Guest starring original characters: Karla and Karel from Lady Mihawk Simple explanations: Karel has the power to control trees and Karla has no powers. (Aye, this is the spoiler. They're mentioned in Chapter 10 of Lady Mihawk. For those who figured it out, congratz!)
After the dinner, Sanji, Usopp, and Karla strolled down the hallways with Nami in toll. Nami was dressed in a more flattering dress. She swapped her country grab for a nobles'. It was a green velvet dress with silk ribbon for the lining. The neck line came down to her collar bone, exposing her neck and pasts of her shoulder.
Sanji and Usopp fought, again, over who would explain the castle to Nami. Karla, on the other hand, jumped into Nami's arms and purred,
"They do that all the time now. Usually it's Lord Zoro and Sanji, but Zoro is human and Sanji's at a disadvantage."
Nami looked around in awe, "This place is absolutely amazing. The castle is so large, and I can go any where I want?"
"Yes, everywhere expect the West Wing." Karla replied.
"The West Wing?" Nami asked, "Why not?"
"That's where your father was lost and almost got himself killed. We don't want that to happen to you too." Nami looked down at Karla for an explanation. She hesitated, "Uhh, well. The curse has a time limit. If we don't find a way to break the curse, we will remain as animals forever. And, in time, we will lose all our human consciousness. Our King has already lost his speech and can only communicate in roars. Soon, he will not know who is friend and who is food."
"King? I thought that Zoro was the master." Nami asked as they continued down the corridor.
"Zoro is the Steward. He takes care of everything, but enough about us. Tell us about yourself."
Sanji's pointed ears perked, "Mademoiselle, please indulged us." He kicked Usopp before grabbing Nami's hand and kissing it. Karla scoffed as she fell from Nami's arms and hissed at Sanji, who ignored her.
"I'm just a merchant's daughter. My mother died with I was young. There's interesting nothing about me, however, I do love to draw maps. My dream is to draw a map of the whole world, but that's never going to happen."
"Hey," Usopp commented rubbing his nose, "We have a map room, don't we?"
Karla and Sanji looked at the aardvark and then each other, "WE DO?"
"How did you become so intelligent?" Sanji asked mockingly. Usopp growled in retaliation. "We should go and see it!"
Nami smiled, "Of course! I would love to see the map room."
As they passed the grand hall, the fur on Karla stood straight up. She started hissing which caught Sanji's and Usopp's attention. They looked up the stairs and saw two animals, a black cat and a red fox. Sanji and Usopp quickly pulled Nami out of the way as the fox opened his mouth and blew fire at the cat.
The cat dodged easily, "You're losing your touch, Ace, or is it because my stealth feet will always win." The fox only growled in reply. Soon, a pack of wolves came out of the left corridor and ran down the stairs. A monkey with a big red noise rode on one of the wolves. He held a straw hat in its hand. While escaping, he saw Nami.
"Grab her!" he commanded. Two large wolves rammed into Usopp and Sanji and one bit into Nami's dress. Sanji and Usopp hit the wall and fell limp.
"Let her go!" Karla jumped in front of the two wolves. One of the wolves lips curled and he lunged at the green house cat. Karla whimpered as the wolf's jaws clamped her torso.
"You, human," the one holding Nami growled, "If you don't want your cat to be crushed, come willingly."
"No, don't." Karla yowled in pain when the wolves bit down.
"Stop, stop. I'm coming." The wolf pulled Nami as the other carried Karla in his jaws.
The black cat's lips curled into a smile, "Don't follow or the human and kitty gets killed."
"When you won't expect it, we'll come." Ace barked. He watched the wolves and the black cat leave. "Hey!" He called to a green sparrow perched on the railing, "Follow them."
"But," it replied, "Kuro told us not to. My sister is in danger and so it the human."
"Don't get caught! If you can't do it, get Johnny or Yosaku to. I'm going to find Zoro and get them back." The green sparrow flew off without another chirp.
Ace stopped and thought for a moment, "We're bringing the best fighters to get back Nami? She has to be the one." The fox ran up the stairs and shouted, "ZORO! CHOPPER!" He stopped in his tracks when a large black bear jumped on front of him. It roared and charged down and out the door. "Oh no."
Nami tried to keep up with the wolves but, she only slowed them down. As she ran, she accidentally tripped over her own two feet.
"Why did you bring the human?" Kuro complained as he jumped on her back clawing at her dress, "She'll just slow us down, you stupid clown. We already have the hat."
"Shut up!" Buggy shouted, "It was a good idea at the time."
"That was very smart of you." The black cat hissed as he leaped off Nami and attacked the monkey. The straw hat flew out of the monkey's hands and landed on the ground. Soon, the wolves' attention was focused on the fight between the two leaders, Buggy the Clown and Kuro of the Black Cats.
