Here it is! All I had with Shinx! It's similar in most parts as I only rewrote as needed for Sunny, but I do think the differences are interesting, especially their goals and personality.
Anyway, I saw someone mention that it might be intermission through the story, but this will just be a one-off, with everything I wrote for this story. If I do write a concurrent story, it would be for Riolu, as I've had an interesting plot bouncing around in my head for a couple weeks!
So enjoy and let me know what you think :)
It was another day like any other for me as I paced the island, looking for food. There wasn't much for me to do except look for berries or roots or slow mice that inhabited it. There was a small town that functioned as a trading post, but I did a very good job staying away from humans unless it was scavenging during night-time and going through trash bags. I was padding down the beach looking for crabs to zap when I caught scent of a tantalizing smell. I trotted down the beach until I caught sight of a brightly colored ship with a ram's head bow. Meat, I smelled meat. I made my way over to the boat, used my teeth to shimmy up the rope ladder and looked around, the deck was empty and after straining my ears, I confirmed that there wasn't any sound coming from the ship, not even the creak of wood, this boat must be very new! It was a very big ship and with my diminutive stature, it was quite intimidating but I made my way toward the smell, nudging a door open to what looked decently sized kitchen and table. Just past there, I could smell the sweet fragrance of apples and oranges, smoked fish, biscuits, and salted meat. I found my way toward a burlap bag, which I quickly gnawed through to get to the dried jerky. Despite my small size, I made short work of about 20% of the bag before my large round ears caught several footsteps on the deck. I hadn't even realized people had arrived. I bit back a shriek of shock and buried myself into the bag. I'd just have to hide until they left the deck again, then I'd grab an apple and get on my merry way.
It didn't work the way I had hoped, however, because thirty minutes later, they were still on the deck, being noisier than ever. The harsh smell of jerky was starting to give me a headache but I stayed hidden.
I must have dozed off slightly at some point because I woke suddenly when soft footsteps came into the storage room. I tensed, from the hole in the bag, a woman with orange hair came in carrying a box of freshly picked limes. I held my breath as she passed. Maybe sneaking in here hadn't been the best idea I had ever had. She set them down and headed back to the door, and I thought I'd be home free, but when she walked past my jerky bag, she stopped in surprise, examining the large hole.
"Huh?" She stopped in front of me. "What hap—AHHHHHH!" She jumped back in surprise as I jumped out of the bag, only fueling my panic as I looked for a direction to escape in the dimly lit room. "A rat!"
My forelegs tensed in panic at the wailing human in front of me, the electricity in my body making my fur flash with yellow light—a perfected Shinx escape tactic, stun predators and make your escape! I took off between her legs and up the stairs in a flash, making my way back on deck.
"Catch that blue thing!" The girl screeched. On deck I realized there were three more startled humans, as I hurtled up, looking for somewhere to go.
"I got it!" Said one, running towards me, I sharply turned, making to jump off the deck but when I jumped onto the railing, I stopped dead when I realized that we were in the middle of the ocean. There wasn't even land in sight! When the tan human took advantage of my distraction and grabbed me, I yelped again, fighting the rising panic, contracted the strong muscles in my front legs and shocked him. He dropped me as the electricity coursed through him and he fell on his butt. If only I could find a new place to hide, maybe they would give up and—yet another pair of hands caught me, but this time, the calloused hands were ready for the shock and held me tighter. When I finally gave up with the bolt of electricity, I was being held firmly by the nape of my neck by a strong green-haired man with curious yet terrifying eyes. I hung there, shivering in his grip. They caught me, now they were gonna cook me up or throw me overboard! No matter how hungry I was, I should have known not to try to steal from a ship!
The orange haired girl had come out on the deck and now the others were coming around too. They were all so giant.
"What is this thing?" The green-haired man said.
Orange came up to me with a hand thoughtfully under her chin. "It was in the storage room so I thought it was a rat, but it actually looks like a weird blue cat."
"Hey Zoro, can we eat it?" The black-haired boy asked, looking bored now that the chase was done. My shaking got a little worse. I was too young to die, I was only six months old and I still had someone to find!
"Actually it's kind of cute, in a strange way…" Orange trailed off. On the ground, the top of my head would probably reach Green's knee; I was light and dark blue with yellow bands and yellow eyes, a red nose, and a star-tipped tail.
Orange extended a hand toward me and I showed my teeth and batted a paw in her direction. The man holding me tightened his grip on my scruff, effectively discouraging me from my threat display.
