Coco: Three chapters in less than 24 hours? I'm so proud of myself. Though...I really need to start working on my other stories XD The One Piece fever just won't quit, ya know?
Now, I bring you the first chapter of the Zenny filler arc! Should be one out of two or three then we'll be onward to Jaya!
But before we begin, LovableAmethyst129 asked me a question that I would like to answer. I won't make any promises about that filler, but honestly, I had thought about writing it before. I'm kind of interested on how I'd write Wren with her memories gone. Give the Straw Hats a glimpse in her while she's behaving like a true commander of the Doflamingo pirates. Because, if I remember correctly, the memory eating seahorse took the Straw Hats memories far enough back that none of them had met yet as far as their memories were concerned. So, if Wren's memories are then, she'll still believe herself to be a member of the family. And while in an unknown location with people she doesn't know with no recollection on how she got there, she might react...well, badly. So, it might cause some drama, ya know? But as I sait, I won't make any promises. It'll honestly depend on my mood when I actually get to that point.
Anyway, thanks for your question! And if anyone else has any throughout this story, feel free to ask them. I will try to answer all of them. I read all the reviews, so I shouldn't miss them.
Also, one other thing, I'm thinking about starting to leave character profiles at the end of the chapters every so often or even doing an SBS at the end of every arc like I did for the previous story. Let me know if you guys are interested in that. As for the character profiles, I thought I'd just add information you might not get in the story that you might be interested in about the characters I've created. Like Wren, of course, and her commanders or Lorelei. Or even Jacque and Colt. Like birthdays, heights, favorite things or other tidbits. Or I might put the information before the chapter...haven't decided yet.
Okay! I'm done rambling now. Let's jump on in!
Wren hummed to herself as she was in the kitchen making some tea for herself. She could hear the sounds of cannons still being fired as the marines persisted on following them. Though their aim was terrible.
"The marines never have had really good cannoneers." Wren commented as the kettle whistled loudly.
She continued with her tea making as Sanji was behind her making sweets for her and the other ladies of the ship.
"They are crappy at aiming that's for sure," Sanji said as he started plating the sweets he made. "Here you go, my dear. The mille-feuille is ready. I hope it's to your liking."
"Thank you, Sanji." Wren said as she separated the tea into two separate pots. "Here, some tea to take to the others."
She placed cups and sugar on the tray he was carrying that held the others cakes as well. He gave her a sweet smile.
"Thank you, Wren-chan." Sanji said.
He then looked down when feeling something rubbing against his leg. He frowned when seeing Havel rubbing affectionately against his leg. The cat sithe looked up at Sanji with round, pleading green eyes as he purred.
"Nice try, Cat, but these sweets are for the lovely ladies of this crew." Sanji said.
Havel made a whimpering noise as his ears pinned back against his head. He even rolled over onto his back, so Sanji could hear his growling stomach. Wren watched from the side in amusement as Sanji's stern expression started to crumble. Finally, the cook sighed as he picked up one of the cakes, he had left to the side for later off the counter to place down for Havel who perked up. He got back to his paws while rubbing his head against Sanji's hand in thanks.
"Gees, Cat," Sanji grumbled as Havel dug in. "I've never seen a cat eat sweets let alone like them as much as you."
"Fae—no matter what kind—love sweets." Havel said as he sat back on his haunches while licking his muzzle to rid it of cream. "You want to earn the favor of one of us, offer us something sweet and we'll basically do whatever you want. Because the way to our hearts is through sweet, sugary goodness."
He went back to eat while purring happily. Wren smiled at how happy her familiar was as Sanji suddenly whirled around to look at her.
"Is that true, Wren-chwan?" Sanji asked. "Does that mean if I continue to make you sweets, you'll love me forever?~"
He giggled as he asked this causing Wren to sweat-drop at his behavior. Sanji still is and probably will be the most interesting human she's ever met.
