Ch. 4- Attack of the Liger
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, and other OCs © Me
(BGM: Where There Are Storms, There Are Stars Too- One Piece OST)
Ruka sat at the edge of a cliff, staring down at the ocean below as the waves crashed against the rocky face. The boy's eyes looked solemn, almost listless as he gripped his spear. He then sighed as he looked up to the sun in the sky and saw the face of a man in his 30s with a scruffy maroon goatee...and he soon disappeared.
"...You used to bring me here, sometimes, Dad," Ruka whispered as he looked at his spear. "You even made me this spear..." He then tightly gripped the shaft in his hands. "...It's just not fair. I'm doing what I can to protect everybody, and suddenly, I'm the bad guy? They're pirates...why should I trust them?"
"Maybe if you weren't so quick to judge, Liza wouldn't be so rough with you."
Ruka turned around to see Aika and Kumi, the former in her wolf form as she approached. He gasped before he pointed his spear at Aika, who quickly stood up on her hind legs and raised up her paws.
(BGM: Shizuka na Ikari from the One Piece OST)
"Hold it!" she cried before she morphed back into a human. "It's just me! See?"
"...I almost thought you were a dhole," said Ruka as he turned away from her and sat back down. "Honestly, I'd welcome them instead of the pirates."
"Ruka," Aika began as she approached him, "you shouldn't assume we're bad, just because we're pirates."
"Hmph," Ruka scoffed. "I almost feel bad for you...you're a little girl and you've been brainwashed by those bastards."
"I was not brainwashed," Aika argued. "They saved me and Kumi."
"...Pirates saved you?" Ruka asked, skeptically. "Yeah, right...isn't that usually the Marines' job? To save little kids like you?"
"...The Marines are the reason I'm sailing with my Big Brother," Aika said, grimly. "They...they destroyed my island...killed all my friends and neighbors...and my Mom, most of all."
Ruka's eyes went wide in disbelief.
"...You're kidding, right?" he asked. "There's no way the Marines would do something like that...would they?"
"...Some Marines are just as bad as the pirates who killed your parents, 5 years ago," said Aika. "You don't have to believe if you don't want to...all I'm saying is that you shouldn't just assume we're just like the ones who attacked this place."
"How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?" Ruka asked.
"I wasn't so sure about my Big Brother and the others, either, when I first met them," Aika said. "I thought that they were wicked people, deep down! But I looked in their eyes...and I couldn't see any kind of evil in them. They gave me and Kumi a home when I had nowhere else to go."
Kumi smiled and wagged her tail, smiling fondly at the memory of when Luffy and the others brought them aboard the Sunny.
"And you know what they taught us?" Aika asked.
"What?" Ruka asked. "How to kill and steal from innocent people?"
"No!" Aika countered. "They taught me what it means to really be a pirate. They taught me how to be brave...how to stand up for myself and my friends...to be strong and protect the people you love...but most importantly, they taught me that whenever things look bad, when it looks like the odds are against you...that you should never, EVER give up." She then sat next to Ruka, who glanced at her. "Ruka...we may be pirates, but we know right from wrong. Liza's already made friends with us. You can be friends with us, too, but not if you won't give us a chance. If not now...then someday."
"...As if," Ruka said as he looked away. "I'd never wanna be friends with pirates. As far as I'm concerned, you're still one of them."
"Well, Aika, we tried," said Kumi. "Come on, let's go before Luffy and the others notice we're gone."
"...Won't you at least come back and apologize to Liza?" asked Aika.
"Why?" Ruka asked. "I meant what I said: she's not my sister."
"She may not be your real sister," Aika began, "but she obviously cares a lot about you! Big Sis Nami isn't my real sister, either, but I still love her!"
"Blah-blah-blah!" Ruka shouted. "That's all I'm hearing from you!"
"...Fine," Aika said as she turned to leave. "Be that way. Come on, Kumi."
"Aika, that's the best idea you've had all day," said Kumi but just as they were about to head back to the village, Aika's eyes suddenly flashed red before she looked to the bushes, which caused Kumi to stop in her tracks, too. Ruka, however, only blinked in confusion.
(BGM: Luffy Nigeru- One Piece Film: Strong World OST.)
"What's wrong with you?" Ruka asked. "I thought you were leaving-"
"Shh~!" Aika shushed.