"Shiiii," I protested weakly.
Long nose, who I shocked before, spoke up too, "It looked scared, I think it may have stowed away, not realizing we were going to sail away."
So he wasn't as dumb as he looked, I nodded eagerly before going back to being terrified.
"Huh? You can understand us?" Orange asked.
"Shinx!" Yes! Don't eat me!
"How cool!" Black said, his eyes lighting up so they looked like mine. "And Nami, it shot electricity everywhere too!"
The girl, Nami, raised an eyebrow skeptically at Black, then crouched down a little. "You didn't mean to jump abroad, huh? I bet you were just looking for food and got stuck, right?"
I nodded again, and the man holding me exhaled a sigh and to my surprise, set me down. I wanted to go hide, but I had nowhere to hide and had no doubt they could catch me again if they wanted to.
"Do you live on that island back there?" Black said. I nodded again. I flinched as his eyes hardened and his fist clenched slightly. "And we took you from your home."
I was hesitant because while I did live on the island, it wasn't really home to me, I didn't know anyone well on that island anymore. He seemed to understand my resistance because after a moment he gave me a nod and stuck a straw hat on his head. "Alright then, it's settled! We won't eat you and we'll bring you to another island! What's your name?"
"Shinx?" I hadn't been called anything in a long time so I just looked up at him.
"Ah, so your name is Shinx," Black confirmed.
"Uh, Luffy, I think that's all it can say, I don't know if it's its name." Long nose said.
"Well, my name's Luffy and this is Zoro, Usopp, and Nami. We're the Strawhat Pirates. Now that that's settled, let's eat!"
Ten minutes later, the humans were sitting at the table in the kitchen eating smoked fish. Long nose—Usopp—had given me a small fish which I was gnawing on by the door. They were quick to laugh, or threaten as Nami did when Luffy put his hands too close to her food, and soon they were done. Zoro looked back at me, again making me feel uncomfortable under his glare. Then, I realized that the conversation had moved on to talking about me again. I put more effort into looking busy while my ears twitched as I listened in.
"—actually not uncommon for sailors, or pirates, to have a cat on board because they catch vermin and are bring sailors good luck," Nami was saying.
"It's huge, and blue, and it shocked me, it's no cat," hissed Usopp.
"It's a mystery cat!" Luffy claimed.
"I'm estimating we're about five days from the next island, so try not to get beat up by the kitten too much before then, alright Usopp?" Nami asked sweetly, while Usopp started to sweat.
"Shihihihi!"
After that, it was getting late, and Zoro stayed to clean up the dishes, Luffy watched the sunset from the bow, Nami left downstairs somewhere and Usopp climbed up to the Crow's Nest for the night shift.
I hesitated, not sure what to do. I would have retreated back into the storage room but someone had fully shut the door so I couldn't slide in. I didn't want to spend the night out in the open and it was getting kind of chilly. As I wallowed, Luffy walked by me. "Come on, blue cat thing. Time to go to sleep," he said if it were the most natural thing in the world. Having no other options, I reluctantly followed the boy down the hatch, which brought us to a decent sized room with five hammocks, that smelled vaguely of snacks and old socks. Luffy hummed thoughtfully as he looked around for something. Finally, he decided to pull out a shirt, that looked a lot like the shirt he was currently wearing, folded it once and set on the ground near his hammock. "Here, kitty," he said, picking me up and placing me on the shirt, "stay, go to sleep."
I stared at him incredulously for several minutes as he changed into a nightie, yawned loudly and climbed into his hammock and instantly started snoring. I laid down and gradually let my defenses lower enough for sleep, though I was alert and woke up many times; when Zoro came in sweaty holding three long sticks and when Usopp came in much later in the night.
The next day, after Nami brought a piece of fish and water out to the deck for me, my initial trepidation was beginning to wear off. I think I could trust Luffy and his friends to drop me off safely at the next island. Around midday, Luffy was groaning about being bored and started playing with anything he saw, the small machine Usopp was messing with, a calcified piece of bread, finally a big bouncy ball, which rolled down the deck past me. My ears perked up immediately. As my eyes carefully tracked it, it hit the stairs and started bouncing down and I couldn't help myself anymore—I charged after it, pouncing as it started to lose speed, tumbling over a few times.