"It doesn't exactly work that way," Wren said. "Now, you better get that tea to Robin and Nami before it gets cold."
"Okay!~ I'll be right back~" He said then danced away.
Wren shook her head at the cook as she moved to the table to enjoy her tea and one of the books that she borrowed from Nami. She sat down with her things to relax when she noticed a bite missing from her mille-feuille. Her brow quirked turning to Havel wondering if he took a bite, but he was still eating his own. And no one else was in the room that she could sense.
However, she picked up something moving from the corner of her eye, which had her turning. She could have sworn she caught the sight of a small figure wearing a raincoat and she knew she heard giggling even if only for a brief moment. Her expression relaxed slightly with the corners of her lips turning up.
"I see," she said then moved the cake to the side of the table across from her. "Here. Please, take this if you'd like it."
At first nothing happened, but then more pieces went missing from the cake as if something was taking bites out of it. Wren's lips turned up a bit more before she took a sip from her tea and opened her book to read. Havel joined her while now full and content as he laid down beside her. Wren patted his head then turned the page to her book. Though she wasn't reading much longer when Sanji came back into the galley.
"Wren-chan, we finally shook the marines, and we found an island." Sanji told her then smiled when seeing her empty plate. "Oh, did you like it? Would you like another one?"
Wren looked to the plate as well while standing up to pick it up. Looks as if her new little friend, was finished already.
"No, I won't need another." Wren said while not wanting to hurt his feelings by saying she wasn't the one to have eaten it. "But thank you. It was thoroughly enjoyed."
Sanji looked pleased to hear it as he picked up Havel's dish from the floor. He said he'd do the clean up later as he told Wren the crew was going to explore the island. He opened the door for Wren like a gentleman, but before she walked through, she glanced back for any sight of the fae who had been around. She didn't sense it though, so she supposed it left or at least didn't want to be seen now. She stepped through the door with Sanji following her after Havel jumped onto his shoulders.
"Wren, there you are!" Luffy said. "Come on, it's time to explore!"
He then leapt from the ship with the others following at a more subdued pace. Wren looked up at the island while noting it didn't seem as if there was much here.
'No humans at least,' Wren thought. 'I wonder if that means we'll run into any neighbors.'
Wren walked with the others through the more wooded area of the island. So far, they haven't come across anyone or really anything.
"Maybe its uninhabited." Robin suggested.
Wren was ready to agree with her when a goat bleating caught their attention. The pirates looked up seeing a small, baby goat a few yards away from them. Wren stared at the cute little thing while involuntarily taking a step forward.
"It's a goat," Chopper said with a smile.
"No, it's meat!" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji said.
If goats could turn pale, this one would have as it let out a startled cry before running off. The boys—minus Zoro and Chopper—took off after the poor creature while chanting 'meat' as they ran. Havel, who had jumped down from Sanji's shoulders before the cook took off, shook his head at the trio.
"Those idiots." Nami said. "We have to stop them."
Nami ran after them quickly as the meat hungry pirates continued their pursuit of the defenseless, little goat. Wren looked down to her familiar.
"Havel," she said simply.
He looked up and nodded before he grew into his larger form. He took off running after their crewmates.
"Well, I'd hate to be them when he catches up." Robin commented.
"It will serve them right," Wren said.
Zoro just snorted at the whole thing as the rest of them followed at a more subdued pace. When they reached the others, Havel was squishing Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji underneath him.
"Get off of us, Furball!" Sanji demanded. "See if I ever give you sweets again."
Havel just leaned his head down to rub against Sanji's affectionately while purring.
"Acting cute isn't going to change my mind, dammit!" Sanji snapped.
Havel just continued to purr as Nami and Wren both were looking down at the trapped boys with frowns.
"Havel will let you up once you three promise to leave that poor creature alone," Wren said with her hands on her hips.
"But Wren's it's meat!" Usopp and Luffy protested.
They then grunted when Havel used his paws to bat at their heads for giving an answer that didn't please his mage.