"Hey! Don't shush me!" Ruka barked. "I can talk as much as I want-"
"Run," Aika spoke up, suddenly.
"What?" Ruka asked.
"Run!" Aika answered, her voice sounding more urgent. "Now!"
"Why?" Ruka inquired, only to get his answer when an orange-brown blur suddenly leaped out from the bushes with a ferocious roar, causing him to scream as it nearly pinned him to the ground had Aika not tackled him out of the way in time. As the two children looked up, they saw that the creature was some sort of large tiger about Blizzard's size with these flaring red eyes and a crescent-shaped scar on his left eye, but for some reason, he had a mane of brown hair like a lion.
"W-what is that?!" Aika asked. "A tiger?!"
"I dunno," Ruka said. "It's got a lion's mane! What does that make it?"
"A...a liger, I guess," Aika answered.
The liger growled at Ruka and Aika, who whimpered as they began to back away, but the former quickly grabbed his spear and pointed it at the cat.
"S-stay back!" he shouted. "I'm warning you!"
The liger only growled before he swiped his claws at the spear...easily breaking it in half, causing Ruka to gasp.
"My spear...!" he whispered.
Just as the liger prepared to pounce, he suddenly felt something tugging at his tail, causing him to turn and see Kumi with the tip of the appendage in her mouth.
"What are you waiting for, Christmas?!" Kumi questioned. "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"
"COME ON!" Aika cried as she grabbed Ruka by his wrist and began to run while Kumi just barely escaped getting swiped at before she followed after them. However, the liger roared before he soon gave chase after the trio.
"What do we do now?!" Ruka questioned.
"Keep running!" Aika shouted as they ducked under a tree root, but the liger smashed through it with just his head alone.
"He's getting closer!" Kumi cried as they kept running, dodging any rocks or vines in their way. As they ran, though, Ruka suddenly got his foot caught in some vines and cried out as he tripped.
"Crap!" he cursed as he tried to get his foot untangled, but as he did, the liger began to draw closer before he lunged at the 10-year-old boy, who screamed in terror as he saw those huge canines about to pierce his head. However, the beast was suddenly tackled to the ground by a white blur.
"Blizzard!" Aika and Kumi cheered while Blizzard wrestled with the liger, who quickly pushed him off before standing to his paws and growling at him, but that only made the wolf-dog growl right back.
"Blizzard, you're here!" Aika exclaimed, happily.
"You okay?" Blizzard asked.
"Yeah, now that you're here!" Aika replied. "Where are the others?"
"They'll catch up, soon," Blizzard answered. "Now run!"
"What are you crazy?!" asked Kumi. "We're not leaving you here!"
"This is me we're talking about," said Blizzard. "I can handle a pussycat like him."
"Oh, can you...White Wolf Blizzard?" asked the liger...whose front legs suddenly blackened.
"...Okay, that might be a bit of a problem," said Blizzard before he realized something. "Hold it...how do you know my name?!"
"That's not important," the liger answered before he lunged at Blizzard, who was a bit taken by surprise at first, but jumped back at him nonetheless. The wolf-dog's Haki-imbued fangs sank into the liger's mane, causing him to roar as they hit the ground, but the two continued to tussle, furiously. Blizzard yowled as he felt the cat's claws pierce into his side and rake down into his ribs, but he retaliated by biting the liger's snout, causing him to roar in pain.
While Blizzard was busy, Aika and Kumi worked to untangle Ruka's foot from the vines.
"Get me outta here, already!" Ruka demanded.
"Stop struggling!" Aika shouted. "You'll make it worse!"
"Yeah, even I don't squirm this much!" Kumi added.
THUD! Blizzard was suddenly thrown against the ground, a large, bloody bite mark on his right foreleg. The wolf-dog growled as he tried to stand up, but the liger quickly pinned him down with his claws dangerously close to piercing his neck.
"You stupid mutt," the liger growled in Blizzard's face. "Did you really think you could mess with me? That I'd just turn tail and run like a frightened little kitten?! Well...let me tell you a little secret...I don't even know what fear is...!"
"Well, maybe I SHOULD TEACH YOU!"
BAM! The liger was suddenly struck hard by a punch that was too fast to be seen by the naked eye, and soon after, Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats, along with Liza appeared, and needless to say, the former looked quite pissed. However, the liger growled as he glared at the Straw Hats, completely unflinching.
