29. Little Garden
A/N: Thanks to those who fav/followed the story, and all the anonymous readers ^^!
As promised, the other chap I wanted to post! Hope you enjoy it ^^! Though I did promise to upload it yesterday. Oops, sorry xD!
-dog: Yeah, Koga's kind of hard-headed in that sense. Yay, I can't wait to read them ^^! I'll check 'em out right away! Thanks, please keep supporting me!
Disclaimer: I own nothing of One Piece and Soul Eater but my OC Koga and other Ocs that will appear in the future.
"I wonder if it's going to snow…" Luffy mumbled to himself.
The male members of the crew were all relaxing on the deck, sunbathing, completely at ease with the warm weather and the for once clear and calm waters around them. Koga, as always, was writing down on his logbook, seating with his back against the railing and one leg over the other, smirking at his captain's sudden remark.
"I doubt it." He said out loud, attracting their attention. "The crazy weather we had at the entrance of the Grand Line only happens there. We'll see more snow when we're near a Winter Island."
"Oh boomer…" Luffy pouted, his cheeks like little balloons.
"What kind of island is yours, Koga?" Zoro asked the bicolor-eyed young man.
As expected whenever someone asked him about himself, he stopped writing for a brief moment before resuming, not raising his head for a moment.
"An Autumn Island. Rainy and cold. Not an interesting place to talk about."
As the others interpreted that as a close to their brief conversation, Koga felt the injustice in his statement about his island. Though certainly evocating some dark memories he preferred to maintain buried, he had to admit that yes it was rainy, and yes it was also cold, but Kukkuri Island was interesting. Full of nature, practically almost untouched by civilization, wild and beautiful in its own way. Many gardeners and nature-lovers would describe the island as their own paradise.
"Hey, then tell us about how you met Vivi!" Usopp exclaimed.
A smirk crossed Koga's lips as he set down the logbook. "Well that's a story to tell, though it's a bit embarrassing."
"YAY, A STORY!" Luffy and the sharpshooter chorused in happiness, and Zoro hummed in interest.
When the three of them were settled to listen, Koga cleaned his throat and began: "It was nine years ago, only a year after I left my homeland for personal reasons. I was fifteen at the moment, and a professional hitchhiker, when I got aboard a giant pirate ship and traveled through the Grand Line to various islands. When they discovered me, they hired me as a chore boy in exchange of a bed and food –thankfully, because I had spent five days hidden in the lower deck."
"A pirate ship…!" Luffy exclaimed, before Usopp shushed him in a harsh but low tone. Koga smirked behind his scarf and continued.
"I soon had to leave them when the Marines began pursuing us, but before they got me those pirates left me in Alabasta, with Berri enough to take care of myself. While eating in a restaurant in Alubarna, I heard about a mystical mythology book kept in the palace's library, and I wanted to check it out right away." He rubbed his head with a blush. "I was quite foolish back then, but at night I managed to sneak into the palace without being spotted. On the way to the library, though, Vivi caught me."
"And what did she do?" Usopp asked, as caught in the story as Luffy was.
"She asked me to play tag with her." He smiled widely at their dumbfounded faces. "Well, actually she asked me who I was, and then she asked me to play with her. I had to do it to convince her to take me to the library. We played for about an hour before Igaram and the other chief guards caught me and brought me to the King's presence."
"Ah, so that's how you met that curly ossan…" The long-nosed teen nodded with a serious face, before realizing what Koga had said at the end. "Wait, they brought you to–?"
"To the King's presence, yes. To Vivi's father's presence. Fortunately, he thought of me as a harmless kid, and gave me the book I was looking for before getting out of the palace. After that, I could enter the palace as many times as I wanted to play with Vivi and her friend, Kohza, but only at nighttime, because during the day I was busy working as a waiter."
"Wow, you're really lucky!"
To that he merely shrugged. "I guess I am. Other Kings would've skinned me alive for much less than that."
Sanji then walked out of the kitchen, holding a platter full of blue-colored drinks. "Oi guys, anyone care for a special drink?"
"YOU BET!" Luffy and Usopp cheered loudly.