"Get a hold of yourselves." Nami said. "I know you're hungry but leave him alone. He's just a cute little goat."
Said little goat bleated at them, which seemed to be some kind of signal since more goats started appearing.
"Tch, wish I could say the same for his buddies, but they're not cute and they're definitely not little." Zoro, who noticed the new arrivals first, said as he got ready to draw his sword.
Nami looked behind her noticing the goats causing her to gasp and back away. They surrounded the pirates while stomping their hooves threateningly.
"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you, Zoro." Wren said. "They are, in fact, very cute."
"Whatever!" Zoro snapped. "Doesn't change the fact they're trying to pick a fight! So, let those idiots up, so they can help."
Wren sighed since she'd rather not let them up to fight the goats. They could probably get away without violence. Though she did as Zoro requested and had Havel get off of them.
"Oh, no." Chopper said. "They set a trap and we fell right into it."
The goats then charged with Zoro completely drawing his Wado Ichimonji to deal with the problem.
"I'll take care of them," Zoro said.
"Don't hurt them," Chopper begged. "These goats aren't really evil. I can tell that much."
"Animals aren't evil in nature," Wren agreed then looked pointedly at Zoro. "It's the sword-wielding humans you have to watch out for."
"Oh, give me a break!" Zoro growled.
He was soon distracted when he quickly had to turn his sword to the flat side, so to hold the goats back by their horns. Sanji tried to fend them off with kicks, but the goats used their keen jumping abilities to dodge the cook. Usopp took a chance at shooting one of his nonlethal stars that was filled with tabasco at them, however, one of the goats kicked it back, so it hit Luffy in the eyes instead. The captain cried out in pain as his eyes felt like they were on fire.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting that," Usopp said as Luffy ran around in circles screaming.
The goats started circling the women and Chopper, which had the tiny reindeer holding up his hooves in a nonthreatening manner.
"Wait, we're not going to eat you or anything, I promise," Chopper said. "We mean you no harm. Why did you try to trap us? What's the deal?"
Surprisingly one of the goats took the time to answer Chopper's questions. The doctor's eyes widening slightly at whatever the goat told him.
"What the heck?" Chopper asked. "They said someone ordered them to do it."
"Really?" Nami asked. "Who was it?"
Wren looked to a tree not far from them where she felt a presence. She drew her sword and, in a flash, slashed it towards the tree. The wailing noise brought everyone to a halt as they watched the attack hit the tree. Surprisingly, the wailing slash passed through the tree without causing harm.
Though it did make the tree shake violently. Thus, dislodging what—or rather who Wren sensed—from its branches. An old man fell from the tree with a gasp before he cried out in surprise when Havel, who was still in his large form, stalked towards him.
"Ahhh! Monster cat!" He cried.
"Havel, wait!" Chopper pleaded after growing into his heavy point.
He gently pulled the cat sithe back as the old man turned evener paler as he gawked at Chopper.
"Another monster!" The old man shouted as he pointed at Chopper.
As the others looked at the old man curiously, Havel returned to Wren's side while curling around her body.
"You're really one to talk, Weird Old Guy." Luffy said.
"Chopper, is that old man the one who gave the goats their orders?" Nami questioned.
Chopper, who was still in his heavy point, turned towards the goats who were surprisingly docile now.
"So, how about it?" Chopper asked.
They seemed to bleat an affirmative as Chopper shrunk down to his smaller form.
"That's a yes." Chopper said as Havel followed his example and reverted to his normal size.
The old man looked at the gathered pirates nervously, and honestly, Wren couldn't blame him. If he was here all on his own with only goats to protect him, pirates arriving had to be scary for him.
"Maybe the old codger thought we came here to rob him or something?" Zoro guessed.
Sanji gave a friendly smile towards the man as if to be reassuring, so not to cause the old man any more stress.
"Hey, it's okay," Sanji said. "All we're looking for is food and water."
