Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of the shows, books, animes, mangas or... is there anything left? Whatever... I don't own any of them. All I own is my OC and... nope that's it.
~ Chapter 20 ~
It was too dark and I couldn't see a thing. But as my eyes adjusted, I could detect a giant dark mass at the end of the cave. My heart was beating madly in my chest, threatening to break free any second. Since I was in an anime-world, I was honestly afraid of it happening too. Suddenly, a blast of musty air hit my face and I quickly scrambled back behind the wall with a squeak.
'What the heck was that?'
Fighting against every survival instinct in my body to run, I peeked again. This time, I could detect the sound of someone breathing. It wasn't human, that I could tell. It wasn't normal sized either. Now that I'd noticed it, I realized the sound of the breathing was filling the entire cave. It was deep, old and somehow… peaceful? I couldn't tell why I suddenly found my fear almost halved as I listened to the deep breathing of the creature that was hidden from my view.
I took a deep breath. 'This ain't exactly the first craziest thing you've done, is it?' I assured myself as I took out the Koden. From it, I pulled out HP3 since I knew exactly where the spell I wanted was in that book. Stuffing the Koden back inside my jacket, I opened HP3 to the page I wanted and brought it slightly above my head and came out of my hiding place, facing the creature that was hidden in the dark.
"Lumos."
Instantly, a white light shone out from the book, casting its brightness to all corners of the cave. And there it sat, a creature of legends even for this world. In front of me was a 50 foot long, 20 foot high creature covered in green feathers and with a reptile like face for which the only word I could come up with was…
"Dragon." I whispered out.
My knees gave away and fell on the ground, but I didn't take my eyes off of what was in front of me. Its eyes were closed and it had a white beard on his elongated reptile-like face. "Old." Apparently my brain had decided that one word responses to the situation at hand was more than enough.
I looked at it. 'It looks peaceful enough.' I thought, but I didn't drop my guard. Suddenly it opened its eyes and looked straight at me. My eyes widened at this sudden situation, but I kept my ground. I didn't exactly have the opening to run either since I was still on the floor with wobbly knees.
Though I couldn't actually understand it per say, glaring at someone who's suddenly invaded one's personal space is a pretty universal message: Who the hell are you?
"Lyra." I quickly introduced myself. Suddenly my head was filled with an image of a young face with a soft smile and kindness in her eyes. She's putting flowers around it and over its head in a crown. She's playing with it. She looked so tiny. I felt its fear for her safety.
"Apis?" I asked, surprised. I heard a low rumbling which I took for a yes. "She's fine." I answered, my brain reverting back to complete sentences, "She's safe." My words came out in a rush.
Now that I was over the initial shock, I got up, my eyes filled with complete wonder this time. "You're a Sennenryu." I breathed out, unbelievingly. "You're huge." My voice was barely a whisper,, "Majestic. You're from a world of myths." I got closer as I got a bit braver, all the while taking the sight in like a blind man who could see for the first time. In front of me was an actual, living, breathing dragon!
As I got closer, I noticed its green feathers were somehow wilted, its face filled with wrinkles, its beard snow white. "You're not old," I said, crouching in front of the dragon's face resting on the ground. "You're ancient." The dragon's eyes gave me its answer. They were filled with things it'd seen and experienced, from the years it'd lived.
The dragon looked at me and I felt his gaze piercing into my very soul. I felt like it was searching for something. For a long time, like this, it held my gaze and didn't blink. I didn't look away either. After who knows how long, he closed his eyes, releasing me from his psychological spell. Breathing out, I sat down on the spot where I'd been crouching. Tentatively, I held my hand stretched out in front of me, my palm facing it, only a few inches away from its snout. As I worried over whether or not I should close the distance, the dragon took the decision for me. It brought its head forward to let me touch it, and closed its eyes.
