Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

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My first attempt to stab Magi was met with failure as he blocked it with his club. I moved back to avoid the kick he sent towards me and managed to scratch him with the tip of one of my staff's blades. Magi let out a laugh as someone muttered, "She managed to get first blood."

I offered him a fang filled grin and darted forward again. Magi moved back and sent a fist towards me. I blocked his fist with my staff and kicked at him. I hit his chest only to feet his club slam into my side. I was sent flying, but managed to keep myself from getting a rough landing by going into a roll. I stood up and was slightly relieved to note that he only managed to bruise my ribs. Realizing that my current plan wasn't going to work, I twisted my staff and returned it to it's holder. Taking a deep breath as Magi asked, "What's wrong? Realize you're in over your head?"

I snorted and popped my shoulders, "Nah. I just realized that my plan wasn't going to work. It seems that long rang isn't going to help me."

"So what're you going to do?" He asked as heat began to run across my skin.

Law and every other person in the area watched as Ariun's form blurred. In seconds, the human was gone leaving a leopard in its place. He barely got a look at it as it disappeared. Ariun's voice rang out from behind the marine lieutenant, "You'll have to be pretty fast to beat me in this form."

My claws ripped into Magi's flesh as I darted around him. I dodged his club swings and heard him chuckle, "You're faster in this form. Why is that?"

"Four legs are better for speed," I stood before him as he panted, "You feeling tired?"

"I have a feeling that it isn't because of my blood loss," He let out a small laugh, "You coated that blade of yours in a poison didn't you?"

"Correct," I sat down, "It won't be long until your body cannot move anymore. When that happens, you will fall unconscious,"

I felt someone lay their hand on my head and looked up to see Law staring down at me, "Ariun-ya it's time we leave."

Ariun had stayed in her leopard form the whole way back to the sub and followed Law as he headed to the infirmary. He chose the time to ask, "Did his club harm you?"

"My ribs are bruised from what I can tell," She said with a small yawn, "Other than that, I'm alright,"

After making sure her ribs were indeed bruised and not broken, he decided to ask the question that had been bugging him, "Why did you look at the book like that?"

Ariun sighed softly, "The scientist that experimented on me wrote that book. I'm pretty sure what he did to me is in there somewhere."

Hearing that, he could somewhat understand her reasons, "Do you mind if I read it?"

"Regardless of what I say, you'll still read it," She shook her head lightly, "I don't really mind. If anything, you could probably tell me if the bastard did anything to me that I haven't noticed yet,"

Chuckling, he nodded, "I'll do that if I find something," Ariun nodded to him, "You really do have an interesting view of the world."

"Everyone does," She shrugged lightly, "The only reason my view is interesting is because I'm not surrounded by like minded people," She shuddered suddenly with a disgusted look on her face, "I'd probably start running away as fast as possible from them or try to kill them,"

"Why?" He had to ask since her reaction was rather interesting.

"I don't want to be apart of a crowd," She answered and blushed slightly to his surprise, "I prefer being alone in someway and my view of the world is one of the ways I'm alone," She looked at him with a slightly sheepish smile, "It's in my nature I guess,"

"You like being social, but you also like being alone," He mused aloud and she nodded, "It's not abnormal though I suppose you'd equate that to being a leopard,"

"Yeah leopards are solitary beings for the most part," She let out a yawn as her stomach growled, "It okay if I head to the galley and get something to eat?"

He nodded and watch her head towards the door, "Inform those with injuries that I'm in the infirmary."

"No problem," She reached the door and began to open it before pausing, "Hey Law?"

"What is it?" He asked as he put the items he had out away.

"Thank you for allowing me to come with you today. It was nice," She left the room before he could reply.

Chuckling, he shook his head and returned to what he was doing. He had to admit that it had been nice. He also realized that he hadn't been able to get a good look at her leopard form. Making note of that in his head, he vowed to remedy that as soon as possible.

The entire crew was filled with energy as they ate dinner. Some complained that they hadn't gotten to fight while others bragged about their battles. Kuro was acting like a kid on a sugar rush from getting to actually fight while Maki was smiling as he watched our brown haired friend. I rolled my eyes as I sat down between the two and Kuro immediatly asked, "Who did you fight?"

"A couple of marines," I shrugged while ignoring the slight pain in my left side, "It was fun,"

"A couple of marines?" Shachi snorted loudly, "You fought lieutenant Magi,"

"You fought Magi?" Kuro looked at me with jealousy.

"Yeah so?" I didn't see the hype.

"Magi's about to be promoted to marine captain!" Kuro hissed looking at me like I was stupid, "Magi is the iron club of the marines,"

"Okay?" I still didn't see the problem, "It means he was tough, but I managed to beat him,"

Law spoke up making me look at him, "You didn't kill him."