"Nice try but I can't trust anything a pirate says!" The old man snapped. "I'm telling you all right now, there's no treasure on this island. I don't have any money."
He just might be an older gentleman, but he certainly had a spark about him.
"We kind of figured that out already by the way your dressed, Old Man." Usopp told him.
The old man didn't seem convinced as he continued to sit on the ground with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Damn pirates, you won't get nothing out of me, so do your worst!" The old man said. "Simmer me, bake me, whatever! I won't talk."
Sanji's smile widened as he stepped forward and cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner.
"Oh, that's good." Sanji said. "I'm a cook, you see. I excel at simmering and baking."
As the old man began to panic at Sanji's words and throw rocks at them, Wren gave Sanji a look.
"Sanji," she said in a chiding tone though she knew he was only joking.
"Sorry, my dear, I couldn't resist," he said with a grin as the old man, who tried to run away, managed to get himself stuck in some bushes.
Zoro walked over to help the old man by drawing one of his swords. The old man squealed in fright because he probably thought Zoro was going cut him, but the swordsman merely cut the branches of the bush away to free the old man. After the branches fell away, the old man passed out. After that, Usopp and Luffy came to get a closer look as Zoro sheathed his sword.
"Wow, is he okay?" Luffy asked.
"The old coot seemed pretty tough." Usopp said. "I never took him for a fainter."
Chopper hurried over to check on the passed-out man. He knelt down beside him while placing his ear against the old man's chest. When he gave a gasp, the others gathered around.
"Oh no, guys, his heart stopped beating!" Chopper said.
As her crewmates gasped and turned to giving accusing looks at Zoro, Wren knelt down beside Chopper who immediately got to work on trying to help the man.
"Zoro!" Luffy gasped.
"You!" Usopp said.
"How cruel," Nami told him.
"I'll say," Sanji agreed.
As the goats bleated at him as well, Zoro turned to his crewmates while stuttering and stumbling over his words to try and defense himself.
"It's as I said," Wren began as Havel sniffed the old man. "You have to watch out for those sword-wielding humans."
"You wield a sword too!" Zoro reminded her.
"Yes, however, I'm only half human." Wren said pointing at herself.
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Zoro demanded.
Wren just smirked at him in reply causing his brow to twitch in annoyance. He should have known letting her join the crew would led to headaches.
"I'm a doctor," Chopper told the goats as he performed chest compressions on the old man. "Is there a place nearby where we can stabilize him?"
The goats bleated in reply, so with the Straw Hats help, they began to move the old man. Wren followed her crewmates while curious how things would turn out from here.
'This wasn't how I was expecting things to go,' Wren thought as she walked with some of the goats to fetch water from the stream the old man told her about.
Havel had stayed behind with the others as the old man had the cat sithe hunting down mice. And though he was a cat—even if a fae one—Havel actually hated having anything to do with mice. Wren came out of her thoughts when one of the goats bleated at her. She looked down seeing the goats were leading her through some bushes to the right where she could hear running water. She went in that direction while pushing back the bushes to see the stream.
"Thank you for leading the way," she told them as she gave one an affectionate pat.
It made a happy bleating noise at her in return as it leaned into her touch. She then went over to the stream while kneeling down. She reached out to touch the water but paused when a few dark shapes swam up to where her fingers hovered over the water. The shapes popped their heads out of the water to reveal water sprites. Little undines to be exact.
Depending on their environment, Undine's sizes and appearances change. And they can be found in all forms of water. From oceans to small ponds. While some might be the size of mermaids; others can be the size of aerials like the ones here before her.
Like, aerials these undines had a humanoid appearance though the color of their skin was a greenish-blue hue and they had pointed ears that resembled fins. They also had dark eyes like the aerials, however, unlike they aerials, they had webbed feet and hands. They're bodies were even decorated with many shimmering scales that shined like the clothing they wore that looked as if it was made from the very water, they resided in.
