Chapter 2

Tyri and Arias

"Hello? Hello, are you alright?"

Pell weakly opened his eyes. He was lying on a cold floor. A leather bed was hanging from the ceiling. Pell blinked and rubbed his eyes. He was in a prisoner's cell.

"Where… am I?" Pell murmured in dismay.

"You're in one of the prison cells on Captain Carnassier's ship," a voice said.

Pell turned around to see a huge black panther staring at him with its green eyes, its large tail swishing back and forth.

"Are you alright? You look like you've been wounded really badly," it asked worriedly.

Pell scrambled back, shocked.

"Are you Zoan?" he asked shakily.

The panther looked itself over.

"Oh right! Sorry about that!" it said and changed into a girl.

She had long black hair, torn clothes, and emerald green eyes. She was a young adult, about 8 years younger than Pell.

"Sorry I scared you. I ate the Cat-Cat fruit Panther model. I have a bad habit of turning into a panther," the girl said shyly.

Pell smiled at her.

"It's all right. How did you know I was frightened?"

"I have an incredible sense of smell. Not a very good ability at some times though," she said.

Pell chuckled.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Tyri," the girl said sticking out a hand. "You?"

"Pell," Pell answered putting his hand in Tyri's and shaking it.

Immediately, a horrible wave of pain seared from his side and his arm. A gasp escaped his mouth and he clutched his side. Tyri kneeled beside him.

"You're bleeding pretty badly. Would you like me to treat you wounds?" Tyri asked worriedly.

Pell nodded weakly.

Tyri took a blue backpack from her back and pulled two roots, a mortar and pestle, bandages, and a blanket from the small backpack and began grinding the roots in the mortar into a poultice. She sat next to Pell, rolled up his sleeve where the gash was and pressed the poultice on his wound.

An icy numbness came over Pell's wound, and he sighed with relief. Tyri smiled at Pell as she bandaged his wound.

"Better?" she asked.

"Much. Thank you…." Pell replied looking into Tyri's eyes.

They looked at each other, mesmerized, until Tyri shook her head.

"Alright. Ummm…. I need you to take off your robes," Tyri said shyly.

Pell looked at Tyri, astonished.

"Why?" he asked.

"So I can treat your wound," Tyri replied blushing.

Pell hesitated, and then took off his robes. Tyri's eyes widened.

"Wow…. He has a 6-pack and toned abs…. he's hot!" Tyri thought.

"Well, aren't you going to treat my wound?" Pell asked slyly as Tyri stared at him.

Tyri shook herself out of her mesmerized stare at Pell's body.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to…." Tyri stuttered, embarrassed.

"It's okay. I don't mind," Pell said smiling at her.

Tyri, beginning to feel great around Pell, treated the wound on his side and bandaged it shakily. Pell sighed and smiled at Tyri.

"Thank you Tyri. You seem know your herbs," Pell said smiling.

"Well…. I try…." Tyri said blushing.

There was a sudden opening of a door and a group of pirates carrying dishes came into the prison room. A pirate opened Tyri and Pell's cell door.

"Here's your dinner Tyri," the pirate said and handed her a plate with rice with mushroom gravy, a bun, and a flask of water.

Pell's stomach growled, and the pirate snickered.

"Weakling. You don't get food today, so suck it up and deal with it." He sneered.

Pell, angered by the pirate's taunts, made a sudden movement to get up and strike at him, but Tyri held him back.

"No…. don't….." she said. "You're still wounded…"

Pell bent his head, and the fight went out of him. Tyri was right. It was useless to fight right now. He would have to wait for the right opportunity. The pirate threw his head back, howled with laughter, and left with the rest of the crew.

"Don't listen to those creeps…." Tyri whispered. "They say never let new prisoners get food anyway, but I sometimes bend the rules…."

She got up and walked to the bars of her cell and made a clicking sound. In the cell across from Pell, a little boy lifted his head from the leather bed. Suddenly, a little monkey lifted its head on the boy's shoulder. It jumped from the boy's shoulder, squeezed through the bars of the cell, and disappeared out the door of the prison room.

About 10 minutes passed, and then the monkey came back dragging a small bag behind it. With some difficulty, it squeezed through the bars of Pell and Tyri's cell with the bag behind it. It crawled up to Pell and dropped the bag in his lap. Pell opened the bag, and in it were a sandwich, an apple, and a flask of water. Tyri smiled and picked the monkey up and stroked its brown-gray fur.

"This is Bulu. The boy over there is Arias. He's my brother. We always help when those dirt bags are unfair and cruel." Tyri purred.

Arias looked at Pell and smiled. Pell smiled back at him.

"Thank you Arias," Pell said and began to eat.

"You look like a really nice person mister." Arias said smiling. "How did you get here?"

"Got kidnapped…" Pell murmured. "I was stupid to think I could take those pirates on all at once."

"You're not stupid," Tyri said reassuringly. "And you don't have to worry. You're with friends."

