I really was Not expecting the reception the first chapter got, so as a thanks, this next chapter is coming out way early :) Thank you guys, hope you like little Cyndaquil.

The next day, Nami brought a small handheld mirror out with her and showed it to me, and I saw my own reflection just like water! Then she angled it so it reflected the deck and to my surprise, a bright spot of light started to move along the deck. I curiously put my paw to it, when it suddenly shot off about a foot away. I followed, but it moved again, and again, until finally, it stopped. After digging in place for a few seconds, I realized the light was intangible, but it felt very warm, so I let out a low happy chrrr and tried to lay in it. Nami made a strange, unfamiliar noise similar to a purr, which made me raise my head. To my surprise, she seemed to be holding back laughter, Zorro also was a demon with his sticks—swords—that day, training until sweat poured into his eyes, it was hard not to be intimidated, this man must be the strongest of the crew. I was just finishing relieving an itch near my ear when I saw Usopp enter the kitchen near dinnertime, I trailed behind.

"Hey, mouse. Keeping me company?" Usopp asked with a friendly smile, pulling out some of the lemons and salted meat. "I'm trying something new today, I'm hoping the sourness might cover the saltiness of the meat and tenderize it, but it's a bit of a guessing game." Usopp continued on, streaming his consciousness, not entirely aimed at me, but just content to keep talking. "…And there was one time I had an entire village to feed and only a single haunch of boar meat and a pocketful of dried corn and I…" the more I listened to his story, the more entranced I was! Although he was still pretty young, Usopp had some incredible adventures! Wrapped up into his story, he kept slipping me pieces of meat or biscuits as I listened with rapt attention. "Oh, young protegé, you should have seen the Viking longship I christened after that!"

The others were called in for dinner and though some of the others said the meat was too sour, I had to agree-though mostly gravitated to eating plants rather than meat. Just as we were about done eating, my head shot up, my fur stood on end, and a flash of fire plumed from my back. Usually, I wasn't this reactive to changes in weather, but I was still (rightfully) nervous about being constantly surrounded by water. And, well, I had a reason to not like what was coming.

"Fire-guy lit up again!" Luffy said, mouth full of food.

"What is it?" Usopp asked.

Nami frowned, hand to her hair, where a couple of strands were floating from the static in the air. "Storm!"

We all spilled outside and within moments, the pirates were pulling the rigging, righting the wheel and preparing for the storm. I was a little unsure about what to do against the wind, which threatened to push me back and forth across the deck, but I did have something I had learned from my mother. I looked up at the thick storm clouds above. I understood they didn't care where they poured down, just that they did and I focused on the energy the sun above was trying to provide. The Strawhat crew ran around adjusting the ship as the first drops of rain came and… nothing followed.

The darkened deck slowly filled with light like opening curtains, angry storm clouds escaping in either direction, a decidedly supernatural sight. The fire burned on my back as the day returned to calm, and the rain began to pour below the departing clouds. When I finally shook myself out of it, extinguishing my fire, the crew was staring at me.

"You just moved that storm." Nami pointed out dumbfounded. "That looked like an hour of rain. And it just completely stopped and now it's bright and warm?" She pointed up unnecessarily at the sun, cheerfully shining above.

"Shishishi! That guy sure is useful!"

That night, Nami warned us of a cold snap, but I had only known one climate my whole life, and apparently, by now we had sailed almost two hundred miles from my island. I lay in Luffy's extra shirt, listening to the quiet breathing of Zoro and Usopp and the loud snoring of Luffy but about half an hour after we turned in, I woke up shivering harshly. It was freezing, even after I nudged my way under the shirt. I may be able to produce flames, but fire types aren't known for their long-term endurance for cold. If you want an ice climber, go for an ice-type. If you want someone to relax with in a nice, blazing hot desert, a fire-type is who you should call.

I began to look around for warmth. I didn't want to rely on them but there would be no warm place on the ship. Luffy suddenly snorted loudly and tossed in his sleep. I would get smushed with him! I leaped onto a drawer and landed on Zoro's chest. He stiffened and one eye opened as he stared critically down at me. I shivered in response and looked at him with my saddest look, tilting my head to the side, quivering slightly, and giving a quiet whine. He growled slightly, but pushed me to his feet under the blanket and muttered. "Only this once, rodent."

That was good enough for me, I squirmed between his lower legs under the blanket and gave a big yawn. As I fell asleep, I thought about my mother's deep, rumbly voice, her stark red eyes, and a smile crept across my face.