Luffy whooped and clapped, "Nice catch, kitty!" We made a game of throwing the ball and catching it until I got tired and Luffy bored and I found a railing not overlooking the water to take a nap on. That day, I occupied myself with watching Usopp tinker. Nami gave me a gentle pat on the head as she walked by the make dinner and I was given a chunk of salted meat and again slept on Luffy's shirt.
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 slammed my paw into it, once, and then again, but I couldn't catch it. Then it starting moving all over deck, I started to run after it, charging and tumbling all over, nearly knocking a chair over to catch it, but there was nothing to grab. Then Nami started to make a strange noise like a purr until she was laughing softly at me as she finally let me catch it. After digging in place for a few seconds, I realized the light was intangible, even for me, which was sad because I was looking forward to an electric snack and I had imagined it being a Joltik.
Zorro also was a demon with his sticks—swords that day, training until sweat poured into his eyes. I when I saw Usopp enter the kitchen near dinnertime, I trailed behind.
"Hey, cat. 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 toward 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 as I listened with rapt attention. "Oh, cat, 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 love sour foods and enjoyed it. Just as we were about done eating, my ears perked up as I felt my fur stand on end and a flash of yellow involuntarily coursed through my fur.
"Kitty lit up again!" Luffy said, mouth full of food.
"What is it?" Usopp asked.
Nami frowned, hand to her hair, where a couple 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 what to do against the wind, which threatened to push me back and forth across the deck, but I did have something all Shinx—no, electric pokemon with enough wherewithal instinctually played with. It was a little like connect-the-dots but with much more danger involved as well as being exhausting, but I knew that encroaching lightning should not hit the mast. I screwed up my eyes and began to anticipate and trace the lightning bolts down to the water with my tail. I tensed my front legs, which generated electricity, shooting bolts to guide the lightning strikes. Most lightning storms were gentle, they simply had to be guided, like a reed in the wind, even if it was difficult and took concentration, I only need to direct them. Slowly, I lured the lightning away from the ship. This lightning was very gentle and ready to leave, I watched it go gratefully, huffing from the effort.
When I finally shook myself out of it, the crew was staring at me.
"You just moved that storm." Nami pointed out dumbfounded. "We were supposed to get another hour of rain." She pointed up and through the gentle drizzle, the setting sun was already starting to peak out.
"Shishishi! That cat 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 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 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 leapt 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, widest eyes, mellowing down my natural smile. He growled slightly, but pushed me to his feet under the blanket and muttered. "One night only, cat."
That was good enough for me, I squirmed between his lower legs under the blanket and gave a big yawn and within moments, I was warm again.
For the first time in weeks, I felt a rumble through my chest and throat, a comforting feeling reminding me of my mother, as I pressed against Zoro's leg with a deep purr. As I fell asleep, I thought about the stories my mother used to tell me about my great-great grandfather and how he left long ago, and was still out there somewhere.
'If you could cross the deep waters, I know you could find him, Blue. And what stories he would tell you.'
Mother's voice was rumbly, as if she was always purring, her stark red eyes bright, deepened the perpetual smile on 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 where we took turns tearing after each other, wreaking havoc until Zoro had lost patience and yelled at us, Nami brought me a sliced apple. I got admonished by Luffy for trying to shimmy up the mast and getting scared stiff ten feet up, only to be rocketed up with him to the crow's nest moments later.
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 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 after lunch, he threw me a big bone for my growing teeth to whittle down. Luffy and I listened to another of Usopp's stories. Late afternoon, I got to work on the bone as Zoro napped. 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 cat's 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, kitty? 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 the 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 you crying in a couple of 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. He was getting attached to me? 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 Sparky," Zoro added.
"I like Thunder for his electric abilities, which really helped us out," Nami said thoughtfully.
"Shishishishi! You all are so bad at names! I think he looks like a lion so his name is Leo! Captain's orders!" Luffy declared.
Nami stared at him but eventually gave a gentle smile. "Well, that's pretty simple…but it should be fine, what do you think, Leo?"
"Shi shi shi shi!" I cried. 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!
"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed with me. 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.
"Look out there! It's a boat restaurant!" Luffy shouted, hopping up and down with excitement against the railing.
Nami crossed her arms, a small smile on her face. "I hardly believed that old man when he mentioned there was one floating around the East Blue, but here it is. Do you think they'll sell us some barrels of provisions?" She said thoughtfully. Leo jumped up carefully to the ledge to see what they were looking at. A large boat with a duck shape on it and a dock.
