A.n I own nothing Please Review
The storm had passed. The Straw hats had used the storm to gain a good headwind, not only had it cut down on their travel time but they had a head start on the Marines. The storm had come out of nowhere and the sky's cleared as quickly as it came; in fact as soon as the Merry was in the open ocean the sea calmed and the rain stopped but the strong wind still blew. It was like the storm was solely focused on Louge Town and nowhere else; still the pirates were alert as marines closely patrolled the waters close to the Grand Line.
At least one of them was.
Luffy sat on the Merrys head eagerly looking for any sign of the entrance to the grand line, Zoro was napping, Nami was having a drink, Sanji was serving Nami drinks and Connor sat on the deck leaning against the mast staring at Luffy.
'Okay, take a deep breath you can do this,' Connor thought to himself. He took a deep breath, got up and wandered over to the base of the figure head.
"Luffy, can I talk to you?" Connor asked.
Luffy turned his head and looked down at Connor "Sure, want to come up?" he answered.
"No I'm fine but I have to tell you something,"
"What is it?"
"You see I'm..."
"Hey there's something out there," Usopp called from the crow's nest, with his new binocholes he zoomed into get a better look at what he spotted.
Luffy jumped down from his seat and ran over to the railing, Connor sighed and joined him.
"Yahoo, what is it?" looking for anything abnormal.
"Don't know, it's big and there are gulls flying around it," Usopp claimed.
Sanji came over "Gulls circling this far out mean that there's fish nearby. Luffy catch us some dinner,"
"Alright, free food," Luffy cheered and threw his arm, stretching out to the horizon. Luffy grabbed something and pulled his arm back towards him.
"Yeah, you got it, nice stretching," Usopp complemented.
"Umm what happens when it comes back?" Connor asked, he noticed that Luffys arm was coming in at an angle.
Sanji paled and ducked just as whatever Luffy had grabbed flew overhead, unfortunately he'd hit Zoro and sent him flying over board. Luffys prize hit the sail and fell limply on the deck.
"Sorry Zoro," Luffy apologised and went to see what he caught.
Sanji and Connor also came over and they were surprised to find a young girl, she looked around Connors age.
She wore a long mustard coloured dress, a dark maroon sash, a pointy white hat, and red shoes. Her blonder hair was tied back in a thin braid.
Zoro was pulled back onto the ship with a rope, swearing he would kill Luffy.
It wasn't till just after dinner that the girl woke up, she looked around the kitchen and at the inhabitants around the table. They weren't wearing any type of uniform so she knew she was no longer on a Marine ship.
'Must be a private ship or maybe a passenger ship,' the girl thought, as she stared at the five people in the room.
"Hey your awake, are you feeling okay?" Nami asked.
"I MADE IT," the cheered enthusiastically.
"We'll take that as a yes," Nami commented.
"So what were you doing out in the ocean by yourself?" Usopp asked.
"I…was trying to escape from the Navy," the girl admitted.
The straw hats looked at her confused.
"What would the Navy want with you?" Zoro asked.
"I don't know they just showed up at my house and grabbed me. I didn't do anything,"
"Maybe they were pirates in disguise," Sanji suggested.
"So how'd you get away?" Luffy asked.
"A massive storm came out of nowhere, so I jumped ship,"
"Whoa, that sounds like fun, you got a name?" Luffy asked.
Nami sighed only Luffy would think that sailing in a dangerous storm would be fun. The girl suddenly became hostile.
"I'm not supposed to give my name away to strangers," she said.
"Well how about we tell you our names and then we won't be strangers," Luffy reasoned.
"You're the strange one Luffy," Zoro commented.
"I guess that makes sense," the girl said, doubting the straw hated boys' intelligence.
"Well I'm Nami, the blonde one is Sanji, the one with the scowl is Zoro and the long nose is Usopp," Nami introduced.
"And I'm Luffy the Captain of this ship," Luffy announced proudly.
