27. Treasures
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard © Me
Treasure…
The word has two meanings in this world.
To some, treasure is a materialistic value. Gold, silver, jewels, the like. That's what most pirates here in the Grand Line seek when they search for the legendary treasure of Gold Roger: the One Piece.
To others, like Luffy and the rest of us, treasure is one's crew and what one holds dear.
To Luffy, his greatest treasure is that raggedy old straw hat that rests upon that mop of jet black hair of his.
To me, my greatest treasure is the silver skull-and-bones chain that is clasped around my neck.
This chain is a reminder of my Master and the promise I made to him after he died. It was there not just to let people see that I was a pirate, but to help me remember one of my greatest friends.
And if anybody I don't trust so much as touches it…well…they should consider themselves dead.
XXX
Nami sent me into this town to go get supplies for her. She obviously really trusts me if she thinks I can handle her money. I'm surprised she doesn't ask me to give her interest, considering I'm a dog.
As I walked down this one empty street, I suddenly felt like I may've taken a wrong turn.
I knew I should've turned right at that beauty parlor. Damn it, I'm starting to turn into Zoro!
As I prepared to turn back, I suddenly got tackled to the ground.
"Hold him down! Don't let him bite you! He might be rabid!"
"Grab the money, and his necklace, too! It could be valuable!"
I growled.
No way in HELL are these thugs taking my chain!
I whipped around and bit the nearest one in the face, making him scream in pain.
I was pissed.
One pulled out a gun on me, but I was too fast for the shots, but as I turned to attack, I was suddenly struck in the head by a metal club and I fell to the ground. I tried to get back up, but my vision went blurry.
The next thing I knew, I was down for the count.
XXX
It felt like hours until I woke up again.
When I did, I had this gut-wrenching feeling that something was missing.
The money, that much I'm sure of, but…there was something else missing, too…
I looked down at my neck, and my worst fears had been realized.
My chain…my treasure…was gone.
Damn it all!
How could I have been so weak? I tried so hard to protect it, and look what happens!
I cringed at the pain in my head before I limped off.
I had to get back to the others.
XXX
"BLIZZARD!"
Luffy was the first to come out and greet me before I fell in his lap. At that moment, the others gathered around us.
"What the hell happened to you, Snowy?"
"You look like something the cat dragged in!"
"Are you okay? What happened? And most of all, where's the money I gave you?"
I gasped heavily as Luffy held me.
Chopper came beside us, putting his hoof to my head wound.
"What happened to you? Who did this?"
I growled weakly, explaining to Chopper what happened to me in town, and then he told everyone what I told him.
"He said, 'I got jumped. These thugs pinned me down and took the money. I'm sorry, Nami.'" Chopper translated for me.
Surprisingly, I didn't hear Nami trying to scream her head off at me.
"'My chain…they took it, too…my…my treasure…!'"
I felt Luffy tense up before he gently hoisted me into his arms and handed me to Chopper, who went into his big man form.
"Take care of him, Chopper," he said to me.
Everyone was silent as they watched Luffy walk away into town.
Before long, Chopper took me on board so I could get my head patched up.
XXX
Chopper stood beside me on the bed as he wrapped my forehead in bandages.
It was already sundown…and Luffy hasn't come back, yet.
"Hey, Chopper," I said.
"Hmm?"
"Before he left, I felt Luffy get all tense," I said to him. "I could tell that he was pissed off…why though?"
Chopper just gave me one of his innocent smiles.
"Remember when Luffy told you the story about his hat?" he asked me.
I nodded my head.
"Well, it shouldn't be hard for you to see why he went to go find the guys who beat you up," he said to me.
I still didn't understand.
At that moment, my ears twitched at the sound of footsteps made by sandals.
Luffy was back.
I got down from the bed and made my way to the deck with Chopper following behind me. When I saw him, it was clear that Luffy didn't win the fight unscathed.
He had a few cuts on his arms, as well as a small stream of blood coming from his lips. His clothes were shredded a little, and his hat was dangling from the back of his neck.
I went down to greet him, and he petted my head, lightly, that same cocky smile on his face.
"Hey, buddy," he said to me. "Guess what I got from those creeps."
He pulled out something from behind his back.
I could've sworn my heart stopped three times over.
It was my chain…Luffy got back my treasure!
"I knew those bastards wouldn't give it back without a fight," he told me as he clasped it back on. "So I had to kick their boss's ass to get it. Look, buddy. I might not be around to help you, next time, so you've gotta take better care of your treasure if you go off by yourself. Okay?"
I didn't know what to say…I just…I just jumped at him and smothered his face with kisses.
"AH! Blizzard, okay! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Stop! Down, boy, down! I get it! You're happy!"
Yeah…I was happy.
