Gathering Supplies

Testing Devil Fruits

Law waited with Bepo and Lami as Shachi and Penguin ran off a little while ago to get them something to eat. He glanced over at Bepo. The bear was playing with Lami, flying her over his head. Lami laughed, enjoying the attention she was getting. Law smiled. He was glad that Lami seemed already attached to the bear. He turned his eyes back out the window. The sun was still high in the sky. It was several hours before they would be able to go into the town and work on getting their supplies.

"Woohoo! Flying!" Bepo said.

Lami giggled and wiggled her little hands at him.

"So cute!" Bepo said.

"Still playing with the baby I see," Penguin said as he and Shachi walked back into the tree house carrying picnic baskets of food. Fish and chicken spread out into the air.

"I'm sorry." Bepo lowered the baby to his chest and bowed his head.

"You're so weird," Shachi said.

"Anyway, we brought some food," Penguin said. "Fish, chicken, onigiri, some vegetables and fruit."

"Eat up," Shachi said pulling the cover off the two baskets he was carrying.

The boys gathered around and started eating.

"So what's the plan from here?" Penguin asked while munching on an apple. "When are we going to leave the island?"

"I'm not sure yet," Law said. "We should probably practice sailing the ship and get a little stronger before setting sail."

"Getting stronger?" Bepo asked.

"I need to work on my Devil Fruit," Law said. "Once I have better control over that we'll have a better chance of surviving the sea."

"Don't Devil Fruits take away your ability to swim?" Shachi asked.

"It does," Law said. "But the crew I was sailing with before are full of Devil Fruit users. They had no problems sailing the sea."

"Who did you sail with?" Penguin asked.

"A man named Doflamingo," Law said. "He's someone we're going to have to avoid at all costs no matter what. At least until we're strong enough to take him down."

"Is he that powerful?" Bepo asked.

"He is." Law nodded. "He has the String String Devil Fruit. And that string can slice through anything but sea prism stone."

"Everything?!" Shachi gasped. "That's insane!"

"Wow," Penguin said.

"He has this move called the Bird Cage," Law said, "where he literally puts up a cage of strings over an entire island then closes it up like an umbrella. It kills every living thing on the island. No one can survive it."

"That's crazy," Penguin said.

"So what exactly are our goals by becoming pirates?" Shachi asked. "I mean other than having fun."

"One of our top goals is taking down Doflamingo," Law said. He gripped his fists in anger, smashing the onigiri he had in his hand. "I won't let him get away from me. I won't let him get away with what he did."

"You sound really fixated on him," Bepo said.

"He killed someone that I loved," Law said. "It's going to take a long time to get strong enough to handle him. Until then, we'll build up our crew and become stronger. We'll set sail for the Grand Line once we're strong enough."

"The Grand Line, huh?" Shachi said. "That place is crazy."

"It'll probably take us several years to get that strong," Penguin said. "We're going to need a lot of crewmembers as well."

"Then we better start training!" Shachi said.

"Yeah!" Penguin nodded. "This is going to be so great!"

Lami cried out.

"What is it, Lami?" Bepo asked. He bounced her a bit but she kept on crying.

"What's wrong with her?" Penguin asked.

"She's probably hungry," Law said. He pulled over his supplies and made her a bottle. Just as he got it mixed up, she reached out for him. He took her and offered her the bottle. She took it and stopped crying.

"It's it going to be all right to take her out to sea with us?" Bepo asked.

"It'll be fine," Law said. "We'll make adjustments to the ship so she can be out on the deck with us but be limited on where she came waddle around to. Once she starts crawling that is."

"Good plan," Penguin said.

"There are some boards that have been abandoned near the edge of town," Shachi said. "We can use those."

"Yeah." Penguin nodded. "And we can get our hands on plenty of hammers and nails. I'll go get them after we eat. We should get on that soon."

"Then do it," Law said. "While we're waiting for night to fall we can work on the ship a little bit."

"Then lets finish here and get going," Shachi said.

The other nodded in agree. A short time later, the group gathered up their stuff and headed out. After getting the supplies they had spoke about they headed for the ship. They traveled through a thick brush path and down to a cove. There sat a ship that looked like it could easily hold a crew of six people. Law frowned. "Well, not quite what I was expecting, but it'll do for now."

"We can get a bigger one later," Penguin said.

"A really big one!" Shachi said.

"Maybe," Law said. "Or maybe we'll do something different."

"What do you mean?" Bepo asked.

"I'm think more along the lines of a submarine," Law said.

"A submarine?" Shachi asked. "Wouldn't that be more dangerous with you Devil Fruit powers?"

"Perhaps," Law said. "But with all the medical equipment I'll be using a sub would be better."

"I can see that," Penguin said. "I think."

"A sub, huh?" Shachi said. "That'll probably cost more than just a ship. We're going to have get a lot of treasure to pull this off."