"Really? You're the Captain?" the girl asked sceptically.
Everyone in the room nodded in confirmation.
"My names… Apis," Apis said.
"Nice to meet you Apis,"Nami said.
"So what kind of ship am I on? It doesn't look like a passenger ship,"
"Of course not, this is a pirate ship," Luffy declared proudly.
Apis froze and stared at the crew in fear, she was on a pirate ship then these were blood thirsty pirates. The men in her village told stories of the murderous rampages that pirates leave in their wake and how they kidnapped naughty children in the night. Whisking them away to unknown places on the sea; never to be seen again as they are fed to their pet sea monsters.
"Apis, Apis are you all right" Usopp asked concerned.
"NOOOOOO, I DON'T WANT TO BE FED TO YOUR PET SEA MONSTER," Apis screamed.
"Our what?" Sanji asked.
"I think she means Luffy," Zoro guessed.
"Pet sea monster? You mean I could have had a giant monster for a pet? Why did no one tell me this? Oi let's get a giant kraken and call it sucker," Luffy said excitedly with stars in his eyes.
"Here we go," Nami sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Why sucker?" Usopp asked.
"Because octopuses have those round sucky things," Luffy explained.
"Well wouldn't a better name be Tenti, for all those tentacles," Zoro suggested.
"Not a bad idea, I've never cooked a kraken before. I wonder if you cook them like regular octopuses," Sanji said.
"You're not cooking my pet," Luffy told Sanji.
"What about just the legs then, they grow back don't they," Sanji pointed out.
"Really? Okay you can cook the legs as long as you don't kill it,"
"But boiled octopus is a delicacy. It has to be boiled alive and topped with a nice sauce and garnish,"
"That doses sound good," Luffy admitted.
Nami had had enough of this discussion she hit all of the boys over the head, leaving massive bumps.
"We are not getting a pet of any kind," she said firmly.
"What about an animal with shapeshifting abilities," Luffy asked.
"No, that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Nami claimed and hit Luffy again, giving him a second bump.
Apis didn't know if what she was seeing was real or not, she was also thinking that she would have been better off in the storm.
Apis didn't talk to the pirates at all after that, they had tried to get her to eat something but she had refused; it offended Sanji.
"I'll eat it," Luffy offered happily and reached for her plate.
Sanji kicked him in the face, keeping the plate of food out of Luffys reach "You've had enough," he yelled.
"I'm going to see if Connor wants seconds," He left the kitchen with the plate of food.
Luffy sighed sadly, knowing he would not get to eat the last plate of food.
"So what're we going to do with her?" Zoro asked Luffy. "We already have one kid on board,"
"I don't know. But let's decide tomorrow," Luffy answered.
Later Nami offered to share her room with Apis but she refused that as well, so they left her in the kitchen with a blanket and a pillow. Apis regretted not eating later that night; she could not sleep due to hunger.
Apis was just thinking of stealing a bit of food when the kitchen door opened and in walked a boy her age, she watched him in the dark as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. The boy drank the water and re-filled the glass before leaving the kitchen, not even sparing her a glance.
Apis hadn't realised she was holding her breath until he had left; she wounded who that boy was. He wasn't with the others earlier.
'Maybe the pirates kidnapped him and he was a prisoner on their ship,' Apis thought 'what if they're planning to sell me off to some creepy old man for profit or send me back to the Marines, '
Apis began to cry, she was scared and alone. She suddenly felt someone put their hand on her shoulder and she froze.
"Why are you crying?" the voice asked.
Apis turned to see it was the boy who had just left. She was lost in thought that she hadn't noticed him come back in.
"I…I…I'm scared," Apis admitted "I'm on a pirate ship and all I want to do is go home,"
"Yeah, I know that feeling all too well," Connor said and sat next to her.
"Dose it go away?"
Connor shook his head "Sadly it doesn't. But if you show everyone you're not afraid, then they don't win,"
"How do you do that?"