"Oh, good timing, I was thirsty already after that story." Koga smirked, standing up and taking a glass. He didn't know what it was made of, but it was sweet and cool. "Hm, this is nice."
"Of course it is." Sanji also smiled, and then looked at Carue as the duck took out the straw from the glass. "No, no, like this."
The cook stopped it and put the straw again in its place. Carue then got the idea and chug the whole glass in one gulp.
"Well you sure are thirsty, have another."
Everyone watched in amazement and amusement as the duck drank through several more glasses in one go. Where did all that drink go to? Laughter exploded as finally Carue got overwhelmed from sweetness overdose and slumped to the deck, feeling quite light headed. An uncharacteristic huge smile tug at Koga's lips as everyone else rolled on the floor laughing.
"Oh look, a dolphin!" Sanji pointed at said animal leaping out of the water. "Pirates' best friend!"
"Beautiful!" Nami exclaimed with a smile.
They all watched with smiles in their faces as it jumped towards them… getting bigger and bigger… and the smiles dropped into shocked expression as the dolphin –of a freaking hundred feet long– directly jumped over the Merry!
"It's HUGE!"
As the dolphin dug back into the sea, it created a huge wave and Luffy suddenly ordered: "Let's go!"
"AYE!"
Koga and Sanji took quick care of the sails as the dolphin reemerged this time behind them, creating a giant wave as it landed that the Merry quickly caught to avoid being overthrown. Luffy's excited laugh resonated all over the small ship as it escalated the giant wave effortlessly.
"Where to now, Nami?!"
She checked the Pose. "Port side, full!"
"Turning full!" Everyone yelled in response, Usopp doing just that as they landed back into the calmer sea once the dolphin disappeared from their sights.
"Oi guys, an island just up ahead!" Koga then announced from the crow's nest.
The crew turned as one and watched as the island came closer and Nami checked the Log Pose once more. "No doubt about it, that's our next stop!"
As Koga jumped back to deck, Luffy was grinning from ear to ear in evident excitement. "This is it, our second island on the Grand Line!"
The new island –Little Garden everyone supposed– was full of trees, which looked gigantic and incredibly old. Just by seeing them Koga felt overwhelmed and suffocated. The air felt hot and humid when they got closer enough to the island, so hot that Koga had to take off his leather jacket, leaving him with a plain white t-shirt.
As in Whiskey Peak, Little Garden had also a river that split the island in two, and the Merry headed its course inland through that river. As soon as they entered, the atmosphere grew incredibly, the looming trees way higher over their heads, the sun barely passing through the branches. The deafening noises of a populated jungle –and not precisely with the kindest animals– filled their ears.
"Little Garden, huh?" Koga mumbled, reunited with the others at the front deck, hand against the railing.
"This island looks pretty harsh to me." Nami commented, wary. "Why call it Little Garden?"
"Y– yeah, it looks like a jungle out there!" Usopp stammered, half-hidden behind Zoro. "Maybe we should skip this one!"
"The only way to reset the Pose is to go ashore." The navigator pointed out.
"Not to mention we're in dire need of restocking our food supply." Sanji added, taking a drag of his cigarette.
Oh yeah, thanks to a certain bottomless pit… Koga spared a glance at an excited Luffy as he asked about a barbeque restaurant that made everyone sweatdrop comically. Did he really think there would be a barbeque restaurant in the middle of a jungle?
'What kind of island is this?' Koga thought, gripping the hilt of his katana while frowning at the enormous trees looming over them. Everyone cringed when suddenly loud screeches began coming from the trees threateningly.
"I haven't seen stuff like this in books!" Nami said again, unsurely.
Once the screech quietened, Usopp began panicking again –thankfully Nami punched him to stop his nonsensical blabber. After that, Sanji was saved from what seemed a giant bird with huge talons that had been about to snatch him out of the boat. And then, a gigantic booming that sounded like an explosion made the birds on the trees escape flying, screeching loudly.
"Is that the sound you hear in a normal jungle?" Nami whimpered.
"That sounded like a volcano! We're all gonna die!" Usopp wailed in response.
