Ch. 6- Pamela the Harpy


One Piece © Oda

Story and OCs © Me


FOREWORD: Before we get started, I just wanna say I am very sorry for the long wait on this chapter. Writer's block can be hell, not to mention that I just didn't wanna rush through this because rushing just means a crappy story...and I don't want a crappy story. I wanna make this flow as smoothly as possible and I wanna wait until Wano is finished until I get started on that, at least. Plus, I also got back into Inuyasha again, not to mention I've been watching the Beastars anime.

Anyway, I hope that this chapter was worth the long wait and hopefully, I will be able to update One Piece: The Fire Within soon, as well.

Enjoy!


"Oh, the islands in the south are warm~! And their heads get really hot~! They grow a-pineapples, they grow a-coconuts! And they're idiots~!"

Luffy and Aika laughed as they sang their silly song together, the latter following after her older half-brother as he held his "adventurer's stick" in his hand. Luffy noticed that his younger half-sister was feeling rather tense, so he decided to try and see if he could lighten the mood with a little song. It looked like it worked because Aika just couldn't stop giggling.

"You feel better, now, huh, sis?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, I do!" Aika answered. "Let's sing some more, Big Brother!"

"Right, then! Next verse!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Oh, the islands in the north are snowy~!" the D. Siblings sang together as they kept marching through the forest. As they sang, Aika glanced up at Luffy for a moment as she watched him sing with that big, dopey grin on his face. The same grin that she loved to see...but then, her eyes trailed down to the scar on his side...the scar left behind when Katakuri skewered him with his spear. Even though Aika's smile remained on her face...deep down, her heart clenched at the sight of the scar.

It was a reminder that she was very close to losing her older brother...and a reminder of her hidden desire.

"Aika?"

"Huh?" Aika muttered as she looked up to meet Luffy's eyes.

"You okay?" he asked. "You stopped singing."

"Oh...umm...I guess I got a little distracted by something," said Aika before she smiled up at him. "Sorry. It won't happen, again!"

"Well...if you say so," Luffy shrugged before he kept walking, and Aika followed after him...while snaking her hand inside his, causing him to glance down at her before he smiled and gently tightened his grip around her hand.

'...I can't tell Big Brother...' she thought. 'I can't ever tell him that I don't want him to be a pirate anymore...'

She squeezed Luffy's hand as she furrowed her brow, brief images of Langstrom attacking the siblings the other day flashing before her eyes.

'I just want things to stay this way...I don't want Big Brother to fight...I don't want him getting hurt...I just want him to be my Big Brother...forever...'

Suddenly, there was the sound of a twig snapping, prompting the D. Siblings to stop in their tracks.

"W-what was that?" Aika asked.

"Calm down," Luffy replied. "It's probably just a little forest animal."

As if to confirm his theory, two little foxes came rushing out of the bushes, one of them carrying a dead rabbit in its mouth as they ran. Aika watched them as they ran away...but not long after, she heard a deep growl, which caused her to gasp in fright...until she saw that it was just Luffy's stomach rumbling.

"I think those foxes have the right idea," Luffy said before he looked down at Aika. "You hungry, Aika?"

"...A little bit," Aika admitted.

"Well, I'm sure there's something to eat out here," Luffy said before he walked off. "Come on, sis."

"Where are we going?" Aika asked as she followed Luffy.

"Where else?" Luffy asked. "We're gonna catch us some food!"

XXX

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest, in a hidden alcove...there sits a ship, anchored inside a large lake that had a big enough tunnel that connected it to the ocean outside. The ship itself was a galleon, at least twice as big as the Thousand Sunny and almost big as a Marine battleship. The figurehead was in the shape of a fierce Harpy Eagle with its wings spread wide. Painted on the ship's mainsail was a picture of an eagle's skull with crossbones behind it and talons outstretched.

Inside the captain's cabin, a shadowy figure sits behind a desk, smoking a cigarette. Mounted up on the wall were various firearms, ranging from pistols to bazookas, machine guns...hell, even an RPG launcher. Also on the wall was a wanted poster of what looked like former Warlord of the Sea, Gekko Moriah...but his face was crossed off.

In the corner, curled up in a soft bed was a black-and-white Husky with a pink rhinestone collar, snoozing softly by her master's side. However, her ears perked up as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door, which was soon knocked on.

"Come on in, Mizuki," said the figure, and soon, a girl of at least 13 years entered the room. She had on a pink-and-white striped shirt, a mahogany skirt with brown leggings, a pair of dark brown penny loafers, and a red bandanna with the Jolly Roger on it tied around her dirty blonde hair.