"It's easier than you think. Picture someone you desperately want to see and pretend that they can see you, then focus only on them and that will give you courage. Use that courage as a shield and the fear will be supressed," Connor explained.
"Dose that work?"
"You'd be surprised,"
"Okay I'll try," Apis said and closed her eyes. She imagined her village, the people and her grandfather; but she focused on one being she desperately wanted to get back too and she slowly felt the fear disappear. When she opened her eyes there were no more tears.
"Hey it worked," Apis said in surprise.
"Yup, it works every time," Connor confirmed.
Apis stomach growled and she quickly put her hands on it blushing in embarrassment.
"Are you hungry?" Connor asked.
Apis nodded "I was thinking about getting some food, but…"
"Oh I wouldn't recommend that. Sanji places a giant mouse trap in front of the fridge at night,"
"Why would he do that?"
At that moment Luffy staggered into the kitchen half asleep, the two children watched as the captain approach the fridge. Suddenly a metal bar launched at Luffy pinning him to the floor, he struggled to move but was stuck. The lights came on and Sanji walked into the kitchen.
"He never learns," Sanji sighed.
Apis stared in disbelief; they had a giant mousetrap for the captain? Wasn't that some kind of insubordination. Sanji noticed Apis staring and that Connor was with her.
"What are you doing up?" Sanji asked.
Connor held up the glass of water "I was thirsty. She's scared and hungry,"
"I'll deal with her and this idiot. Go back to bed," Sanji ordered.
Connor nodded and skulled the water before he left, Apis watched him leave before turning to face Sanji.
"Who was that? Why is he here?" she asked.
"Oh that was Connor, our youngest member,"
"What he's part of your crew too? But he's my age,"
"Yup, he was here before I joined. Oh and if you're thinking he's here against his will, he's not. Now let's get you and this idiot something to eat," Sanji finished.
The next morning just as dawn was raising the members of the straw hat crew prepared to set sail, once the ship was moving and Nami was satisfied with their current heading; a small explosion was heard from the kitchen, and Apis came out followed by a cloud of black smoke. The straw hats went inside to find that Apis had attempted to cook breakfast.
On their plates was a black unidentifiable piece of food. They all had doubts on whether or not it was edible except Luffy; Sanji looked over at his ruined pans and utensils. Luffy found the food delicious and everyone tried a piece but could not stand the taste. Connor took a small bite, his face turned an odd colour and he ran out the door.
Apis tired a bit and found the food disgusting as well; Sanji sighed and told Apis that he would do the cooking from now on as it was his job. He suggested that some see if Connor was alright and Zoro quickly volunteered to get out of eating anymore.
Outside Connor was leaning over the railing throwing up, Zoro walked over and stood next to him.
"It was pretty bad wasn't it?" Zoro asked.
Connor nodded weakly in agreement.
"Don't worry she's been discouraged from cooking again,"
"That's a relief. I wouldn't feed that to my worst enemies," Connor said.
"I would, but only if they pissed me off,"
"How can Luffy eat that stuff?"
"Maybe it has to do with his rubber body. Or maybe he has no sense of taste,"
Connor threw up again.
"Hey is he alright?" Nami asked, standing at the door. "Sanjis making some real breakfast, dose Connor want any?"
Zoro turned in her direction "Yeah, but nothing too heavy for him. We're goanna stay on deck for a bit; let us know when it's ready,"
Nami nodded and went back inside to tell Sanji to make a light breakfast for Connor. Zoro looked back at the boy who looked like he was done.
"You done," he asked.
"I think so,"
"So I fought Alvida in Louge town. She said some interesting things about you,"
Connor got very nervous "Like what?"
"She said you were valuable and you liked your secrets,"
"Everyone has secrets,"
"True. Look, I won't pressure you because your clearly not ready to talk about it but do you know what she meant by valuable?"
"Maybe," Connor said in a small voice.
"Does it have to do with your second sight?"