The next few days, things started to change slightly. Once, when I was lounging in the sun after a particularly intense game of chase Luffy (in which I learned his body is made of rubber and bouncy and stretchy) where we took turns tearing after each other, wreaking havoc until Zoro had lost patience and yelled at us, Nami brought me a sliced up apple. Then Luffy took that apple and started trying to teach me tricks like sit and down and spin, which I did perfectly on the first try, because he said what he wanted me to do. It wasn't rocket science, but Luffy laughed gleefully as he held out a portion of the apple pieces for me to accept.

"You're so cool, fire guy!" he chuckled, eating the rest.

The next day, Usopp put a bowl of fresh water out on the deck for me and checked to make sure it was filled up later. I took that as a sign that they had accepted my presence on the ship, and to a certain degree, I had accepted them, too. No matter how temporary the situation was.

I got in trouble with Zoro for trying to gnaw on the one of his sword's sheathes and I thought he might be really mad at me, but he seemed to have mostly forgiven me after lunch. Me and Luffy listened to another of Usopp's stories. But the biggest thing, which made me look back at all the little differences was dinner on the fourth day. I waited on the floor for the designated cook of the day to throw me some scraps but instead, Luffy scooped me up and set me on the table.

"The mouse is eating with us from here out!" Luffy declared with a grin on his face. Usopp, who was on kitchen duty passed a plate over with cut up fruit and smoked trout and for the first time, over three hundred miles from home, I ate with the crew.

"We have rations for about another week and a half if we're careful, but with this unexpected detour, I think we need to be more careful from now on with our food supplies. It'll be another four days until we can make it to an inhabited island."

"You hear that, firey guy? We'll have you on a fun island in a few days, so hang in there!" Luffy said with a grin, patting my head. I return a meek smile.

"About that, I really think even if it's temporary, we should call him something," Nami pointed out. That piqued my attention.

"No way." Zoro shook his head. "You name something, you get attached. I don't want to hear you crying in a couple days because you don't want to give him up."

"Look at him, he's eating on the table with us, Luffy's already attached," she pointed out. I looked over at Luffy in surprise. He was humming himself, still shoveling food into his mouth, swinging his legs like a kid. We did have some really fun times the last couple days…especially when he'd slow down enough for me to catch him during our tag games, or wrestle on the floor trying to bite his nose as he giggled. Nami clapped her hands. "So, a name!"

Usopp looked at me, a pensive look on his features. "A name… how about Zephyr? Like the wind, because he blew away that storm? Or Azure for the color of his fur?" Usopp proposed.

"Or Flamey," Zoro added sarcastically.

"I like Blaze for his fire abilities," Nami said thoughtfully.

"Shishishishi! You all are so bad at names! He made the sky sunny so his name is Sunny! Captain's orders!" Luffy declared.

Usopp stared at him but eventually grinned. "Well, that's pretty simple…but I guess it's alright, what do you think, Sunny?"

"Quil!" I cried in agreement. I didn't care what my name was or understand if it was simple or obvious or stupid, I was happy they came up with it for me! Almost like I had a place, as temporary as it was, for the first time since we were brought to this strange world.

"SUNNY!" Nami cried suddenly, and before I could jump out of the way, I was enveloped in a hug. "With that name, you're actually a cute little animal! A navigator's dream!"

I stopped trying to escape her grip after a moment, when I realized it was comforting, in its own way. I relaxed into it with a contented sigh.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed. And looking back at that day, sitting at the table with the crew that would be my family, who just gave me a name, I wonder if that's the first moment I joined Luffy's crew. Or at least, the moment I went from a stowaway to a friend.

Because it was the very next day that we came across the floating restaurant of the sea, the Baratie.

SUNNY!

Oh yes, I somehow managed to name him after their future ship, but it was a weird coincidence, I promise.

1. Plot going to start to pick up, but I definitely wanted to slow down and show the moments with the strawhats and Sunny starting to bond before we got into anything else.

2. I'm gonna say that Cyndaquil are of course seeing through their VERY convincingly closed eyes, but like dogs (or more accurately, mice) their vision isn't their strongest sense. Mice and shrew are very aware to any change in the ground around them, and that alerts them to danger much earlier than any scent or sight would. I'm gonna say that that's a survival instinct of Cyndaquil because they're based on prey animals vs. Quilava, which is based on the omnivorous weasel. Also gonna say that Cyndaquil can see pretty well, but their motion discrimination (seeing moving things clearly and quickly) just kinda sucks.

3. Please review!