"We'll do it," Law said. "We'll start out on this ship. Once we get the hang of sailing it we'll get another one, a bigger one then work up to getting a sub. We'll need to find someone who's the best at building subs. I'll have it designed the way I want it."

"Sounds like a plan," Penguin said. "Let's get started."

Law nodded. With Lami strapped securely to his chest, he followed the three up the rope ladder. Landing on the deck he looked around. A smaller upper deck to his left was where the helm was and just below it was a door. He figured it might be the captain's quarters since there was another room to his right on another upper deck.

"That room just below the helm is the captain's quarters," Bepo said confirming Law's guess. "And that room just across from it is where the galley is. A few rooms are below it. They can be used as bedrooms or storage. The bathroom's also there as well."

"Does anyone here know how to cook?" Law asked.

"Don't look at me," Shachi said. "I'm a terrible cook."

"I can," Penguin said. "I'm not the best but I get the job done."

"My fur usually gets in the food," Bepo said.

"Please, then don't cook for us," Shachi said. "Stick to navigation."

"I'm sorry." Bepo bowed his head. He looked up when Lami made cooing noises at him. He smiled and took her small outreached hand.

"I wonder what she's going to be like when she grows," Penguin said.

"Speaking of which," Shachi said. "Is she your little sister or is she going to be like a daughter to you?"

Law blinked. He looked down at Lami. He didn't know. All he knew was he was going to take care of her. But what did that make him? Was he going to be an older brother to her? Or was he going to be a parent to her? Or was he just going to be a mix of both? "I'm not sure. Never really thought about it. But she'll find her place on the crew when she's old enough. Let's get to work. I want a playpen fixed out here for her and one in the captain's quarters. We're going to be living here from now on. It'll be safer than the tree house all the time. But when it storms we'll move onto the island until it passes."

"Aye aye, Captain!" the three said before spreading out among the deck.

Law looked down at Lami. She yawned and her eyelids started to fall closed. Taking her off his body, he placed her down near the mast where they all could keep a good eye on her. She jumped and cried out in surprise when Shachi started hammering some wood.

"Sorry," Shachi said. "Should we wait until she's done taking her nap?"

"No," Law said. "She'll learn to sleep while its noisy. If she doesn't then she'll always have to have it quiet when she sleeps. That won't work on a pirate crew. So make noise."

"You got it," Shachi said as he turned back to the wood and started hammering again.

Law watched Lami for a while. She fussed and fidgeted for twenty minutes before sleep finally took over her. Then he got up and started helping his new friends get the ship ready. After three hours of working, they sat down to take a break. He stared up at the sky. White fluffy clouds rolled passed them. "We should sail for a little while before we finish up for the day."

"You got it," Penguin said.

The crew jumped up. Law headed up to the helm while Shachi and Penguin climbed up to unfurl the sails as Bepo lifted the anchor from the water. The sailed filled with wind, billowing out like large fluffy clouds. Law grabbed the helm and thought back to all the lessons on sail he was given by Doflamingo. Like a natural instinct, he easily guided the ship away from the island and out into the open water.

"Yahoo!" Shachi cried out. Now on the deck, he spread his arms out wide. The salty air blowing through his hair as he breathed it in deeply.

"This feels great!" Penguin said. He looked down just as a bunch of fish started jumping out of the water. "We're going to have to bring on some fishing gear as well. We should be able to catch lots of fish at times. It'll be a good source of protein."

"Totally!" Shachi said.

"Lami's wake," Bepo then said. He walked over to the mast and picked up the little girl. Lami giggled and hugged the bear as best she could with her little arms.

"Looks like she's already found a favorite," Penguin said.

"Mhmm." Shachi nodded.

Law looked down on them and smiled. He was already so glad and grateful for the bear's assistant. It appeared they were going to make their own crew work after all. Now all he had to do is figure out what kind of crew he actually wanted. A crew full of Devil Fruit users would be amazing. But it would also cause problems. What if they all ended up in the water? They'd all die at the same time. So he figured he'd only let a few Devil Fruit users on his crew if any. Strength was important so it was probably best to start from there. And these three he had on his ship and crew looked to already be on that track. Then there was himself to think about. He still needed to get control over his own Devil Fruit powers and he needed to figure out what type of fighter he was going to be. Luckily, he's had a lot of training thanks to Doflamingo and his family. He had the advantage over the rest of his crew. He was just going to have to rework what he knew in with his Devil Fruit powers. And what better way to do that than with his surgical skilled.

Two hours later, Law sailed them back to the island. They worked more on the ship before heading back to the tree house for the time being. To prove that he could cook, Penguin started a fire while Shachi and Bepo ran into the town to get them some more food. They brought back several fish and some rice.

"Can you make grilled fish and onigiri?" Law asked feeding Lami a bottle.

"That's not a problem," Penguin said as he set out to cook their meal.