"Alvida never knew about that. I never told her or any of her crew,"
"So what did she mean?"
But before Connor could answer Luffy came out on deck and started pestering Zoro to play with him. Zoro ended up chasing Luffy around the deck in a one sided game of tag, or as Zoro liked to call it "Give back my Katanas you rubber idiot,"
Not too long after that Sanji called that breakfast was done and the three went back into the kitchen. The breakfast was light and thankfully edible. Afterwards Luffy announced that they would be taking Apis home to Warship Island.
"Are you sure Luffy? This will delay us getting to the Grand Line," Usopp pointed out.
"Warship Island is not that far out of our way. In fact it will only delay us by a day or two," Nami said, pointing it the small island out on her map.
"Its fine, besides I've got a good feeling that something interesting's going to happen," Luffy answered.
Unfortunately Luffys good feelings always meant trouble for the rest of his crew, what he found fun and interesting was often stupid and downright dangerous. Because not long after he had made that statement a fleet of marine ships attacked; the crew managed to evade them thanks to a huge gust of wind, the marines didn't follow which was odd. It wasn't till Zoro pointed out that there was no wind or current that Nami realised there mistake, they had sailed into the calm belt.
The Calm belt is a small sea that separated the Grand Line from the Blues. It is considered the second most dangerous sea in the world for after the Grand Line, for two very good reasons.
1) There is no current and no wind, any ships that get stuck in the calm belt will never move again.
2) It is the main habitat and breeding ground for Giant Sea Kings; carnivorous beasts that would devour whole Islands, if they were hungry enough.
The straw hats quickly found themselves surrounded by Sea Kings and one emerged underneath the Merry. They sat on the monsters nose, Luffy began to wonder just what Sea Kings taste like. He didn't get the chance to find out because the monster sneezed sending the merry flying out of the calm belt and over the fleet of marines. The Merry landed with a splash a safe distance away from the marines and the monsters.
"HA, HA, HA. That was awesome," Luffy laughed. "Let's go back and do it again,"
"NO!" Nami and Usopp yelled. Nami then beat Luffy up with help from everyone except Connor and Apis; when they were done Luffys face had a black eye, a swollen lip and several large bumps on his head.
"Myph phorry, iph wonth doph itth aganph," Luffy muttered.
Apis walked over to Connor and asked him the one question that she'd wanted to ask for a while.
"Is it always like this?"
Connor blinked and answered "Nah, not always,"
"Thank goodness," Apis sighed in relief, however she was not prepared for what came next.
"Sometimes it gets weird," Connor finished.
Apis stared at Connor then at the pirates, if this was normal then she definitely didn't want to see what they considered weird.
Nami adjusted their course and the Merry was back on track to Warship Island.
It was early afternoon when the Straw hats arrived close to Warship Island; however a thick blanket of fog blocked their way. Nami was hesitant to sail into it but Apis assured her that her island was hidden in the fog somewhere.
"Hey I got an idea. Connor can find the island with his second sight," Usopp suggested.
"That won't work," Connor claimed.
"Why not?"
"If there was a ship or a person in the fog than I could see them, if they were in range. But not an island, I can only see auras of people not objects or hidden Islands," Connor explained.
The entire crew began to look for any signs of the Island, but it was difficult with all the fog around them. Soon a shape of a giant warship came into view, it freaked Usopp out. Apis announced that they had arrived at her home Island.
The Merry came out of the fog and sure enough there was an Island the Straw hats could see a village with lots of different farms. When they docked and the ship was surrounded by the village men holding spears that looked like they were used for fishing. The villages tensed when a ladder was lowered but they relaxed when the one who came down was Apis.
"Everyone, I'm back," Apis announced.
The villagers stared and looked even more worried. Pirates they could deal with but Apis had been on their ship.
"Apis, why are you back? Weren't you with the Marines?" a villager asked.
"Yup I was, but I ran away from them and these pirates brought me home," Apis explained.