A growl came out of the jungle, a large tiger emerging from between the trees. It was huge, greater than a normal tiger, its head easily reaching Koga's chest. As Usopp and Nami backed away from the railing with a start, the others watched tense as sticks as the tiger followed them along the shore with the ship, not stopping growling for a single second. Suddenly, the mighty predator let out a pained roar and flopped to the ground, blood forming a pool around it.
"Okay, I know normal, and this is not it!" The red-haired girl exclaimed, hiding behind the main mast along the long-nosed teen.
"Log Pose and food be damned, we're not setting for on that island!"
"The problem is, we need to restock the ladder and also to reset the Log if we want to continue." Koga turned towards the two, pointing at the Log at Nami's wrist.
She thought about it and then nodded stiffly. "We can still reset the Pose on the ship; we'll just sit tight and wait until then."
Sit tight? With a captain like Luffy? Koga hid a smirk behind his scarf as he watched the raven-haired boy almost beaming in excitement at the perspective of exploring a dangerous, potentially-deadly jungle. As the anchor was finally dropped, he laughed almost maniacally.
"Sanji, go make lunch!" He exclaimed. "Make it a great big pirate bento with lots of meat and no veggies! I'm gonna need lots of energy!"
The chronicler snorted as he shook his head good-naturedly. "I knew it…"
"What?! No, you're not leaving here! What do you even want to do?"
"You know, fun stuff. C'mon, Sanji, I'm starving!"
Sanji blew on his cigarette as he strolled back to the kitchen. "Be patient," he answered waving a hand, "I'll have it out as soon as I can."
"Could I come with you, Luffy-san?" Vivi volunteered.
"Sure, sure!"
"Vivi, you too?!" The navigator screeched at the princess.
"Just standing around here doing nothing is only going to end up making me think about my worries again." The blue-haired teen explained to the others. "So I may as well try to clear my head until the Log Pose finishes recording. It'll be fine! Carue will be at my side after all!"
At this, the duck's beak opened dramatically to the ground with a horrified expression crossing his face.
"Your trusty bodyguard looks too scared to even quack…" Nami commented, sweatdropping.
"Then allow me to make a bento of love for you Vivi-chwan~!" Sanji cooed, as he stuck his head out of the kitchen.
"Could you make another drink for Carue as well?!"
As the cook answered in agreement, Koga scratched his stubble around the chin with a pensive look on his face, eyeing the jungle and inwardly cursing the humid heat. He hated the heat. So much. As Sanji gave Vivi, Luffy and Carue their bentos and they hopped off the ship, he sighed before turning towards the others.
"I think I'll take a walk around the island, see what I can find." He declared, earning terrified looks from Usopp and Nami.
"WHY?!"
"I'm worried about what that Miss All-Sunday said." He frowned, looking at the dense jungle. "About us dying if we set foot into this island. I want to figure out why exactly she said that."
"Isn't it evident already?!" Usopp screeched, gripping the front of his t-shirt and shaking him like a maraca. "THERE ARE MONSTERS IN HERE!"
"I agree with Koga." Zoro interrupted, making the long-nosed teen stop shaking the blond. "We four can handle some wild animals. It makes no sense declaring that we're going to die because of it."
Koga nodded, and then jumped over the railing to the shore, making sure not to land into salt water. Zoro followed after him, mentioning something about going on a walk too on his own. Sanji called for them to bring some food to the ship, but somehow that simple request resulted in a competition between him and the swordsman to see who would bring the biggest beast. Or was it the one that had more meat?
Confused, the chronicler could only blink as the two disappeared from their sight, snapping retorts to each other as they went. He sighed as he ruffled his hair with one hand, the other hidden in his pants pocket.
"How simplistic can those two be?" He murmured to himself, half-amazed at that fact.
"WE CAN HEAR YOU!" There came the answer, and the oldest member of the crew merely shook his head before turning to the two left in the ship, who were watching him tear-eyed.
"Well, I better get going then. You keep watch on the ship."
