.

"You don't have a right to be upset about shooting a gorilla." Jays said harshly. "You wouldn't have had to shoot one if you had obeyed my direct order for you to stay on the ship."

"Please don't be angry with him. If you should be angry with anyone, it should be me. I brought him on board the ship despite the dangers I knew this mission could bring. And because of me, we're now missing Corona." Wyatt frowned.

"Considering the fact that you were attacked by a gorilla for no apparent reason, what do you think her odds are of surviving out there?" Koga asked.

"Not good." Lucy responded as she turned to leave the room. Her efforts to leave were futile for Jays had stood in front of the exit with her arms firmly crossed under her chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jays asked.

"Back out there into the jungle of course. Corona and our missing marine are out there and we need to continue searching for them." Lucy replied.

"Koga and I will continue to search the jungle for them for a few hours. I want you to stay behind and look after Miles and Wyatt. There's noway they'll be able to handle themselves if they wind up getting attacked again." Jays sighed.

"Yes ma'am." Lucy nodded as watched Jays and Koga head for the door.

"Oh, and make sure to keep an eye on Miles. If he leaves the ship again without my permission, we will abandon this mission and head straight back home." Jays said sternly before leaving the room with Koga.


South Blue: Jungle Island


"Stop fooling around already and give me back my hat damn it!" Corona yelled as she continued to chase the little girl through the thick jungle around her. The little girl proved to be quite agile for the young female recruit. The little girl was jumping from tree to tree, swinging from vine to vine, she was using the environment around her to her advantage in order to get away from Corona. But Corona herself wasn't planning on giving up any time soon. That little girl had a special treasure given to her by her father and she was tired of losing things important to her. That was all the motivation she needed to continue chasing after the little girl despite the huge lead she had on her.

As the little girl leaped from vine to vine, she looked over her shoulder and took a good look at Corona before she released her grip on the vine and flew forward, soon completely vanishing from Corona's line of sight. "Oh no!" Corona's eyes widened upon losing sight of the little girl. She stared straight on ahead and noticed that she couldn't see the path ahead of her due to the large bushes. Despite not knowing what she would encounter on the other side, Corona swallowed away her fear and simply charged through the bushes, quickly coming out from the other side. Upon doing so, she immediately found herself surrounded by a large number of animals of all kinds in some kind of campsite.

"W-Whoa there...nice a-animals...no need to look so feisty and ferocious. I didn't mean to come here so abruptly unannounced." Corona laughed nervously as she slowly raised her arms in the air to signify that she meant no harm to the animals surrounding her. As the animals slowly drew closer to her, she immediately began to search for a way out. She soon came to the conclusion that the only pathway of escape for her was to go back the way she came and hope that the animals wouldn't give chase. Before she could make her desperate attempt of escape, the little girl from earlier dropped down from a tree and landed in front of her, stopping the animals from moving any further. "You again? Where are we? Why did you lead me here? Oh never mind that, just give me back my hat!" She yelled at the little girl.

The little girl simply ignored Corona and began to "chat" amongst the animals surrounding the area. She looked to the gorillas and began to grunt like them, she then looked to the tigers and chuffed like them, she then looked to the birds and chirped like them, and then she looked to the snakes and hissed like them. Upon witnessing this, Corona started to wonder if the blow to the head she suffered earlier was beginning to get worse. Never in her life had she seen someone "talk" to animals like this. This was beginning to look like a Tarzan situation, well if Tarzan and Jane had a child at least.

Though she was confused on what was going on around her, the animals were listening to the little girl. Each time the little girl looked back and pointed to her, the animals slowly began to back away from her before finally dispersing into different areas. After the animals had left the area, the little girl turned around to face Corona and then nudged her head to the side before she took off into a nearby tent. Not wanting to waste any time, Corona rushed onto her feet and then followed the little girl into the tent, not entirely sure what she was going to encounter this time.

"T-Teal? What are you doing here so soon? Where did you get that hat?" Corona stopped in her tracks upon seeing Teal tackle a man onto the ground, hugging him tightly in rejoice. The man appeared to be of average height with short, unkempt black hair and brown eyes. He is currently wearing a torn and tattered white shirt with navy blue pants, and black boots.

"Um, excuse me? Are you Lieutenant Hunter Bradford?" Corona inquired, soon capturing the man's attention.

"Yes, yes, I am." Hunter nodded in response upon hearing his name being called. The Lieutenant soon lightly pushed the little girl off of him so that he could stand to his feet. "Ah, that uniform. You're a recruit from my branch aren't you? I see that Bullock has finally taken the time to send someone to find me after all this time." He smiled upon seeing the recruit.

"I'm sorry for arriving here so late. I only learned about you four days ago from your son, Miles." Corona bowed her head apologetically to her superior officer.

"Miles huh? I see...he must have gone to the base again yelling to the officers on why I hadn't returned yet." Hunter sighed happily while patting the little girl's head as she brushed up against him like a cat. "Though I'm grateful that you've arrived to rescue me, I'm confused as to why Bullock sent recruits. No matter, thank for coming all this way. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all, sir. We're marines, we cannot leave our comrades behind no matter what." Corona smiled.

"Hmph, I wish someone could tell that Commander Heyman. If I weren't so certain that he would kick my ass I would give him a piece of my mind." Hunter sighed as he looked down to the little girl who began to whimper at him. He soon took the hat off her head and tossed it back over to Corona. "I assume that the hat belongs to you. Please forgive Teal for stealing it from you. Once she takes interest in something she can't help but take it."