I shrugged my shoulders again, "I didn't feel like killing him. He was interesting and strong."

Law gave me a raised eyebrow, "What if I ordered you to?"

I ran a hand through my hair as I thought about it before giving him my answer, "Quite honestly, I don't know if I would. Sometimes it's alright to leave your opponents alive ya know."

Law looked at me with a frown, "You would disobey an order from me?"

I nodded after taking a bite of my grilled fish, "If you gave me an order that I felt went against who I am as a person, I would disobey it," I looked Law in the eyes, "If you gave me an order to kill someone, I would do it unless I felt the need to leave them alive. You maybe my captain, but I am still my own person and not some mindless beast made to do your bidding."

"I see," Law folded his hands in front of him and looked at me for awhile, "I suppose I can deal with that,"

I nodded to him as I noticed a majority of the room was silent, "Good."

We returned to eat and everyone eventually went back to what they were doing.

It was late at night and the sub had surfaced which allowed me to head to the top deck. I took a seat on the railing and stared up at the moon. It was high in the sky which informed me that it was either midnight or just about. I sighed softly as my tail swished lightly behind me. A brisk wind blew through the air causing my hair to move with it. I closed my eyes as I heard the door open and someone walk out. I smelt Law's unique scent as he spoke, "I'm surprised that you're still up."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Sometimes I can't sleep."

"Why's that?" Law asked walking towards me, "I could help you,"

I shook my head with a slight smile, "You wouldn't be the first to try nor will you be the last," I sighed softly, "The demons of my past rear up from time to time leaving my nights sleepless."

"Nightmares?" He stood beside me, "Of what?"

"What do people often have nightmares about?" Was my reply.

Law chuckled and set his hand on the railing, "I suppose that wasn't the best question, but then again everyone's nightmares are diffrent."

"True," I opened my eyes and turned my head towards him, "What about you? What chases sleep from your grip?"

Law frowned and shook his head, "I'm an insomniac."

I shook my head with a small chuckle, "A lie if ever I heard one."

Law snorted, "Calling me a liar Ariun-ya? Do you want your punishment to be worse?"

I let out a small laugh as I suddenly remembered that he still hadn't given me said punishment, "I would be worried if I actually knew what the punishment was."

Law chuckled and shook his head, "I suppose that would make the threat weak," He sighed softly, "I do not sleep because I usually get caught up in reading medical journals."

Nodding my head, I murmured, "My nightmares vary, but last night I relived the night my mom died only my caretakers didn't show up to save me."

Law didn't comment and silence fell. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a comfortable one. It was nice he supposed. It wasn't often that moments of silence happened between a crew member and him. The only time it happened was either they were scared into silence or he was using Bepo as his pillow. He broke the silence after a while because he remembered the promise he made to himself in the infirmary, "Ariun-ya?"

"Yeah," She looked at him.

"Would you mind transforming into your leopard form?" He was given a raised eyebrow, "I wish to get a good look at it,"

She nodded, "Sure."

She slipped off the railing and stood beside him. Her form blurred and once more a leopard stood where she used to be. She stood as high as his knee with her head coming up to his waist. Her fur was a glossy white with black spots threaded throughout it. Her spots seemed to range between small completely black dots the size of his thumb nail to large spots the size of his palm with a white spot in the middle. The spots around her paws, legs, tail, and neck seemed more circular with a diamond shaped pattern. The spots on her face were rather small save for two. One sat in the middle of her forehead and was about the size of Ariun's human palm. It looked like a diamond with the middle of it being completely white. The other sat over her left eye. He also noted that her stomach fur was completely white save for a single spot on her chest which resembled a diamond-like heart. He moved around her and noted that her tail was rather fluffy, but still silky looking. The tip of her tail was completely black. He noted that her teeth and claws looked rather sharp which only cemented how dangerous she was. Once he finished his inspection, he placed his hand on her head murmuring, "Rather impressive if slightly small."

She let out an odd chuffing sound, "I can get bigger if I so choose, but that form is harder to sustain."

"Can you become human, but keep your animal features?" He asked allowing his curiosity to get the better of him.

"Yes, but that form is hard to sustain," She sat down and looked up at him, "I have not spent any length of time in either of those forms preferring either this one or my human one,"

"Will you stay in this form more?" He asked and she let out a hum-like purr.

"Perhaps," He realized that his hand was still on her head as he noted that her fur was rather silky and she began to purr as he scratched behind her ears.

He stopped after a few moments and she shot him an embarrassed glare. He chuckled as he noted the slight reddening of the fur around her cheek, "You don't have to look at me like that. It's only natural."

End