This must be a record for me ;) Uploading a new chapter in such a short amount of time, heehee. Well, here goes. Hope you guys still enjoy reading the story!


"Aren't you expecting a bit too much now, captain?" A drawling voice said. Everyone turned their heads when Sanji stepped into the light emitted by the campfire. "Sanji, you're back!" Luffy exclaimed cheerfully. "Hurry up and join us, Zoro was about to tell us a story!"

Sanji laughed. "Ha! As if that seaweed-for-brains musclehead has anything interesting to tell. I'm often surprised he can remember his own name!"

There was a collective sigh from the small band of pirates, because they all knew how this was going to end. A verbal assault-match between the cook and the swordsman always resulted in a physical clash and the camp in ruins. However tonight, something different happened.

"Zoro-san?" Brook asked, noticing his nakama wasn't responding to the insult. "Zoro?" Nami tried, "Are you okay?" Zoro, who had been deep in thought, looked up and realized they were adressing him. "Ah right, I just remembered something." Chopper scooted over to sit next to Luffy. "You remember a story?" "Yeah, one my old master liked to tell. It's called 'The boy who drew cats.'"

It was obvious that Zoro himself had liked it, for a hint of a smile grew on his face as he began.

"A long time ago, on an island in East Blue, there lived a farmer and his wife. They were poor, but had a number of children who helped them work the land. Only their youngest child, a son, was not fit for hard work. He was smart, smarter then his brothers and sisters, but small and weak. That is why his parents decided to send him to the village temple to become a priest instead of a farmer.

The old priest who lived there, talked to the boy for a while. He appreciated the child's intelligence, so he decided to take him in and educate him for priesthood. The boy learned fast and was very obedient in most things. But he had one fault. He liked to draw cats during study-hours and to draw them on everything."

The sound of sand sweeping made Zoro stop talking.

"Like this?" Luffy had grabbed a piece of wood from the fire to draw a cat in the sand, but in his haste he hadn't realized that he was holding it by the wrong end. "Hey Luffy, doesn't that hurt?" Usopp asked and pointed to the still burning embers of the stick. The rubberman looked from his nakama to his hand, frowned and suddenly yelled: "HOTTT!", earning a chorused: "Slow!" from his crew.

After everything had settled down and Captain Nincompoop had his hand treated and bandaged, the crew decided to call it a night. The campfire was slowly dying and everyone had settled on their blankets, ready for sleep. Chopper however, kept raising his head to look around, looking unsure about something.

"Chopper, is something the matter?" Robin asked, noticing his odd behaviour. "I can give you a massage, if you can't sleep?" Already a pair of hands appeared on the reindeer's sides. Cheeks turning red, Chopper mumbled: "I… I want to know how it ends. Zoro's story."