Disclaimer: As I've said many times before, I do not own One Piece. I only own Aurora.
Chapter 9
"AAAH!"
"Hmm?" Luffy hummed curiously.
"YOU'RE STILL ALIVE! HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO SURVIVE!"
"Can't we be alive?" Luffy asked the two.
"You smashed through a house, but you appear to be perfectly fine, which is too weird!" Nami shouted, pointing at the house.
"I don't care if it's weird." Luffy commented.
"What is your purpose here?" Boodle asked us. "Why are you fighting those pirates?"
"I just chose my goal a moment ago! It's getting the Grand Line map and a navigator!" Luffy told Boodle. Then he started to walk away.
"I'm gonna go see Zoro for a minute and come back. That fur cap guy appears to be looking for him."
"You idiot, don't! This time you're really going to get eaten by that lion!"
"I'll go with you." Aurora told Luffy, the both of them ignoring Boodle. They had just walked around the corner when they heard something.
"Woof woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"
It was Shushu barking!
Aurora looked at Shushu and her eyes widened.
His owner's pet store… it was on fire!
"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!" Shushu kept barking. "Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof woof! Woof! Woof!"
Aurora's eyes glazed over as she remembered what Boodle had told them.
"Obviously this store, is a treasure to Shushu. He loved his owner so much and since this is the only property left by the owner, I think he'll continue to guard the store."
Something snapped in Aurora at that moment and she looked over at Luffy. He had the same look in his eyes and she knew they had the same idea.
It was time to find Mohji and Richie!
It didn't take long to find the two. When they did, Luffy and Aurora stood in their path.
"You two…! Weren't you just…! Killed a while ago…!"
"I can't die that easily because I'm a rubberman." Luffy told Mohji with a smile.
"And I can't die due to this necklace." Aurora explained, tapping the yellow gem.
"Rubberman? I can understand that you may have incredible Devil's luck but I think you got a little hurt in the head… hearing you say words so ridiculous."
Mohji jumped off Richie and he sped toward them.
"Coming within my sight again was a dumb thing to do! This time I'll send you to the Netherworld!"
"GRRRRRRRRR!" Richie roared.
"I got this." Aurora told Luffy, stepping in front of him. She bowed her head, her hair shadowing her face. Aurora's fists were clenched at her sides.
"You think a lion…" She looked up, her eyes glowing a light yellow. "Can actually kill me?"
Aurora thrust one of her hands out. A bright yellow light erupted from it and sent Richie flying into a nearby building
"Wha-! What the hell is that! Richie!"
Her eyes stopped glowing and Aurora lowered her hand. Mohji looked at the girl fearfully.
"You… what are you!"
"Let's just say I'm not completely human…"
Mohji shook and held up his hands in surrender. "O… okay! I'll give you everything that you want! A… and I'll apologize! Sorry!"
"We don't need an apology…" Luffy began. "Because it won't bring back Shushu's treasure. And you…" Luffy looked up with rage in his eyes. "We came to get payback from you!"
"Aahck!" Mohji choked out when Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed his neck.
"Have a taste of your own medicine!" Luffy pulled his other arm back.
"AA… AAHHHH, HEY! P… PLEASE, I BEG YOU TO STOOOOOOOOP! SOMEONE SA…!"
That was all Mohji got out before Luffy punched him into the ground.
When Luffy and Aurora got back, Shushu, Nami, and Boodle were in front of the burned down store.
"This guy, that guy…! Pirates are all the same…!" Nami ranted. "Crushing everything precious to others!"
Boodle stood next to her, not saying a word.
"Hmm?" Luffy hummed, drawing their attention to the two.
"Oho Mr. Pirate and his crewmate, so you're still alive! I thought you would have finally been finished off by that lion…"
"Hey… what are you saying?" Boodle asked Nami.
"Before you get your pirate pals over to raid this village, why don't you just go to hell!"
"Can't you stop?" Boodle asked, restraining Nami.
"You think that you can hurt me?" Luffy asked, sticking his tongue out at her. "Bleh!"
"WHAT?" Nami shrieked. "Okay, so you wanna fight me, huh! Stupid pirate!"
"Will you just stop it!" Boodle pleaded, still keeping a hold on Nami. "Why are you acting like this!"
Luffy ignored him, walking over to Shushu. He set a box of pet food down on the ground in front of Shushu.
"That…"
"That's the only one that we could bring back!" Luffy told the dog. "The rest was eaten up if you can believe me!"
'Those guys… they fought with the lion and came back… for that dog…' Nami thought.
