3. Lemurs, Monkeys, and Sheep, Oh My!

Story Start: 8:55 AM

I was in lemur form on top of the tallest tree on the cliff, the vantage point allowing me to see the entire island rather easily. Slightly harder to see was the ocean on the far side of the island but that's what spyglasses were for. As I swept said spyglass along the quarter of the island on the left of the cliff I spotted a small dot on the horizon. That dot slowly became a Caravel and for the first time in this world I saw a Pirate Ship ballsy enough to have not only their Jolly Roger on a flag at the top of their mast but also painted on their main sail as well. Lowering the spyglass for a moment, I let out a soft 'Huh' as I considered how confident my future captain must be to paint his symbol on the main sail. After all, unlike the flag which could be taken off, the main sail was much harder to change if you wanted people to not know that you were a pirate vessel.

Raising the spyglass back to my eye, I stopped studying the ship and began studying the visible crew. It was quite easy to tell who the captain was, the kid was wearing the exact same Straw Hat as the Jolly Roger. And he was definitely a kid, sitting cross legged on the sheep figurehead of the ship with a grin visible even from here. Seriously, the human face should NOT be able to stretch that much when you smiled.

Moving from the captain, I saw a green haired man leaning against the wall of the top deck. I would have thought he was asleep if not for the fact that he was tapping one of the three swords at his waist. I blinked and looked again. Yep, three swords, which meant that unless this guy had a telekinetic Paramecia or a Zoan that had more than four limbs this guy must use one of those swords with his mouth. My teeth immediately began aching in sympathetic pain at what he must put his mouth through during fights.

Moving on, I looked up at the crow nest where there was another kid that looked to be the same age as the captain, long nose, curly hair, and a naturally tanned skin. He had a hand shading his eyes from the sun and was squinting in that way you did when you were looking at something a fair distance away. The facts that he was so high up and wasn't using a spyglass at the moment to observe the island made me think he was the crew's long range specialist.

The final crewmember only came out of the ship interior when it was time to drop the anchor of the ship which told me that for some reason the ship's steering mechanism was inside rather than on the outside. I frowned at what I considered an engineering blunder but shook it off in order to get a good look at the orange haired girl who roused the swordsman into dropping the anchor. Going by how she had been steering the ship almost right up to the beach of the island, there was a good chance that this was the crew's navigator.

Closing the spyglass with a small snap, I cocked my head and said "That's a pretty small crew, even for the East Blue. If that crew is older than a few months I'll eat my hat." Seriously, there were barely enough people to work the three cannons I could see, (one bow, one on each side) and still steer the ship and I bet there was a fourth canon at the back as well which meant that if they got into a fight and were surrounded there would be no one left to steer the ship. It was quite clear at least defensively that they still needed to fill their roster some more.

Giving a shrug, I said "Well, I guess that's two things I can offer my services for." I did have prior experience with sailing boats, though admittedly only small single sail Sunfishes, but I also knew the basics of loading and firing a cannon. (Thank you Mythbusters and Deadliest Warrior!)

Shaking my head at that thought, I quickly scrabbled out of my tree and repelled down the cliff side to meet them. Going half and half allowed me to quickly cover the distance between the cliff and where the crew had semi beached their ship in jumps and I arrived just as the crew was about to enter the tree line. Grinning as I came to about two hundred feet from them, I called out "Ahoy there!"

The crew turned around and at the sight of a giant lemur leaping towards them, the captain's eyes began to actually sparkle while the other three's jaws dropped. Then the kid I had identified as the long range expert pointed and blubbered out "M-M-Monster!" The next instant, he fell backwards, stiff as a board with foam coming out of his mouth.

Coming to a stop at the sight, I cocked my head and said "Uh, is he going to be okay?"

The green haired swordsman snorted and said dismissively "He'll be fine." The man flicked his thumb on one of his swords popping it out an inch before thumbing in back into its sheath as he studied me but otherwise made no other moves, clearly over his shock now.

The girl though was outright staring at me as she demanded "What the hell are you?!"

"Now that's not very nice, you guys are acting like you've never come across a Zoan devil fruit user before." I said with a pout, changing to my full human form as I did so.

"Cool! Hey, join my crew!" The captain shouted, eyes glowing even more even as he pointed at me.

The only girl on the crew slammed her fist down on the boy's head and shouted "Don't just invite him because he has a Devil Fruit like you!"

I cocked my head as I saw the poor guy's head get smashed all the way down to the beach, his neck stretching to keep the rest of his body upright and I asked "So I'm guessing he's got a Paramecia?"

His head snapping back into place like nothing happened, the captain laughed as he said "Shishishishi! Yep, I'm a rubber man!" He then pulled the right side of his mouth out a full three feet before letting it go and allowing it to literally snap back into place.

"Well that wasn't disturbing at all." I said in amusement before I turned serious and said "If you guys are offering though, I wouldn't mind joining. My survival challenge ended yesterday so I need a way to get off this island and you guys look like you could use another member for your ship, if only so that way you guys can fight and move at the same time."