"It's a halfling," One of them spoke, their voice clear, and bell like. "We haven't seen a halfling in such a long time."
Her companions nodded in agreement as they farther out of the water to get a better look at Wren. The goats didn't seem surprised by their presence, so Wren supposed they were used to the fae. After all this island didn't have any humans on it beside the old man, so the fae probably moved around without fear of being discovered.
"Tell us, sweet one, what is your name?" One of the others asked.
"Yes, sweet child, tell us," A third spoke up.
Wren gave a small smile as she reached out to offer her hand to them. The one, who had spoken to her first, reached out to touch her tiny hand against Wren's in greeting as Wren went to reply to them.
"My name is Wren." She said. "It's a pleasure."
The undines giggled as they did a twirl in the water in excitement at meeting this newcomer to their home.
"Ah, so a darling little bird is what you are," The first undine said. "We have no names to give you in return, darling bird, but we are pleased to meet you as well. It isn't often we get visitors. Especially not one of our own."
As she spoke more fae started to make themselves known. Nymphs and ents came from their trees to get a closer look. Gnomes and Púca were peeking from the bushes and Wren could see a few eyes peeking out from underneath rocks. Devas and aerials were moving around the treetops as well as few black hounds appeared on the other side of the stream.
Wren smiled at the hounds while reaching out across the stream that wasn't that wide. One leaned over to sniff her hand before giving it a friendly lick as a gentle wind ruffled her hair. She looked up and saw humanoid shapes within the breeze that blew past her, which meant this island also had sylph living on it.
"Welcome to our home, darling bird." The first undine told her warmly. "If you need anything at all, please, don't hesitate to ask. We will even help those human friends of yours if you wish. That grumpy, old Zenny is certainly putting them to work."
She said this with a giggle as she tilted her head to the side. Wren guessed the old man's name must be Zenny as he's yet to give them a proper introduction. After he woke and cried about them being bullies and being unfair to the point Luffy promised to do chores for him, the old man put them straight to work.
"He certainly is, isn't he?" Wren asked with a chuckle. "Speaking of work, if it isn't a bother, I would like to take some water from your stream back to him."
"Yes, yes, it's no bother at all," The undine assured her. "Please, take what you need. Though please do come back and see us before you leave this island."
Wren promised before taking one of the buckets that the goats had been carrying. They had brought a few as Zenny said they needed quite a bit of water for the goats, to do his laundry, draw him a bath, and use to cook his dinner. Once she was done filling the first bucket, she passed if off to a goat with another one bringing up the next bucket. This processed continued until they were all finished, and Wren stood up.
"Thank you," Wren told the undine. "I will be sure to come back and see you again."
She waved to them, and the group of undines waved back before disappearing back under the water. As she walked back to where Zenny's house was, some of the fae followed. A púca even came up to her side and took her hand into both of its hands. Wren looked down at the creature who almost resembled a small child.
Púca were shapeshifting fae, so their appearances tended to differ. However, overall, they took on the appearance of children with animal characteristic. Small woodland creatures seemed to be their favorite to mimic. This little one had rabbit-like ears on top his head and whisker like markings on his face along with a short, rabbit-like tail behind him.
"Where have you traveled from, Misce?" He asked her as he blinked up at her. "Was it far?"
"It was a slightly lengthy journey, yes," Wren replied. "From a land much different than this little island. A land of sand."
The púca seemed entranced by her words as he squeezed her hand a bit tighter. As they drew closer to Zenny's home, rest of the fae dropped back. However, the púca remained at Wren's side while not releasing her hand even when they came from the forest to Zenny's home.
"There you are, girl!" Zenny said. "What took you so long, huh?!"
He then blinked when he noticed the little boy clinging to the female pirate's side.
"My apologizes, Zenny-san," Wren said. "I made some new friends along the way and became distracted."
As he looked up suspiciously while wondering how the girl found out his name, her crewmates took note of her new companion.
"A child?" Nami questioned.