"It was admirable! You fought well." Luffy paused. "Well, I couldn't see it… but I know basically what has happened!"
Shushu, who had sat quietly, grabbed the box and walked away. Then he looked back at the two.
"Woof!"
"Yeah! You be strong too!"
"Good luck!" Aurora called after Shushu.
"Woof! Woof!"
"Ha-ha…" Nami got out, looking on at the scene before her. Then she walked over to the two. Luffy and Aurora looked at her questioningly.
"Sorry for screaming at you!" she apologized.
"It's okay." Luffy replied, getting up from his spot on the ground. "You lost someone important to you because of pirates. You've been through a lot, haven't you? You don't need to say anything…"
Nami looked at Luffy, a smile on her face.
"OOOOO….! I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE…!" Boodle shouted.
"What!" Nami wondered.
"It's just so miserable, so miserable! Shushu and you youngsters are fighting like this…! But why is it that I, being the village chief, can only watch our village being trampled!"
"Wait, Chief, calm down!" Nami told him.
"To a real man, there are some fights that cannot be avoided! Isn't that right, kid!"
"That's right, mister!" Luffy answered.
"Don't encourage him!" Nami roared.
"40 years ago!" Boodle started. "This place was just barren wasteland! From there we built everything as a fresh start."
"Let's build our village here. And forget the last village which was destroyed by the pirates…"
"At first it was tiny, and merely had a few small houses. But the population of villagers increased little by little, and we built more houses and stores and tried our very best! This place has now grown into a successful harbor village! This village was made by the old people! It's a village we made! This village and the villagers are my treasure! What kind of chief doesn't protect his own village! I'm going to fight!" Boodle finished, raising his spear. Not a second later, another one of Buggy's bombs went off.
It was right near them!
Aurora put up a shield, but the group was still sent flying.
"GRRR! EVEN MY HOUSE!"
"AAHHH! ZORO WAS SLEEPING IN THERE!"
Aurora looked on in horror, silently praying that Zoro was somehow okay.
"Is he dead! The kid with the waist band?"
"Hey, Zoro! Are you still alive!" Luffy yelled out. "Huh?"
Aurora looked at where Luffy was and saw a shadow. There in all the rubble sat Zoro!
"Yeah… that was some bad way to wake me up."
"What a relief! You're alive!" Luffy shouted happily.
"Thank goodness." Aurora breathed out, clasping her hands together as she headed over to the swordsman. "You didn't sustain anymore injuries, did you?"
"And just how is it that you survived…?" Nami asked. They were interrupted by Boodle.
"It feels as though my chest is being scraped out! Do you think I'll allow pirates to trample all over us again!"
"Chief!" Nami exclaimed.
"For a "horse-skeleton like guy" who suddenly pops out! He has absolutely no right to trample all over our 40 years! I AM THE CHIEF! I won't leave and let this village be treated this way!" Boodle cried, charging off. "Alright, I'm going to fight!"
"W…Wait a minute, Chief!" Nami said, grabbing hold of him.
"Let go of me, kid!"
"Those people are dangerous! So what's the point in going! This is too reckless!"
Boodle turned to them, tears in his eyes and shouted. "I KNOW IT'S RECKLESS!"
Nami looked at him in shock, while the other three had impassive faces.
"You just wait! Buggy the Clown!" Boodle yelled, running off again.
"The chief…was crying…!"
"Oh really?" Luffy asked Nami. "I didn't see anything."
"For some reason this is starting to feel more fun…" Zoro commented.
"Heehee-heehee, I agree!" Luffy said.
"How can you still laugh!"
"Don't worry!" Luffy told Nami. "I like that old man! I'm not going to let him die!"
"How can you still laugh in this kinda situation? Where the hell does your confidence come from!"
"Our destination is the Grand Line. Now we're going to go steal that map again!" Luffy remarked. "Will you join us? You need the map too, don't you? And the treasure…"
Nami seemed shocked, but answered. "I'm not going to become a pirate… rather than 'partners' let's just say we're 'cooperating' helping each other to achieve our goals!"
Nami smacked her hand against his, sealing the deal. Aurora smiled, then she heard Zoro get up. He walked forward, taking his bandana off his bicep and tying it around his head.
"You're going too?" Nami asked. "What about your stomach injury?"
"It's all healed."
"Yeah right!"
"More important than the injury done to my body, is the injury my name suffers because all I did in my last fight was get hurt. Should we go!"
"Yeah, let's go!" Luffy said, cracking his knuckles while Zoro's hand went to his swords.
"I'm dumbfounded…" Nami commented.
"So was I the first time I met the two." Aurora stated, following after her crew.