"Survival challenge?" The sniper asked, suddenly sitting up like he hadn't just been frothing in fright a moment earlier.

I nodded and said "Yep, I've been on this island for the last six months roughing it with nothing but duck tape, a knife, and a few other things I got in a trade when another crew came to the island a few months ago."

"Cool." The sniper and captain said together, both with their eyes sparkling and the swordsman gave me a respectful nod at that.

The navigator though frowned and said "Why would you willingly spend six months on this island with so little?"

"Ah, now that's a bit of a tale." I said pulling my Battlescout off my back so that way it wouldn't poke in the sand as I sat down Indian Style. The weapon that was now on my lap got odd looks from all but the captain but I ignored those as I continued "First off, you have to understand that this world isn't the only one out there…"

An hour later, the Navigator, who I had learned was named Nami, pinched the bridge of her nose and said "Alternate realities. I should be calling you crazy, but that phone of yours is way beyond anything I've ever seen technology wise, and the stuff you have on it, not to mention your gun…"

"I still can't believe that guy took your memories like that." Luffy said with a growl.

I shrugged and said "Like I said before, Equivalent Exchange. Memories of a possible future in turn for me remaining alive seems like a pretty damn good trade to me." Turning serious, I asked "So, are you guys alright with me joining you? If not, could I at least get a ride off the island and stick with you guys until you hit Logue Town or somewhere else where I could get my feet under me?"

"Well of course you're joining!" Luffy said, sounding insulted that I would think he wouldn't want me on his crew.

"We do need someone to man the fourth cannon if we get in a fight. And learning this Haki sounds interesting." Zoro said with an eager grin, once more flicking one of his blades out with his thumb before clicking it back into its sheath again.

"Any man who can survive on his own for six months on an uninhabited island is welcome to travel with the Great Captain Ussopp!" Ussopp said with a thumb's up only to flinch at Zoro's dope slap and he rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled and said "Heh, heh, I meant, you've got my vote."

"And someone who has information on what the Grand Line is like would certainly be useful to have onboard when we get there." Nami mused to herself.

I grinned as I stood up and dusted off the seat of my pants as I said "Alright then, thanks for having me guys. Why don't we bring your ship around the island to my camp so we can get my gear on board then I'll show you where the water supply I was using is." I then cocked my head and continued "Though I'll need to make a basin for my solar still before we leave."

"You have a solar still?" Nami asked in surprise, as the rest followed my lead and stood up.

"Yep, made it out of the Seram Wrap that the pallet of duck tape came wrapped in." I said proudly.

"Nice." Nami said with a nod of approval. A minute later, the four of us were on the Going Merry using her oars to push off the shore so that way we could make our way around the island and beach much closer to my camp. After a quick explanation of why there was a cross on the beach, getting another nod of respect from Zoro, I lead the group to my camp so that way we could collect the six barrels the Bloody Path Pirates had abandoned in their hasty retreat and then lead the way to the stream to fill them up with water. (I had left them empty since it was so much easier just to fill my three water canteens when my five gallon drum was running low) Once the others were shown where to go to fill the barrels that they had already had on the ship, I got down to the business of making a large tub out of duck tap to put on the Going Merry that we could put sea water in and then put the plastic solar still top over so that way we didn't have to worry about running out of water while out at sea. Ussopp helped with this, showing me the best place to keep the still along with actually making it, the large container much easier to shape with two people rather than just one. After that, the pair of us stowed everything that had been in my camp including the tent top and tarp floor I had made out of tape since you could always use those kinds of things. My hammock also came with us. It was thick enough that it hadn't sagged yet and since the other guys slept on hammocks as well there was no point to NOT continue using it.

With all of that onboard, I thought we would be heading out. But it turned out that Nami took her job as a navigator extremely seriously and so was making a comprehensive map of the island, citing that the one that she had used to navigate to said island barely had any details of it. I merely shrugged and left her to it, pulling out my Switch and soon getting in a fierce Smashing contest with Ussopp, Luffy eagerly cheering us on and impatiently waiting for his turn. Even Zoro seemed interested in the game, which I blamed fully on the sword wielding characters.

Due to Nami's Cartography, it was approaching sunset when everyone was ready to go. When I asked just why it had taken several hours to map an island barely five square miles big, Nami proudly whipped out a map that not only had all of the various water sources mapped out but also a topographical map AND a map that showed what the currents were like around the entire island. Needless to say, I was suitably impressed and my low whistle had Nami grinning as she practically glowed with pride.

Still, the fact was that we wound up staying the night before shoving off in the morning, me and the rest of the males literally shoving Merry off of the beach she had been grounded on with her oars while Nami barked out orders. As we turned the ship then sailed away from what had been my home for the last six months, I gave it one last look before I turned my gaze out to sea. I was finally on my way to the greatest adventure of my life.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on my profile. Please look at the Poll, it may be a new one.

Not much to say about this chapter except noting that it's roughly half as short as Tailor's equivalent. Just shows how having a different Devil Fruit makes interactions different.