"Hey, Wren, who's the kid?" Usopp asked.
The Straw Hats gathered around, which caused the púca a little discomfort as he moved closer to Wren. She put her hand on top of his head, which had him looking up.
"It's alright," Wren said. "They are my friends."
He relaxed slightly when hearing that as he bravely took a step forward to get a better look at the pirates. Luffy knelt down to his height and the púca stepped forward to stand in front of the captain.
"Everyone, this is a neighbor of the island," Wren said. "It appears there are many of them here."
"Wow, really?" Luffy asked as the púca was pulling on his face curiously.
The young captain didn't seem to notice or either didn't care as the púca pulled his cheeks way past the normal limit for a human. The púca gasped in amazement as he released Luffy's cheeks, which snapped back into place. He gave a laugh at the oddness of what happened as Nami found herself smiling at the small fae.
"Misce, are all humans so stretchy?" He asked looking back at Wren.
"No," Wren, who was helping the goats unload the water, replied. "Luffy is a special case."
Usopp knelt down in front of the púca as well and the fae smiled at the sniper who smiled in return.
"We haven't seen any neighbors since we left Magus." He said then looked to Nami and Chopper. "Though I guess this is the first time you've seen any of them besides Havel, Nami, Chopper. Oh, and Robin too."
He glanced at said woman, who was watching curiously from a distance, as Havel was coming from inside the house. He perked up when seeing the púca.
"Hmm, a young púca." Havel said.
"Ah, hello, cat sithe." The púca greeted politely.
The púca was then swept up in conversation with Luffy who started asking him a bunch of questions. As the two entertained each other, Sanji looked to Wren.
"So, you found some neighbors on this island," Sanji said then glanced at Zenny. "Doesn't look like the old man knew about them."
Zenny looked amazed by the sight of the púca as the fae was now speaking with the rest of the crew as well. He looked completely relaxed with them now as he let Nami pick him up. In fact, he laughed and raised up his arms to put around the navigator's neck.
"That isn't surprising." Wren said. "While they don't care to help humans, they still like to go unnoticed by them. After all, the fae and humans do not have a good history."
Sanji nodded remembering how Sable the Spriggan had reacted to them even being on Magus Island. You don't act like that towards someone without good reason. Wren looked up at Sanji.
"By the way, does it look as if Zenny-san is running out of chores anytime soon?" Wren asked.
"I wish that was the case, but I don't think he'll be done working us for a while." Sanji said.
He and Wren both shared a sigh while guessing that they'd probably be stuck here a while. Well, Wren supposed it wasn't so bad. Her friends looked happy with their new companion as they were laughing and smiling and having a good time. At least their stay would be somewhat pleasurable with such nice company.
Coco: And that is the end of the chapter. And in case any of you were wondering why, or even realized that the púca called Wren by Misce, let me explain. Misce is a term that I'm using for halflings. So, all fae will address Wren by this because that's what 'kind of' fae she is. Meaning all halflings are referred to by this or their actual names.
Speaking of names, not all fae have given names. It's not common practice for fae to give themselves names. Usually just referring to each other by neighbor or friend or even just by what kind of fae they are. Like how the púca greeted Havel simply as cat sithe.
Also, not all these descriptions of fae are not going to be "accurate". I will adjust some like how I did with the púca. They are shapeshifters and don't have a set description. But that's how much descriptions of fae are, so to try and give you guys a description to visualize, I will need to make some up some of my own appearances for them. Now, I'll try to stay as true as I can, but please, understand they aren't going to 100% accurate. The same might go for how they act. Like, how cat sithe are said in some lore to take the souls of those recently departed before their souls can enter the afterlife and, in some culture, they have two tails (like the nekomata) and sometimes appear as beautiful young women to trick humans. I might mix and match different cultures or omit things or add things from time to time.
Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up, ya know?
Now, until next time, everyone! Remember to stay safe and keep being your beautiful selves!