"Captain Pamela," said the girl, Mizuki. "Looks like Langstrom's finally on the move, again."

"Hmph..." the figure scoffed. "What kind of idiot pirate went and pissed him off, now?"

"...It's...Straw Hat Luffy, Captain," Mizuki answered, causing the figure to freeze as she was about to take another drag of her cigarette...which fell right into the ashtray on her desk.

"...Straw Hat Luffy?" she repeated, causing Mizuki to nod while the Husky in her bed blinked up at her master with big, round, icy blue eyes. "That guy's here on my island?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Mizuki.

"...Let's go," Pamela answered as she suddenly sat up from her desk. "Hurry...before that lunatic finds him first!"

XXX

"Big Brother?" Aika asked as she followed Luffy through the forest, carefully climbing down rocks and climbing over logs while Luffy walked on ahead of her. "What are we looking for?"

"Something to eat," Luffy answered. "I already told you this."

"I know that," Aika said. "I mean what kind of thing are we eating?"

"This forest looks pretty big and bountiful," Luffy replied. "Reminds me of when I used to camp out in the jungle with Ace and Sabo. In the morning, we'd go out hunting wild boar and have it for breakfast."

"So...we're looking for boars?" asked Aika.

"Boars, rabbits, deer..." Luffy listed off. "Just any animal, really. As long as it's got meat, we'll hunt it down and have it for breakfast!"

Aika swallowed the lump in her throat. Ironically, even though she could turn into a wolf and wolves were known to hunt down prey, she wasn't quite keen on the idea of actually hunting and killing animals for food. Sure, she would chase things like rats and butterflies at times, but she was more of a catch-and-release kind of girl.

Though she supposed if Luffy did it, it was all right. He was more used to this, so of course, he'd be more than willing to take down any wild beast they came across. Plus, he always seemed to enjoy it, too.

"Aha!" Luffy exclaimed, suddenly, causing Aika to see him kneeling down on the ground. "Aika, look! I found some boar tracks!"

Aika went over to look and saw some large hoofprints in the ground, as well as some crushed roots and dug-up dirt.

"The boar must have been foraging here," Luffy said as he inspected the ground. "They like to eat things like buried nuts and roots and stuff."

"...Do they...also eat meat?" Aika asked.

"Sometimes," Luffy replied. "But only if they're really hungry and really desperate."

Hearing that caused Aika to gulp, nervously.

"I got an idea, Aika," Luffy said. "You go on ahead of me and you flush out the boar."

"M...me?" Aika repeated, worriedly before she glanced down at the boar's hoofprints. "Uh...Big Brother, this boar looks pretty big."

"It'll be fine," Luffy reassured. "If something happens, just scream, okay?"

Aika blinked up at her brother...but then she sighed and nodded her head before she went on ahead of him. She knew that she had no reason to distrust Luffy. After all, he had gotten her out of more than her fair share of scrapes. He wouldn't let anything happen to her.

As Aika went further ahead, disappearing behind the bushes, she looked around, nervously as she tried to spot the boar. Suddenly, she heard a snap coming from somewhere to her right, causing her to gasp as she quickly turned in that direction.

Nothing there...or so she thought, at first...but then, she could have sworn she saw something moving back there, snorting and shuffling around. Furrowing her brow, Aika shifted into her wolf form and began to prowl through the underbrush. Maybe this boar wouldn't be as big as she thought it would be. Besides, a boar wasn't too different from a pig...a big, furry pig with large tusks and a scary roar.

Aika quickly shook her head. No, she wasn't going to be scared of that. She was going to be brave and scare this boar out of hiding. She was a wolf, right? And top of being a wolf, she was also a pirate, and pirates weren't afraid of anything!

...Right?

As Aika continued to sneak up on what she believed was the boar...she didn't realize that it was not really what she was thinking.

"That's right, little wolf..." whispered Hendrickson as he looked through the scope of a bazooka. "Just a little closer..." Soon, he began to pull the trigger...but the click it made caused Aika's ears to perk up as her body tensed.

XXX

"Ugh...jeez, what's taking her so long?" Luffy groaned as he sat on top of a rock. "I'm starving, here!"

Grrrooooooooooowwwl~! His stomach roared in agreement, causing him to sigh as he rubbed his belly. As he did, he thought back about what happened yesterday during the encounter with Langstrom.

"That lion guy sure was strong," said Luffy. "He said he could even fight my Grandpa..." He then smirked. "That sounds pretty interesting..."

Suddenly, KABANG! A loud shot suddenly rang out, followed by a shrill scream...one that Luffy recognized all too well.