Pell smiled at Tyri and Arias and talked and ate with Tyri and Arias. As they finished, something popped into Pell's head.

"Hey Tyri? I hate to be rude but, why are you here? How did you get here?" Pell asked.

The smile on Tyri's face almost immediately disappeared. She looked at Pell, her green eyes afraid.

"You don't want to know Pell… and anyway we just met… it's too personal." she said quietly.

Pell bent his head.

"You think I'm strange, don't you?" Pell murmured. "You think I'm a freak…"

Tyri's eyes widened even more.

"No I don't Pell!" Tyri said. "You're really sweet and friendly…. I really like you."

Pell looked up at Tyri and she blushed and turned away.

"As friends of course….." she said shyly.

"Can you trust me enough to tell me?" Pell asked.

Tyri nodded.

"Okay Pell. I trust you."

Tyri took in a deep breath and began.

"I came from Sakura Kingdom. I lived there with my father and mother until my mom died giving birth to Arias. I was 14. On my 18th birthday, I took Arias and Bulu out to show them my Devil Fruit powers, when suddenly, we were surrounded by pirates. I protected them as best I could, but there were way too many. I was chained and Arias and Bulu were trapped in a net. I almost got out of those chains but I was suddenly electrocuted and knocked out. When I woke up, I was in this cell, and Arias and Bulu were in the cell they're in now. We had been kidnapped by Carnassier. No one came to save us, so we were taken away from our home. That incident was 5 years ago, and we're still here. I've tried everything to get out with Arias and Bulu, but all my efforts are always in vain."

Pell stared sadly at Tyri who was staring gravely at the floor.

"Poor Tyri….." he thought.

"Can I help in any way I can help?" Pell asked.

"No. Anyone who tries to get away or defies Carnassier is easily killed." Tyri said quietly. "I may have Devil Fruit powers, but I'm no match for Sinn, Blitz, and Carnassier together. They could easily kill me together."

"Do you know if any of them have Devil Fruit powers?" Pell asked.

Tyri nodded.

"Sinn ate the Mente Mente fruit. He has psychic powers, and he can shoot balls of dark psychic energy and control peoples' minds to do whatever he wants. Blitz ate the Elec Elec fruit. He can control lightning, generate electricity from his body, become faster than lightning, and control storms. Finally, Carnassier didn't eat a Devil Fruit, but he's all muscle even though he doesn't look like it. He can carry a fully grown whale if he wanted. He also carries a 5 ton spiked club he uses when prisoners resist."

Pell nodded.

"I ate a Tweet Tweet fruit Falcon type. I could help." He said.

Tyri sighed.

"Maybe…. We can talk about it later. For now… we should just rest…" Tyri said yawning.

She was right. It was beginning to get late anyway, and Pell himself was drowsy.

"You can sleep in my bed. I can sleep on the floor." Tyri said.

"You'll freeze to death on the floor! You're even giving me your only blanket! Are you sure you'll be okay?" Pell protested worriedly.

Tyri turned into her full Zoan form and curled up in the corner of their cell.

"Don't worry about me Pell. You need to heal, so you stay in my bed…" Tyri said.

With that, Tyri closed her eyes and was asleep in minutes. Pell watched her for awhile, and then lay back on the leather bed. He thought of all his friends back at home, wondering where he was, then shook his head.

"I can't worry about it now. Tyri will help me, and I'll help her and Arias." Pell thought.

He pulled the blanket over his bandaged chest and went to sleep.

Pell woke up in the middle of the night to a soft sound. He sat up in bed and saw Tyri in her human form shivering and talking in her sleep.

"No….no…it's all my fault… my fault….. Don't take him…..Arias…." she moaned desperately.

"Tyri….. She must be having a dream about when she and her brother were kidnapped." Pell thought sadly.

He got up out of bed and picked Tyri up. She was ice cold. If she'd stayed on the floor until morning, she might have died. Her eyes opened weakly at Pell's soft touch.

"Pell? What are you doing? You're supposed to be sleeping in my bed…" Tyri said her voice a weak whisper.

"I'm not about to let you freeze to death on the floor. You're sleeping with me." Pell said softly.

He laid Tyri in their bed and got in bed with her, pulling the blanket over them.

"Pell…." Tyri said about to protest.

"No. I'm not letting you back onto the floor. I'll never let anything bad happen to you okay?" Pell said firmly.

Tyri looked at him for a minute, and then nodded.

"Okay….." she murmured.

To Pell's surprise, Tyri purred and snuggled into Pell's bare chest.

"Thank you….. No one has cared this much about me for years….." she purred.

Pell smiled and pulled Tyri close.

"5 years?" Pell asked smiling.

"Right on…."Tyri said smiling and yawned.

"Good night Pell." She said with her eyes half closed.

"Good night Tyri." Pell replied.

And with that, the twosome snuggled close together and went to sleep.