Everyone piled out of the ship, Leo tensing, squirming cautiously on the ship side as the pirates either jumped down the six feet or took the two ledges down to the ground.
Zorro noticed, and called back. "Come on, cat. Unless you want to wait in the ship."
Leo wriggled nervously for a few more moments before taking the leap, plunking onto the deck without even a stumble.
"Do you think they'll let Leo in?" Nami wondered.
"Why wouldn't they? Let's eat!" Luffy cheered.
Nami sweat slightly and looked down at Leo. "Well, I guess if we're traveling with pirates, that's far from a big worry."
She shrugged and the five of them walked in and found a seat at a large round table. Usopp picked up Leo and set him in his lap as their server came over, giving him a scratch behind his big round ears.
Their server was a tall teenager in a black suit with yellow hair came over to them. "Welcome to the Baratie, can I get you started with any drinks?"
"I want meat!" Luffy cheered, banging his fists cheerfully against the table.
"And I'll take nectarine juice if you have it." Nami smiled at him. For a moment, he had no reaction at all, before his mouth opened, almost dropping his cigarette. His eyes turned into hearts and he began to wobble back in forth.
"Of course! For such a beautiful woman, I would grow them from seeds to ensure you only had the best! My name is Sanji but you can call me your greatest admirer—"
Sanji went from melting over Nami to standing at attention in a moment, leading to even more confusion.
"Is that a cat?" He asked, head tilted in confusion, a slight frown drawing his lips down.
"That won't be won't be a problem, will it, Sanji-san?" Nami jumped in, speaking sweetly. "Leo is very well-behaved."
Leo watched the interaction between — These people. Immediately Sanji's demeanor flipped again. "Ah, that shouldn't be a problem unless the other chefs see it. As for food, if you'd like, I'll bring out plates of all our specials if you all are very hungry."
The crew nodded and he disappeared back into the kitchen to prepare the drinks.
After a while, Sanji brought the food out and Zorro asked for a refill on his second order of sake.
Leo popped his head over the table as Sanji set down the first of three giant trays, almost losing balance when Luffy whipped an arm out to take a leg of roast.
"Hey—wait what?" Sanji blinked in disbelief. "Did your arm just—?"
Leo stretched his paw out and rolled a chicken wing to himself before jumping down onto the ground, holding it in his jaws by the protruding bone. Already the flavor was making his mouth water.
"This ish so good! Sanji you should join my crew!"
"Chew with your mouth shut, you're in the presence of a lady!" Sanji snapped. "And no way!"
Sanji was just setting down the last plate, trying to set the last platter further away from Luffy, who was chomping through his second plate already, with Usopp and Zorro not far behind, realizing they had to snap up food quickly in order to get their fill. Behind them, the front door of the Baratie slammed open, knocking against the door a few more times as a weak echo. A gray-skinned disheveled man stumbled in, supporting a larger but equally exhausted man in gold armor. The restaurant went silent as they took a few unsteady steps into the room before collapsing to their knees.
The gray skin man locked eyes with the blond chef—Sanji. "Please, you have to help him—my captain and the crew haven't eaten in weeks."
Sanji doesn't say anything. A gentle thump of a refilled glass of juice is set in front of Nami is suddenly incredibly audible. No one moves.
Leo, who is under Usopp's table, could smell the scent of decay on the man's labored breaths even several tables away and the chicken in his mouth suddenly tastes sour.
Sanji exhales quietly, folds his hands into his pockets, and without meeting their eyes, heads into the kitchen, passing by a buff yet goofy looking chef who had been checking to see what had happened.
He looked hostile and angry, and Leo could sense his intentions miles away. Harnessing his own feelings from a few days ago, and how he'd been treated so kindly recently, he crept over to the tall man, dropping the chicken leg in front of the tall man.
The man stared for a few long moments after demolishing it before reaching out to grab Leo with a large yet emaciated hand.
"Hungry!" His voice was cracked and guttural, his body controlled simply by the need to eat to survive as he reached for the small blue creature. Leo shrunk back, realizing what was happening but unable to stop it before he was picked up by the scruff by a rough hand.
"What is this in our restaurant?" Patty boomed shaking Leo in emphasis, hand on his hip. Leo tried to make himself as small as possible.
The Strawhats had jumped to their feet when the armored man had reached for their small friend. Luffy's face now a frown. Zoro placed a hand on his swords as a light warning. "We're gonna ask you to put the cat down."