"But pirates are evil,"
Luffy jumped down from the ship "Hey you," he said to the man.
"What me?" the villager asked, he stared at Luffy in fear; afraid that he had offended him.
"Yeah you, is there a butchers on this Island?" Luffy asked in a serious tone.
But before anyone could answer Nami dropped down landing on Luffy crushing him "We don't need any more meat," she yelled.
"But it's tasty and we'll run out soon," Luffy whined.
"Hey ask about a liquor store too," Zoro said as he climbed down "We're running low,"
Nami hit the two of them over the head leaving a large bump.
"We wouldn't be if you two weren't bottom less pits," she said angrily.
The villagers watched the Nami yell at Luffy and Zoro, none of them said anything in fear of her wrath. The rest of the Straw hats climbed down.
Usopp approached Apis "Which ones your dad?" he asked.
"Umm Grandpa's not here," Apis said, scanning the crowd.
One villager decided to be brave.
"Oi Pirates get off our island and take that Apis with you," he yelled.
Nami, Luffy and Zoro stopped fighting and stared at the villager, Apis flinched and stepped back.
"But we just brought her back home. Why do you want her gone?" Sanji asked.
"The Marines took her for a reason if they find out she's back here it'll mean trouble for the village. So she's not welcome here," the villager explained.
"Hey that's a bit harsh, do you know why they took her?" Connor asked.
None of the villagers answered.
"So some marines just show up and take one of your kids and you don't even ask why or stop them. There's a word for that: Kidnapping," Connor claimed.
"He's right, the marines are supposed to protect people. Kidnapping is something pirates do," Sanji said.
"It doesn't matter, there the government so if they want Apis they can have her she's a freak anyway,"
"Freak? She's a lovely and helpful girl," Nami defended.
"She was until she ate that strange fruit,"
"Hey let's go to your house and see if your family's home," Usopp suggested, noticing how uncofterble Apis was becoming.
The villagers stared at the crew; these were not the normal evil pirates that they were expecting. Apis nodded and led the way. When they were out of ear shot Connor asked what the villagers had meant about the strange fruit.
"I found a strange looking fruit on the shore one day, it was hot and it looked refreshing so I ate it," Apis admitted, she did not want her new friends to think she was a freak.
"Did it taste terrible and have a swirly pattern on it?" Luffy asked.
Apis nodded.
"Ah so you ate a devil fruit too," Luffy said.
"Devil fruit?"
"Yup, they grant special powers in exchange for your ability to swim. Luffy here ate the Gomu-Gomu Fruit," Zoro explained.
"You mean there's more than one?"
"Sure are, not sure how many there are in the world though," Nami explained.
Apis felt better knowing that she was not the only one with a special power.
"Hey Connor do you have a devil fruit power too?" Apis asked.
"No. why would you think that," Connor answered.
"Oh well…Usopp mentioned a second sight so I thought that you…,"
"That's not a devil fruit power, I don't even know where it came from," Connor said.
They continued walking until they arrived at a large house on the top of the hill ant the base of a mountain. Apis opened the door and found an elderly man deinking some tea; Apis rejoiced and gave the man a hug.
The man turned out to be Apiss' Grandfather; he thanked the straw hats for bringing her back and offered to make some steamed pork buns for them in gratitude. Of course Luffy immediately accepted and Apis bragged how her grandfather's pork buns were the best; unfortunately they were going to take over three hours to cook.
"Three hours! What are we supposed to do till then?" Luffy complained.
"Did you dragons used to flock here on their way to a secret breeding ground?" Apis grandfather asked.
"What really?" Usopp and Luffy asked with stars in their eyes.
"Would you like to hear the legend?"
"Yeas please," Luffy said enthusiastically.
The crew sit down and listened closely as Apiss' grandfather told the history of his people.
Three hours later everyone was asleep including Apiss' grandfather though he was still telling his story in his sleep.