I felt like I was touching one of the oldest books there ever was. I couldn't read the contents, but I was filled with ecstasy at just being able to touch it. I realized living beings were the story books I couldn't hear. They were the books I actually had to live with and understand its deepest meanings. They were the books who I could not read unless they opened up to me, opened up their emotions. I couldn't read the stories within them, they had to tell them to me.
Feeling at one with a creature whom I could not understand, I felt old without knowing why. I felt its age, but could not see what it went through. I felt its life, but could not see what it experienced. I felt the story but couldn't read the book. Not without the book's permission anyway; I remembered how I was able to read Apis off of the dragon's thoughts and realized that it was because he was thinking about her and wondering where she was, and thinking about the times he'd spent with her unconsciously. It was those unconscious stories that I'd seen, dimly might I add. It was the emotions accompanied with it that helped the images reach me.
'I have mind reading powers?' I asked myself as I still observed the dragon in front of me. I wondered if the dragon could fly. I looked back at it and asked the same. The dragon again made a deep rumbling noise from the base of its throat which I again took to be a yes. Since I'd guessed the answer, I took the mind reading thing to be a no.
My hand slid from its snout to rubbing under its jaw, the beard tickling my hand. "What're you doing here?" I asked, almost whispering the words, "All alone." The dragon looked back at me, its eyes again holding my gaze. My brain was suddenly receiving images of green birds flying in the sky. 'Wait, those aren't birds.'
"There're more of you." I realized. I wasn't mind reading, instead was receiving images of those memories that was most dear to it; in a way, the stories in its life that the dragon held close to its heart. I don't think it could have worked if it'd remembered some random building it'd seen in flight or some random conversation it'd had in the past; the memory needed to have a very emotional link to its personality if I had to access it and its permission to do the same. Somewhere in my head, I realized why I could see the images of Daddy's recounted tale.
As I sat there, drinking the ancient feel that was coming off of it, I heard a noise from behind me that was definitely inside the cave. I quickly muttered "Nox." and dove off into a dark corner. I stuck close to the wall beside the giant Sennenryu and kept my eyes peeled for the intruder.
My eyes had adjusted to the light from my book and so I couldn't even make out the silhouette of the intruder, but I could hear the footsteps. I became still as the footsteps grew closer stopping just a few feet away from me. I stood hidden with my guards up, ready to defend myself and the dragon at a moment's notice.
"Hey Ryuuji! I thought I saw a light here…"
The familiar voice threw me off a bit though.
The dragon beside me raised its head slightly. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness a bit and I saw the tiny silhouette of the intruder who was wearing a particularly pointy hat. "Here! Look what I brought for you! Bokuden jii-chan's butaman! I know you love them!" After a pause, "I'm fine! I was taken by the Marines but I was saved by a weird group of pirates…" 'What about me?' Another pause.
"… what?"
Figuring the time was right, I stepped out, "You know, they weren't all pirates."
"Who's there?" The girl yelled.
"Lumos." I shined the light both on Apis's frightened face and my curious one. "What're you doing here?"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Apis yelled in reply, her voice dripping with fear and courage at the same time. The echoing walls amplified her shriek, making me wince.
Before I could form any sort of reply, her head snapped in the direction of the dragon who'd eaten a basket filled with something that she'd brought in one go. "Don't gobble it all at once!" Apis whined as dragon let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a burp! I couldn't help but snigger at the sight; an ancient dragon was acting like an indulgent child and a young girl was acting like the livid mother.
"Yo Apis! Lyra!" Luffy yelled happily as he came around the corner.
"Hey!" I replied, surprised at his appearance. "Whatcha doing here?"
"NO! Stay away from him!" Apis yelled. But Luffy'd already seen the dragon. He froze on the spot. I was looking at his reaction when I heard a scream which echoed through the cave and blew my head off. I looked at Nami behind him who was looking at the giant creature in horror. Apis was standing with her hands thrown in protection against us.