"Huh? This is yours?" Patty asked skeptically. He'd heard of pirates keeping pets around to bolster their toughness. Animals like Newfoundlands, Mastiffs, Strong Island Gila Monsters. Cargo ships occasionally had a cat aboard to help with the mice but the strange cute blue cat now scrambling with its paws to get a grip on his fingers was quite unexpected.
Sanji walked out of the kitchen at this moment, having finished a plate of fried rice he had been working on. He sized the room up before stooping and setting the plate as well as utensils down of the ground in front of the pirate captain. He picked up the chicken bone from the ground, looking around before glancing at the struggling lion pokemon.
"That cat belongs to those pirates, Patty. Let's not make any more enemies." He said.
"Tch." Patty dropped Leo, who landed on the ground in a run out of the restaurant in a hurry, bounding out and around the corner in a panic.
"Shhhh," Leo hissed quietly, eyes slitted, trying to recollect himself. He'd almost been eaten. After a few moments, he heard Nami's voice.
"I'll be back in a minute, just checking on Leo!" She called. He heard the tap-tap of her sandals and allowed her to approach. A second later, he was being picked up. He looked up at her, and her face was set with a determined look.
"Shh, be quiet. We're getting on the ship." She tucked him under her arm and made her way back to the Going Merry, ignoring the large ship docked next to them, filled with starving pirates. She boarded the Going Merry, set Leo on the deck and got to work readying the ship. Leo felt himself be very relieved they were leaving the restaurant after the last few moments but jumped up in surprise a few minutes later when the ship started to slowly pull away from the dock.
"Shi!" Leo cried in alarm. The rest of her crew wasn't here!
"Leo, hush! We're getting out of here! That cook is going to feed all those pirates and I can't afford to have it end here! I need to go back to my island!" Her eyes softened slightly as the ship pulled away twenty, thirty feet from the dock and she spun the wheel. "And I know Luffy promised to take you to the next island, so I'll fulfill that promise he made you as thanks for what he's done for me."
Leo stopped his worried pacing near the side of the ship as they pulled away further, recognizing it as a lost cause. It's not like he could swim the fifty feet separating them and he was getting what had been promised, he just wanted a chance to say goodbye to Luffy and Zorro and Usopp.
It was quiet for a while until Nami was confident she had set the ship on the right course and quickly and efficiently prepped the ship in what should have been a four-person job. She sighed, sitting on the steps and pulled out two apples, offering one to Leo.
"Here, I know you probably didn't get the chance to eat much either, so eat up now."
Leo sniffed, he hadn't gotten the chance to eat anything, in fact, he'd almost been on the menu. Leo padded over, laid down and started gnawing on the apple, doing his best to trap it between his paws so it wouldn't roll away.
"I wish I hadn't had to leave them." She said eventually, throwing the apple core over the side of the ship. "But I always knew it was temporary, just until I could work up the funds to save my village."
Leo's ears perked up slightly at that. Save your village?
"My village…let's say there has been a group abusing their power there for a long time. And after all this time," she clenched her fists, "I have what I need to send them away." She pondered this for a moment before speaking again. "But my island is a great place for animals, so you don't have to worry about that. There's plenty of coconut trees and small animals to play with, and you could even visit my sister and I if you want, and try our grove's tangerines. They're the best in all the Blues."
Leo's ears twitched slightly. He didn't like the idea of going off on his own again. There was so much he didn't know and he was still so unsure of himself. He couldn't even protect himself from almost getting eaten! And Nami, she looked so sad. Whatever was happening on her island was weighing on her so much that she made a choice to leave the people she was having fun with. Looking at her now, she looked so lonely. Like all she knew how to do is say one goodbye after another.
She didn't sleep that night, so neither did Leo. She brought a thick blanket on deck and sat against the railing for breaks and Leo would nose his way in, curling up between her leg and the blanket until she giggled and protested that his whiskers were ticklish.
It was a good night, everything considered. She would give him a couple pats and talk about her sister, funny stories from when they were young and got in trouble with an older woman that was only referred to as 'she' as if Nami was remembering these stories rather than telling Leo. Leo didn't mind as he felt more and more sleepy throughout the night until he abruptly woke up in the morning to a slowing ship.
There Nami stood at the wheel, aiming at a dock meant for smaller boats. The ship slowed as the mast was furled and she docked with only the tip within reach of the dock in order to protect to the larger ship. She hoisted her bags of beri onto her shoulder and tucked Leo under her arm before jumping onto the dock.