"Wait! What if something happens to us?!" Usopp wailed loudly, stopping Koga in his tracks and making him turn around once more.
"C'mon, it'll be fine. I have my intuition, remember?" He pointed at his head with a finger. "I'll come back if I sense any trouble, I promise."
"O… kay… You better come back then!" Nami exclaimed, putting suddenly a brave front.
And he smiled wider and nodded firmly, turning his back to them and walking among the gigantic trees, not looking back.
Once in the jungle, the heat enveloped him completely, and he huffed as he tied the scarf around his head instead of having it around his neck as usual. Nevertheless, he tried to not think of the heat and concentrated on how unusual plants there were, growing around him. The scent of humid earth filled his nostrils with each breath he took in. It was a little paradise for someone who loved nature.
However, as he found out soon, not everything was lovely in that jungle. He faced dinosaurs the size of giant mansions that tried to get a bite of him– and that found quite a difficult prey to take on. Koga concluded that Little Garden was a Prehistoric Island– obviously, judging how many dinosaurs were left unconscious or even dead in his path. He knew they weren't any threat to Luffy, Zoro or Sanji, but Usopp and Nami were alone, so he tried to keep close to the ship in case they found danger.
Koga had been strolling for a few hours –and had felt the ground shake and the volcano go off a few times too, when he suddenly grew concerned all of a sudden. Why the hell didn't his intuition alert him of anything? He couldn't believe that everything was going smoothly, considering the crew he was in…
Danger. Danger.
… Okay, that was another thing.
He turned sharply on his heels and ran towards the direction his intuition was pointing at, avoiding the dinosaurs the best he could. Soon, as he reached his destination, he caught on some noises.
First, there were roars.
And then, there were two familiar voices that made Koga sweatdrop.
He got Sankaoken out of its sheath and it transformed into his brass knuckles, and he smirked confidently as his speed suddenly boosted the closer he got to his destiny. In a rush, he went past a screaming Usopp –who barely caught who had gone past him–, to sucker punch with a roar at the stegosaurus that had been following the sharpshooter, his razor-like teeth about to get a chunk on his sorry ass.
"KOGAAAAA!" Usopp tackled him to the ground in a hug.
"Gah! Get off me!" He almost punched him before remembering he had his brass knuckles still on, so he simply got the sniper's face away from his. Once the teen calmed down, both stood up and dusted off their pants. "Okay, what happened?"
Usopp explained the best he could how he and Nami met a giant named Brogy and his 100-year battle against his fellow giant Dorry for a reason neither of them remembered, before cutting his explanation suddenly.
"Nami!" He exclaimed, looking around frantically. "Where is she?!"
"How the hell should I know?!" Koga roared, before realizing. "She was running away from that dinosaur like you, wasn't she?"
"Yeah!"
"Dammit, probably she got lost. I'll find her, you better find Luffy."
"Luffy? Why?"
"I don't know, it's a feeling."
"Wait, I have to find him alone?!"
"I can't guide you to two different people at once!" Koga groaned in frustration, rubbing his face. "Okay, go north-east, about five hundred yards from here. Luffy should be there."
"O– okay! Got it!"
"I'll go this way then!" He turned northwest and broke into a run, while shouting over his shoulder: "Don't get caught with the dinosaurs!"
"YOU WARN ME ABOUT THAT NOW?! DAMN YOU KOGA!"
But his shout got lost among the trees, not leaving an answer behind.
Koga ran as fast as he could, jumping over scattered branches and overgrown roots that stuck out of the ground, barely avoiding –once more– the legions of bugs and dinosaurs trying to get a bite of him. Worriment guided his every step, the intuition in his head endlessly sounding.
At last, his eyes caught an orange light among the trees, and he burst out…
… Before stopping in his tracks, his eyes witnessing an unbelievable sight.
The first thing that he saw was a giant white something that reminded him of a cake with a lit candelabra spinning at a great speed on its top, with Vivi, Zoro and Nami trapped in it. At one side, covered in what seemed white powder, a giant that was gravely injured was lying face-down, frustration evident in his gigantic face; remembering Usopp's confusing story, he deduced it was Brogy or Dorry. Standing in front of the giant cake-like thingy, a man stood back facing him, with a little girl at his side that seemed to be eating something.