"BIG BROTHER, HELP!"

"AIKA!" Luffy cried as he ran toward where the sound came from.

XXX

Aika panted as she ran through the forest as fast as her wolf paws could take her. As she glanced back, she saw Hendrickson chasing after her with his bazooka in his hand, preparing another round to shoot her with.

"Get back here, you brat!" he shouted.

"Get away from me!" Aika cried as she kept running. "Leave me alone!"

Hendrickson growled as he tried to aim at Aika, again, but she ducked beneath some bushes the moment he fired, and as the shell opened, it revealed a net that was just big enough to catch her in.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he continued his pursuit. "Why can't she just be a good target and stay still?!"

Soon, Aika broke through some shrubs, only to gasp as she found herself standing in front of a huge cliff face with nowhere else to go. Aika shuddered as she attempted to back away, but as she turned around, she saw Hendrickson approaching her from behind, snickering as he held his net bazooka. He soon loaded another round into it before he held it up and aimed it at her, causing the younger D. Carrier to whimper, worriedly.

"Nowhere to run now, kid," said Hendrickson. "Don't worry, though...I'll try to make sure you're returned to the Straw Hats alive...but maybe not unharmed." He then looked through the scope of his bazooka, preparing to pull the trigger.

'Big Brother, where are you...?!' Aika thought.

Then...BANG! Aika shrieked as she screwed her eyes shut, awaiting the feeling of a net tangling around her. Instead...she got the sound of a scream of pain. As she opened her eyes, she gasped as she that Hendrickson was holding his wrist while his bazooka was on the ground. The Marine Ensign seethed as he held his hand, then looked around for whoever fired that shot.

"If I were you, I'd back off, you limp-wristed bastard!"

Hendrickson gasped as he looked to his left, prompting Aika to follow his gaze...only to gasp as she saw a tall woman, at least about as tall as Robin with a slender figure. She had brown hair with a magenta bandanna around her neck, as well as a matching buccaneer's coat that dangled off her shoulders like a cape, a bicorn hat with a white feather plume, and a pair of high-heeled, knee-high boots. She wore a dark red T-shirt with a Harpy eagle on the front, as well as a pair of black denim jeans. Her right eye was dark brown while her left eye was covered by an eyepatch...and she had many firearms strapped to her back, including a smoking pistol in her hand.

Beside her stood Mizuki, her dog, Angel, and several other women.

PAMELA "THE HARPY"

CAPTAIN OF THE HARPY PIRATES

BOUNTY: 387 MILLION BERRIES

"Go on!" Pamela shouted as she pointed her pistol at Hendrickson, once more. "Get outta here before I put more holes in ya!"

BANG-BANG-BANG! She fired several more rounds at Hendrickson, who yelped in fright before he ran off.

"...Coward," Pamela hissed...but then, thump! She gasped as she heard that small thud, causing her to turn and gasp upon seeing, who was back in her human form as she lied on the ground. "Uh-oh...Cassidy!"

"I'm on it, Captain!" a woman with short blonde hair, a red Criminal Brand shirt, a dark brown short skirt, sunglasses, and a revolver attached to her belt as she ran over to Aika and gently picked her up.

"How is she?" asked Pamela.

"I think she just fainted from the shock," said Cassidy.

"HEY!"

The Harpy Pirates turned to see Luffy running up to them...and he did not look the least bit happy.

"What do you think you're doing to my sister?!" Luffy questioned.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey!" Pamela cried as she held up her hands. "Take it easy! We don't mean any harm!"

"Huh?" Luffy muttered.

"You're lucky we happened to show up," said Pamela. "Your sister would have gotten captured if we hadn't come along." She then gave him a friendly smile. "Listen...come back to my ship with us. We'll talk there. Maybe we can get you some food, too?"

"You had me at food!" Luffy exclaimed, brightening up instantly. "Let's go!"


TO BE CONTINUED...


Next time on One Piece: Trek!

Pamela: So listen...I've been wanting to thank you for a long time.

Luffy: Huh? Thank me? But we've never even met.

Pamela: It's because of you that I'm able to even so much as walk under the sun, again.

Luffy: Eh?

*Meanwhile...*

Mizuki: So you say you don't want Straw Hat to be a pirate anymore, huh, kiddo?

Aika: Yeah...

Mizuki: To be honest, I can't blame you...but do you honestly think that not telling him about how you feel will make things better?

Aika: ... ... ...I...I don't really know...

Next time: Don't Lie


Yeah, I know not much happened here, but again, writer's block. Hope you all enjoyed it anyway!

Review, please!