She looked at Leo expectantly, like she was waiting for him to run off when they got to the ground. Leo, startled by her clear intention, glanced around nervously. She stared for a moment then laughed.
"You're scared. You never fail to surprise me. Alright, you don't know anything about this island, so I'll show you where I live and cook something up for you." Nami smiled. Leo smiled in relief and followed her toward a small town.
When they arrived, Nami, carrying the two large sacks of berri looked tense.
"There should be people walking around. I haven't seen anyone." She said quietly. Her direction changed slightly as she led Leo, who was at her heels, toward a plaza in the center of town. As they were coming around the corner, Leo could already hear the startling sound of dozens of footfalls.
Before them was what must have been the entire village, carrying broken broomsticks and rakes and shovels and fires marching toward the other side of the island.
While Leo was unsettled by the strange human behavior, Nami was horrified.
"Nojiko!" She shouted. A blue-haired girl around Nami's age in the back of the crowd stopped suddenly as the mob pulled forward. She turned around, eyes wide with what looked like surprise and dread.
"Nami…" Yes, Leo decided, she looked sad.
They stared at each other for a moment as the mob pulled away. Then Nojiko slowly walked up to her.
"What are you guys doing? You don't stand a chance against them!" Nami protested, shaking.
"Nami, we knew about the money. We knew about your deal with the pirates this whole time. I'm sorry." She said softly as if delivering bad news. Leo looked back and forth between the girls in confusion. Protest died on Nami's lips as a half-formed sound caught in her throat. "Arlong…he knew you were close. He told the Marines where it was buried and they took it. I'm sorry, they took all of it." Nojiko wrapped her arms around the unmoving, ramrod straight Nami. "But it's okay. Because we're going to take it back. We've been relying on you for too long, half-hoping you'd leave and never come back, half-hoping you would be our savior. I'm sorry. We're going to get rid of the Arlong Pirates."
With that, Nojiko pulled away, fondly stroked Nami's hair and took off running. Leo took a few steps after the girl, fully expecting Nami to give chase. He was surprised when her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, tears tracking down her eyes.
If those pirates were really so dangerous, Leo knew those townsfolk wouldn't stand a chance. Shouldn't they try to stop them? He whined slightly and pushed his head against Nami's arm, trying to coax her to react. When she didn't even blink, he tried again, and a third time.
Finally, her eyes trailed over to him, her expression wildly different from anything he had seen from her. She was sad but furious.
"Get away! Why are you still here? I fulfilled the agreement, I don't owe anyone anything!" She shouted. Leo shrunk back, ears pulled back, but didn't step back. "Get away, you dumb animal!" Nami picked up a small rock at her side and threw it at Leo, only a few feet away. It clipped his ear and he charged away ten feet in sheer instinct before stopping and turning around. Feeling hurt and confused, he pinned his ears back and gave a half-hearted hiss.
"AWAY!" She screamed louder, sobbing, she picked up another rock and chucked it blindly, just missing him.
Leo ran this time and didn't turn back.
Leo ran until he made it out of town and found cover in a patch of shrubs, trying to catch his breath. He wasn't a stranger with having rocks thrown at him. When he was fending for himself, he had to make trips into town constantly in order to scavenge food. He wasn't old or strong enough to catch food for himself—he didn't even know how. Children would often throw rocks or try to hit him using slingshots and chase him until he escaped into dense foliage. But it had never hurt as much as this. His heart felt heavier than his fear when he thought back to her eyes, empty, scared, crying. Was she still trying to stop them? Leo had those thoughts as he curled into a miserable ball. Eventually, he felt himself drift off into an uneasy rest.
When he woke up again, it was night time. He pulled himself up. Even if Nami didn't want to see him again, he still needed to know what happened!
Leo retraced his steps back to town. Again, no one was walking around outside, but some lights were on in the houses and when he peaked through a window, he could see people who had just hours ago taken up arms getting ready for bed. But where was Nami?
Leo never did find out where she lived with her sister or the other woman. His only clue was the pirate base everyone had been heading to. He took off in that direction.