"Teal? Is that her name?" Corona asked once she caught the hat and placed it back on her head.

"No it's not. But since I don't know her real name, I call her Teal because of her peculiar hair color." Hunter replied. "If she could talk I would ask her what her real name is."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about her. What's a little girl like her doing on an island like this all by herself?" Corona asked.

"I asked her same the question upon meeting her a month ago. But of course she couldn't speak english so I had to ask the animals around the island." Hunter replied. "She's a bit of a wild child to be completely honest. She was raised by the animals here for fourteen years. It's truly a remarkable achievement if I do say so myself."

"I'm sorry, but did you say that you had to ask the animals around the island?" Corona asked.

"Oh I'm sorry if I confused you. There was a reason Bullock requested that I join Commander Heyman on the mission a month ago." Hunter laughed before he pointed to himself using his thumb. "I've eaten the Whisper Whisper Fruit. My devil fruit allows me to "speak" to animals."

Corona stood there for a moment, motionless and silent. It took some time for her to process everything that had just been said to her in that brief moment. This was her second time encountering someone that announced that they were a devil fruit user. To be honest she seemed to be quite on edge thanks to her first experience with a hostile devil fruit user. But she then soon cast aside her uneasiness and approached her superior officer. "A devil fruit that lets you talk to animals? That's so cool! How does it feel talking to animals? What are they saying right now? Or better yet, what is Teal saying?" She bombarded the Lieutenant with multiple questions.

"Umm...it feels great to talk to animals, I don't know what they're saying right now because I'm not near them, and I cannot understand what Teal is saying because she isn't an animal." Hunter answered her questions in order.

"This is so awesome! I had no idea there was a devil fruit that let you talk to animals! I wonder what other kind of devil fruits are..." Corona stopped in mid-sentence once she remembered that she had a mission to complete. "Oh right! I shouldn't be wasting time chatting with you like this! We need to get back to the ship! The others must be worried like crazy!"

"Yeah, I was going to ask you about where the others were." Hunter smiled before he left the tent alongside Teal with Corona soon following.

"They should still searching the island for us. We should really get moving though. Your son is here on the island and the last time I saw him he was being attacked by a gorilla alongside Wyatt." Corona informed the Lieutenant.

"Miles is on the island?" Hunter sharply turned around and frowned upon hearing the news. "What is wrong with you? Why would you bring my son here? Do you understand how dangerous this island is? Especially on how hostile the animals are to other humans!" The animals around the area began to pick up on Hunter's anger and started to slowly approach Corona again.

"Uh-oh...i-it wasn't my fault! I told Miles that he couldn't come with us! But Wyatt snuck him aboard and we were already here once he realized that he was here!" Corona said nervously as the animals got closer.

"Things are only getting worse and worse..." Hunter rubbed his temples and sighed with great frustration before he called the animals off. "Please tell me that Miles and the others aren't near the settlement."

"They're not. The people at the settlement kicked us out once they realized that we were from the 22nd Marine Branch." Corona said.

"That's some good news at least." Hunter sighed again as he turned his back to Corona.

"Why? What's wrong with the settlement? I know that they're all a bunch of assholes but..."

"It isn't safe to be near the settlement anymore. The animals are fed up with humans intruding on their island and destroying it. They're planning on raiding the settlement later on tonight to avenge their fallen comrades." Hunter replied, shocking Corona.

"Raid the settlement? We can't let them do that! We have to go and...and...ohhh..." Corona staggered back a few feet while clutching her head, her vision began to blur. She soon found it hard for her to stand any longer. The head wound that she had suffered finally began to take its toll on her. Before she could say anything else to Hunter, she quickly collapsed onto the ground and faded into complete unconsciousness.


South Blue: Jungle Island; Settlement


"Ah, so the marines from the 67th Marine Branch have finally arrived have they?" Reginald smiled after hearing one of the people inform him of the marines' arrival. He soon put down the book he was reading and headed outside to greet the marines. Once he left the building, his smile grew even wider upon seeing a large group of marines standing outside with swords, rifles, and large steel cages. "Gentlemen, thank you for coming here today. You are all doing us a great service by helping us rid this island of those filthy savages. With your help, this island will be industrialized and the influence of the Burma Kingdom will increase!" All of the people of the settlement cheered and clapped in excitement upon hearing Reginald's "aspiring" words.

"You all will be paid handsomely by our beloved King once this island has been rid of the hostile animals. I know that if any marine branch can complete this mission, it's the marines from the 67th branch." Reginald directed his attention to the male marine standing in front of the large group of marines. "Especially since you're commanding this unit of yours, Commander Kramer." The Marine Commander simply stood still and smiled under his marine cap upon the mention of his own name.


That's the end of the very first chapter in the new year of 2014! I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Without further adieu, here's the preview for the next chapter!

Next time on One Piece: The Fight for Justice!

The Top Branch!

Kramer: We have permission to take down anyone and anything that gets in the way of our mission. How delightful.

Corona: I can't sit here and do nothing while my friends are out there in possible danger!

Hunter: What do you hope to accomplish in your current condition?

Wyatt: You all have no business being on our ship. Please leave before I get violent.

Lucy: We're on your side here!

Koga: Things are escalating too quickly! This chaos cannot be contained!

Jays: So this is the power of the marines from the top branch in South Blue.


Please Review and Enjoy!