Kuro scratched Buggy across the torso with his claws. The wolves howled as they saw their leader fall to the ground in pieces. Kuro laughed, but his celebration was shorten when Buggy's torso pieces floated and rebuilt himself
"It's never that easy, Kitty cat." Buggy threatened, "Your claws have no effect on me."
Kuro lunged in rage, "We'll see about that!"
Nami watched the two fight, and then thought of escape. Karla was an arms length away. Silently and gently, she picked her up. "Hat…" The green cat whispered, "Get hat and run." Nami saw that the straw hat was beside one of the wolves. As she approached it, she carefully reached and slowly redrew. Once she had it in her belong, she put it on, carried Karla and snuck out. At a safe distance, she began to run.
"Heeey, slow down. I smell a friend." Karla said Nami changed her run into a stroll. Karla sniffed the air, "Look up in the trees. Do you see anyone?"
"No," Nami scanned the trees for an animal of any kind. "Wh—" A howl pieced the air and then, more howls followed.
Karla groaned, "Nice. Run!" Nami did as she was told. As she ran, she could hear the wolves behind her. They out ran her and surrounded her within minutes.
"I think we should just kill them," Buggy commented to Kuro.
"Of course!" Kuro sighed, "We should've done in the beginning and not lose them. Wolves attack!"
Nami backed herself into a tree. The wolves surrounded her in a circle. Suddenly, the tree branch swooped down grabbed her. "Don't struggle," Karla shouted before Nami could react to the branch. The branch set Nami down on a larger branch before letting go.
"Hello, sister." A green sparrow chirped.
"Karel," she hissed, "What took you so long?"
"I had to lead him here." Nami looked down to see Zoro running toward the pack of wolves. The battle started instantly when Zoro unleashed his swords upon the wolves. The three katanas sliced through the air cutting the fur and piecing through the skin. He wounded many, but they relentlessly continued to attack.
The wolves scratched and bit him leaving him with wounds also. Nami, without thinking, broke a branch and jump down to help.
"What do you think you're doing, woman?" Zoro shouted flabbergasted.
"I'm a woman now?" Nami asked, "That's a promotion." Like a bat, Nami struck at the lunging wolves. One wolf grabbed the branch and pulled it away while another one leaped to strike. Nami felt herself pulled back causing the wolf to bite into Zoro's arm.
"If you can't help, stay out of the way." He stabbed the wolf with his free hand and flung the corpse at the pack. He then pushed Nami behind him and waiting for another attack.
Suddenly, a loud roar shattered the air around them. The two humans looked to their left and saw a large black bear charging. Following the bear was Chopper and Ace.
The wolves were just like bowling pins. Once the bear hit them, they flew off in the distance helter-skelter. Some hit the trees and died instantly, while others became crippled. Ace and the bear attacked the remaining wolves until there was no more. The monkey and the cat disappeared sometime in between the fights.
The bear roared in rage and looked around. He spotted Nami wearing the straw hat and immediately grew quiet. He made a few noise towards Chopper who translated, "He thanks you for saving his hat."
"Umm, you're welcome." Nami took it off and slowly approached the bear. She, afraid he would bite or attack her, placed it on the bear's head and jerked away. But her attention quickly panned from the bear to Zoro.
Zoro fell onto one knee and supported himself with his katana. Nami reached to help him but he snapped at her, "I don't need your help, hag. I can handle this myself."
The bear roared. Zoro looked at him, "What, Luffy?"
"He says let her help you." Chopper replied.
"Yeah," Karla agreed as she was lifted from the tree by a branch and placed in Chopper's arms, "It wouldn't hurt to get help once in a while."
Ace added, "You need it too. You're getting weaker everyday and we're getting wilder. Next, it'll be too late for any assistance."
"And then," the sparrow sighed, "I'll get eaten by my own sister."
"I would never eat you, but Ace would." Karla shouted and cowered in Chopper's arms when she saw Ace bare his teeth. "I'm injured! I'm injured! Your not allowed to hurt me."
"Umm," Nami brought their attention back, "We should tend to his wounds before they get infected. Let me help you, Lord Zoro."
Zoro looked at her for a moment before obeying. In a whisper he said, "Thank you, Nami."
Why is Sanji a raccoon? My friend thought it would be cool to see a raccoon smoke.
The fox is Ace! Wasn't that easy? Congratz everyone!
Thank you for reading and reviewing! Thanks: Thief of the Sand, LilAnimeJutsu, Gothy Wofie, Takahane, SanjisGal, Lady Zoro, and Samantha.
Special thanks to: 4getreget, for being the only person with a different answer and sorry for spelling your name wrong. Nehszriah, for trying to find the spoiler. I couldn't stop laughing from that "peachy" comment. Ravenrogue19, for giving me an alternative to "hag".
Sorry for the delay, I wanted to update both stories at the same time.