Eventually, he got close enough to see a tall brick wall of the base. It was easy enough for him, even if he was quite cautious of heights. He walked along the wall for a few minutes until he found a good spot. He scooted up a few feet up a sturdy plant growing at the wall's side and jumped to the wall where sufficient ivy was growing. With his weight, it started pulling off the wall, so he had to move up the wall quickly. He had it to the top, huffing quietly. It was quite a sight. The base was right on the water, had a pool and a tower-like building. Even at night, there were blue, buff looking humans walking around. Leo squinted his eyes, jumping down the other side and skirting the wall toward the building. He'd have to be careful and quiet. There still wasn't any sign of Nami or her sister, but Nami had told him that she had been forced to work for them, that put an uneasy feeling in his belly.
Leo patiently waited in the tall grass until the humanoid being walked by. On closer inspection, they couldn't be human. They had sharp teeth and strange features and webbed hands. Then Leo darted by again. He found a knotted tree around the back of the building that he didn't have to climb as much as he had to take one or two foot jumps from knot to knot until he reached the roof of the second floor.
There were plenty of windows, so Leo peered in as many as he could, as stealthy and sure-footed as possible of the roofing. No, no, no. Either empty or only the strange aquatic people. Leo jumped from a window sill to the next, up a couple feet of a pipe, a small ledge, up to the third floor. He was very high up now, and he walked as close to the building as he could, trying not to think about getting caught or falling. He wasn't sure which would be worse.
He went from one window to the next, checking each one. Nothing. Leo sighed slightly, wondering if he should try back in town. This building had felt so right. He was still moving around the building when he heard something that immediately drew his attention. Crying. Nami. Nami was here and it was coming from above.
Swallowing a dreadful feeling, Leo found his way up another floor through ledges and thick patches of climbing ivy. He checked the first window sill he saw and sure enough, he saw the orange haired girl seated at a desk cluttered with paper, trying to recollect herself.
Leo jumped onto the window sill and let out a quiet meow. Nami jumped slightly and looked around, finally seeing Leo with shock. After a moment's hesitation, she came over to the window and opened it.
"Leo?" Her voice belayed her disbelief.
"Shiiinx," Leo drawled. About time.
"How did you get here?" She asked, wiping away her tears in vain. They kept running down her cheeks.
Leo jumped to the floor and rubbed his head against her legs, demonstrating he wasn't scared of her from their last encounter.
She tensed at his touch, trembling. After a moment she had a controlled drop to the floor, wiping her eyes with one hand and petting Leo with the other. A small smile graced her lips. "You came to see me? I can't believe it. You shouldn't be here, it's dangerous. You don't owe me anything—"
I'm not here for anything like that. Leo said, wishing she could understand him.
She took a deep breath. "You shouldn't be here. But thank you for coming." She looked at her desk. "That bastard really took everything. I left the money I took from…I took from Luffy at Nojiko's… I went to stop them. The only thing I could do is to promise to work twice as hard, to work for them forever and never complain and that he'd let the townspeople go back without being hurt anymore. But I know they'll be punished still for d-disobeying. I can't do anything else. I can't leave the island anymore!"
Leo looked up at her with his large yellow eyes, signature smile sobered off his face, something about them set with both determination and melancholy.
Nami started with realization. "You're…Leo, you're not just some animal. You're intelligent, aware. More than an animal. You really understand, don't you? You understand my feelings." She gave him a look, softer and more honest than he'd seen—something with admiration. A creature with not just sympathy but empathy!
Then there was a hand on the doorknob, and in a flash, nearly too fast for Leo to understand, Nami scooped him up, tossed him through the window and shut it before wheeling around.
Leo stuck his claws out on the tiles to control his tumble. For a heart-stopping moment, he was in the air, groundless. Then his instincts kicked in, and he reached out grasping the edge of the roof, leaving his hanging suspended over the third-floor roof. He pulled himself up in panic before looking forlornly back up at the room where Nami was. A large blue humanoid was now looking through the reopened window. He heard Nami saying something like 'I don't know, I thought I heard a bird hit the window.'
Thankfully, Leo was obscured by darkness, but he'd had too much adventure for the day and climbed down the building and back over the fence without attracting attention. He found somewhere to settle a safe distance from the base and laid down to sleep, still feeling unnervingly open to predators. He didn't fully understand why Nami hadn't wanted him to stay and comfort her, but he had to trust that she knew what she was doing and that she was working the best interests of both of them.
Even if you aren't in that pirate crew anymore, I'm going to help you get back to your sister, Nami.
That's all folks, as Leo was more agile, he evaded capture, and when I rewrote the scene for Sunny, I just couldn't see it happening that way, though Sunny's special attack stat is much more notable.