"What're you doing?" I asked, "Do you honestly think you or the one behind you should even fear us? It's at least fifty times bigger than you and clearly doesn't need protection from a bunch of ants like us! I doubt we'll even be a bother."
"COOL! COOL! THIS IS SO COOOOOOL!" Luffy yelled as he ran towards it. He climbed all over the poor thing basically running across it as he yelled the same words over and over again like some sort of mantra.
I looked at Luffy's antics with a sort of horrified expression and then turned to Apis and bowed in apology, "I stand corrected." As she tried to desperately pull of a Luffy who was nuzzling against the dragon's head, Nami whispered from behind me, "Luffy… stop… that!"
I laughed from amusement and tried to calm her, "It's alright! He won't hurt us!"
"It's a dragon!" She whispered back with more force, as if I didn't already realize that. "They don't exist. They're not supposed to exist!"
"Apparently they do!" I said, pointing dramatically with both hands towards the topic at hand who was still being hugged by Luffy. I turned back towards the ancient creature and murmured loud enough for Nami to catch my words, "The Sennenryu aren't a legend," I said with an ear to ear grin plastered on my face, "They're real."
I went closer as Luffy asked in excitement, "You're so awesome! Where're you from?!" The dragon opened his eyes and looked at Luffy with that ancient gaze that had managed to capture me. I looked as Luffy's expression faded from excitement to surprise and then to understanding. I was about to ask what was wrong when Luffy addressed the dragon with a voice filled with compassion, "I see… You want to get back to your home."
"You can understand him?" I asked, surprised at the development.
"More or less." Luffy answered.
"Mm." Apis suddenly hummed out of the blue. "Ryuuji says it's okay to be friends with you." She turned to us and said. "He knows you both are good people."
"Me too?" I asked the dragon as Luffy just smiled. "Ryuuji. Is that his name?" I asked as I crouched down beside him.
"How can you understand him?" Apis asked Luffy, ignoring me.
"Just somehow." Luffy replied in a deadpan as he got up.
"What do you mean 'somehow'? How?"
"You can understand him too, can't you?" I asked her, voicing my doubt.
"Well… That's actually…"
"Could it be?" Nami came forward and asked. "Are you a Devil's Fruit User?"
Apis looked at Nami surprised, having noticed her only then. "Mm. I ate the Hiso Hiso no Mi and I can now understand the heart of every animal." I think 'hiso' means 'whisper'.
"It's thanks to the Devil's Fruit that I met Ryuuji." She told us with a soft smile etched on her face. In my head, as she narrated how she came across the dragon, none of the images were clear but the emotions were high definition. I could feel how surprised Apis felt when she heard a lone voice filled with sadness, when she decided to find the source having been a kind child filled with sympathy, how happy she'd been since then till now for having had Ryuuji and having been able to be there for him.
Slowly though, her narration took a sad turn. "Ryuuji lost all of his strength over the years and also his nakama. He's been searching all alone for the Dragon's Nest that's on the Lost Island." She said as she stroked her friend.
"Lost Island?" I asked in surprise. "Didn't that place sink thousands of years ago?" Nami finished for me.
Apis shrugged, "Ryuuji says it'll resurface again soon. He says 'It's time' but he doesn't remember where it is anymore." Her voice took a desperate tone, "He lost all his strength and he can't fly but still he keeps saying he just wants to go home. I want to help so badly but I can't do anything."
Feeling for her, I held her hand from where I was sitting. She smiled at the gesture and continued, "There aren't any clues in that old legend and so I asked some of the Marines who were passing by about it." My grip on her hands tightened as I guessed the rest. "It was a big mistake; they were looking for the Ryuukotsu."
"The bones of the Sennenryu that grant eternal youth." I stated quietly to myself.
"Mm," Apis agreed on hearing me, "They said I had to tell them everything I know. When I denied knowing anything they didn't believe me, probably because of this claw pendant that Ryuuji gave me." She held out the pendent of a white claw that was around her neck. I realized that that was what she holding on to and praying when we were making our escape from the Marine ships three days ago.