"Good," Law said.

"Is that a favorite of yours?" Penguin asked.

"It is," Law said with a firm nod.

"Then I'll cook it as often as you want," Penguin said. "Just say when you want it and it'll automatically be added to the menu."

Law nodded.

"It's going to be dark soon," Shachi said. "Just asking, again, but when are we going to leave this island?"

"I've been thinking about that all day," Law said. "And I've decided that we'll give ourselves at least a year or two before leaving this island."

"That long, huh?" Bepo asked.

"I want to make sure we're strong enough to deal with the sea and the pirates and Navy we'll be meeting along the way," Law said. "Starting tomorrow we'll train and see what all you can do."

"You got it, Captain!" Shachi and Penguin cheered.

"You are going to teach Lami how to fight, aren't you?" Bepo asked.

"I'd rather now, but since she's going to be on our crew as well, she'll need to know how to defend herself," Law said.

Lami looked up at him and smiled.

"It's done!" Penguin said. "Time to eat!"

Law reached out and grabbed him an onigiri. He munched on it while Lami tried to reach up and grab it. "No, not for you. You don't have teeth yet."

Lami pouted and fussed.

"Sorry," Law said. "I'm not going to allow you to choke on food. And I don't want any of you feeding her solid foods until she's ready."

"Aye aye, Captain," they said.

After they finished eat, Law passed Lami off to Bepo and walked away from them a few yards. Holding out his hand, he tried to for that circle thing that he did before. The smoke swirled around his palm before spreading out.

"Wow!" Shachi and Penguin said.

Law had no clue what he was doing. But something inside of him appeared to be guiding his actions. He sliced a finger through the air. A small tree in front of him divided in two. The top half floated in the air while the other half remained in place.

"What the heck?!" Bepo cried.

"How did you do that?!" Shachi asked.

"I'm not sure," Law said. "I just moved like I was using a scalpel or something and it cut in half."

"That's insane!" Penguin said

"I have the Op Op Devil Fruit," Law said. "And it's suppose to be able to cure illnesses. So going by that this Devil Fruit is obviously related to healing. Like it's a doctor of sorts."

"I'm not sure I want to know what that means," Penguin said.

"I'll need to experiment," Law said. He looked at his crew.

"Don't look at me!" they said.

"Don't worry." Law looked around. He spotted a large frog hopping by them and grabbed it. "I won't experiment on you. I'll start with animals like we did in school. I'll upgrade to humans later."

"What?!" they shrieked.

"Enemies," Law said. "I'll practice on enemies."

The three sighed with relief.

Law rolled his eyes. Focusing back on the frog he tried again. The frog dived into two parts yet remained alive and no blood appeared. Kneading his eyebrows he cut the frog up a couple more times. The frog never died nor bled. "Interesting."

The sunset, casting its last few glowing rays through the leaves and tree branches. After another hour passed, to make sure everyone had locked up their stores and went home, the three pirates crept out of the forest and back into the town. Despite the clouds over head, they still stuck along the shadows of the buildings. Making their way through the town, they came to one of the builds that was known for having baby supplies.

Shachi made his way to the backdoor. Grabbing the handle he inserted a small piece of metal tool. With a little jiggling of it, he had the door unlocked. "Too easy."

"Let's go," Law said. They entered into the build and spread out. Working as fast as they could, they grabbed every baby item they knew Lami would need then snuck out. Shachi locked the door behind them and they moved on to the next building. Once they had what they knew would last them a while -food, clothing, medical books, etc- they head back to the forest.

Bepo was patiently waiting for them when they returned. With Lami snuggled in his arms and warmth, she slept peacefully.

"How'd she do?" Law asked.

"She's been a perfect little sleeping angel," Bepo said.

"Good," Law said.

"How did things go on your end?" Bepo asked.

"Great!" Shachi said. "This island has lousy locks. A child could break into these stores."

"We got a lot of stuff for Lami," Penguin said holding up a toy bear.

"Why did you get that?" Shachi asked. "She already has a teddy bear. And it's one that can move."

"So she can carry it around," Penguin said. "She can't carry around Bepo at all."

"I think you just want to spoil her," Shachi said.

"I do not," Penguin said. "And so what? Her uncles are supposed to spoil her."

"Now we're her uncles?" Shachi asked.

"Of course we are!" Penguin smiled. "She needs to know what it's like to have a family. And we're her family. Right, Captain?"

Law exhaled. He didn't really put a lot of thought into it. But he had to admit that Penguin had a point. She needed a family dynamic in her life. He wasn't too fond of the idea for himself, but for her he'd do it. "Fine. We're Lami's family now."

I have no idea whether to make Lami Law's sister or a daughter. The story can't continue without that decision because it'll affect how they talk and react to each other. So thoughts on the subject would be a great help. I also put a poll up for it if anyone would rather do that.