"You sure you wanna do that, kitty?" Sanji asked. "Because let me tell you...I'd hate to mess with us, right now...especially since you just tried to eat little Aika and Kumi, here."
"If you wanna fight, though," said Zoro as he drew his swords, "we'll give you one."
"That can be arranged..." the liger growled as he prepared to go on the offensive...until his ears suddenly perked up, and Blizzard, Kumi, and Chopper found themselves suddenly covering their ears and crying out in pain.
"My ears!" Chopper cried.
"Make it stop!" Kumi shouted.
"Agh!" Blizzard yowled.
"...It seems you got lucky, this time," said the liger before he turned and fled into the jungle. At that moment, Chopper, Blizzard, and Kumi uncovered their ears.
"What the hell was that thing, anyway?!" Usopp questioned.
"If I had to guess, I'd say it's a liger or something," said Sanji.
"Are you all right, Chopper?" asked Robin.
"Yeah...it stopped," said Chopper.
"What stopped?" Franky asked.
"The whistling," Chopper answered. "Didn't you guys hear it, too?"
"Yeah, it was so sharp," said Kumi. "I thought something was piercing my brain!"
"You okay, buddy?" Luffy asked as he helped Blizzard up.
"My ears might be ringing for a while," said Blizzard, "and aside from this bite wound, I think I'll be all right."
"What about you, Aika?" Nami asked as she kneeled in front of Aika and Kumi. "Are you and Kumi all right?"
"We are now," Aika said.
"Good," Luffy said. "Now...what did we say about wandering off?!"
"I only went to talk to Ruka!" Aika argued. "I was just trying to get him to be a little nicer!"
"Aika, still, you shouldn't scare us like that!" Nami added.
SWISH! Zoro easily cut through the vines that had entangled Ruka's foot, thus freeing him, and it was then that Liza went up and hugged him.
"Ruka, are you all right?!" asked Liza, only for Ruka to push her away.
"I'll be fine once those pirates are gone," he said.
"Ruka, they just saved you from becoming cat food!" Liza chided.
"Maybe if they didn't show up, I wouldn't have had to end up getting chased by that liger!" Ruka argued, only for Luffy to push Liza aside and grab the ten-year-old by his shirt.
"Look, you little punk!" Luffy said with a glare in his eyes. "I've had it with this attitude of yours! I don't care about your issue with pirates! If you wanna hate us, then go ahead and hate us! But stop being mad at Liza for no reason, got that?!" He then roughly threw Ruka down to the ground.
"Ruka!" Liza cried as she went to his side.
"My word...!" Brook whispered in shock.
"Ugh...I guess that's just how boys are," Nami shrugged.
"Let's go," Luffy said as he and the others began to head back to the village. As they did, Ruka glared at the back of Luffy's head...but then he sighed as he begrudgingly followed them. As they did, though, Robin glanced back at where the liger had disappeared to.
"What's up, Robin?" Zoro asked.
"Chopper mentioned hearing whistling right before that liger left," Robin said.
"So?" Usopp asked.
"So...I'm thinking that maybe that liger wasn't wild," Robin answered.
XXX
The liger panted as he ran through the jungle, leaping over fallen trees and boulders and ducking under tree branches. As he ran, the path began to change from dirt to stone bricks that were covered in moss and wrapped up in vines and other greenery. As the liger broke out into daylight, he saw a figure standing before him with his back turned to him. While his face could not be seen...he was wearing a Marine coat draped on his shoulders.
The liger soon stopped and bowed his head to the figure, who did not turn to look at him.
"Welcome back, Tiberius," he acknowledged. "Find anything...interesting?"
"Yes, Master," said the liger, now known as Tiberius. "It seems that the Straw Hats have arrived on the island."
"Oh?" asked the stranger as a grin appeared on his face. "The Straw Hats, you say...how interesting."
"And that's not all," said Tiberius. "I saw Cat Burglar holding a map of the island...it seems that they are after the treasure, as well."
"Hmm...perhaps we can help each other, then," said the stranger. "I think we should pay this village...a little visit. Gehahahahaha...!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
This will be the last chapter for a while, because I need to get back to The Fire Within and then more of Whole Cake Island.
Review, please!