"The Marines are supposed to help people, to uphold the law." I muttered, seething. "Kidnapping young children… Is that what's called 'law' these days?" I asked to no one in particular.
"It's too dangerous to do alone Apis." Nami slightly chided.
"I know it's dangerous. That's why I haven't said anything to Bokuden jii-chan or the villagers. I don't want them to be in danger either." I quietly marveled at her maturity and compassionate mind. You don't get to see that these days even in an adult, let alone a child.
"I want to get Ryuuji back to his birthplace no matter what." Apis began to talk to the dragon rather than us, "You always say that right, that you'll get your strength back if you can reach the Dragon's nest? No matter what happens, I'll find that place." Her voice was filled with determination. "I'll find that place and take you there. I promise. I'll find it… for you."
We sat there in the silence of her promise, the wish to help Ryuuji filling all our hearts. The ancient dragon nuzzled into his friend's hands; no doubt thanking her for the hope she was giving him. I sat there, wondering what I could do to help Ryuuji. As I made plans for hitting a library on the island for ancient texts on the Lost Island, if there were any, a certain straw hated boy proved my plans to be for naught.
"Yosh! Then I'll take you there!"
Apis turned and looked at Luffy in shock as I simply laughed heartily. "Typical." I managed to put out in between my laughs. "Weren't you listening?" Nami asked, skeptical. "The Lost Island is supposed to be at the bottom of the sea."
"And the Sennenryu aren't supposed to exist!" I grinned and replied, "Besides, Ryuuji says it's going to resurface again."
"The island isn't on any map." Nami pointed out.
"And that's where we're going!" Luffy declared, her words falling on deaf ears. I sniggered as Nami sighed and conceded with a smile, "Guess there's no helping it. Let's do it!" She snapped her fingers and grinned.
"Really?" Apis asked incredulously, her voice filled with hope, "Do you really mean it?"
"Yup!"
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Now that that's decided," Luffy exclaimed, "Give me some more hugs!" He happily went to Ryuuji with outstretched arms. I was sitting right beside Ryuuji's head this whole time and laughed as Luffy came closer.
"Wait… Luffy!" Apis protested. She protested too late.
Ryuuji suddenly got his mouth wide open and Luffy ended up falling inside his mouth. Before any of us could get him out, the dragon snapped his mouth shut, trapping the upper half of the rubber boy inside.
"Eek!" I scrambled back a little and squeaked out in shock as Nami and I looked at Luffy's flailing legs.
"I forgot to tell you…" Apis said, her hands on her hip, again bringing the image of a mother in my head. She appeared a little sheepish. "Ryuuji is a bit senile."
"Huh?" I asked in a high-pitch voice, still bewildered at the situation.
"Alle? ALLEEEE?!" Luffy shouted in surprise as he tried to pull himself out of the dragon's death-grip. Since his hands were also inside Ryuuji's jaws, what he ended up doing was flailing his legs a bit more. He twisted them around, getting a footing on the dragon's upper jaw and tried to pull himself out again. Suddenly he went limp.
"Luffy?" Nami called out uncertainly. Thankfully, he was still alive.
"Look, a butaman!"
That did it for me and I rolled on the flooring, laughing, my eyes spouting tear fountains as I heard Apis and Nami begin to snigger as well, Nami with her head in her hands in exasperation.
Then we heard a noisy gulp.
I was reduced to peals of laughter and guffaws as Nami and Apis screamed, "DON'T EAT IT!"
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A\N: It's another beautiful weekend and its time to treat you guys to a new chapter! Woohoohoo!
This will be the chapter size I'll try and maintain from now on. I hope I'll be able to do it *looks off into the sunset with a hopeful expression* I'll do my best.
How was this chapter? Do tell me! Don't forget to review, fav and follow! xoxoxo
Traveler wants to fly.