The girl turned first, and he saw that it was a small child, with relatively large eyes and circles of blush on her cheeks. She was fairly short in stature and wore her dark red hair tied in braided pigtails. Her attire consisted of a wide-brimmed pink hat with a green band, a dark blue T-shirt with the word "GOLDEN" written on it in orange, a sky blue cloud-patterned button-down shirt, a maroon-colored overalls skirt with the top folded down, blue striped stockings, and big red shoes with white cuffs and white soles. She merely blinked at him as she ate rice crackers.
The man turned then, letting the chronicler see his features. He was an average-sized man with a rather frail-looking build. He both had 3's visible on his vest design, upper part of his glasses, and one big 3 achieved through his top knot. He also wore glasses and has neatly combed hair. "Oh look at this. Another pirate."
"Koga/Koga-san!" Vivi and Nami exclaimed in delight, while Zoro simply smirked.
"I'm going to assume that you're Mr. Three." Koga stood in a fighting stance with his fists over his face, a scowl on his face. "Would you please set my friends free before I beat your face into a pulp?"
"And destroy my beautiful artwork?" Mr. Three extended both arms eloquently. "I'm sorry, but I have to decline! Why don't you come here and become one of my wax sculptures along with your friends?"
"Oh-ho, it seems we're going to have a contest in politeness." Koga smirked cockily, attempting to hide it behind his scarf before remembering that it was tied at his head.
"STOP WASTING TIME AND GET US OUT OF HERE!" Nami screeched in frustration.
"We're going to get turned into wax sculptures!" Vivi agreed.
The blond shot a sideways glance at the trio. "So you're in problems huh?"
"Not really." Zoro shrugged, his arms crossed over his chest and his ankles cut, probably his doing.
"YES WE ARE!" Both the navigator and the princess snapped at both of them.
"Geez, I was joking." Koga rubbed his ear with his pinkie before shooting a glare at Mr. Three. "Sorry, but I'll have to destroy your 'artwork' here."
Mr. Three drew a smile on his face. "Then I have to consider you an enemy. A shame… So be it!"
And he shot something white at the chronicler at a blinding speed, making him roll on the ground to avoid being hit. Refusing to use his Devil Fruit powers yet, he roared as he dashed forwards, right arm cocked back to throw a mighty punch at his rival.
"Eagle Punch!" He yelled.
"Wax-Wax Art: Shield!" At the same time, something white covered Mr. Three's stomach.
CRUNCH!
"What the–?!" it didn't do anything! One of his most powerful punches didn't even leave a dent!
"Wax-Wax Art: Hammer!"
"Shit!"
Koga threw himself to the ground, barely avoiding the suddenly gigantic hammer that tried to smash him. He then jumped back using his Kaizen Kaizen Fruit abilities a bit, wincing at the fleeting shot of pain that went up his legs. He resumed his fighting stance with a serious expression on his face.
"Koga-san, be careful!" Vivi called out to him. "He has Devil Fruit powers; he's a Wax-Man!"
"You could've warned me before, dammit!" He groaned. "Before I threw myself at him, for example!"
And then, his intuition tingled. Again. Coming from behind him.
From among the trees came strolling a tall, dark-skinned man with black hair in short spiky dreadlocks wearing a brown trench coat with a "5" on it, along with a pink cravat and a pair of sunglasses, and a woman with short blond hair and bright green eyes; she wore a yellow and orange hat, as well as a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern, lemon earrings, and white high-heeled shoes. She also added a blue jacket with white stripes over this attire and carrying a bright green parasol with blue stripes.
"Oh, Mr. Five, Miss Valentine, good timing!" Mr. Three boasted with a wide grin on his face, opening his arms side to side once more. "Help me get rid of this pest!"
… Oh boy.
A/N: And yay, huge cliffie xD!
Sorry, I had to stop it there! But I promise everything will be solved out in the next chap, so heads up everyone! So, love ya lots, leave me some comments here, and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
