Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, though I wish I did… just my OC's…
A Cat's Instinct
Chapter 14: Treasure Island
After Keiko, Zolo and Luffy finished eating, they joined Usopp.
"Hey you guys!" He exclaimed happily as he jumped up to greet them.
Keiko smiled at Zolo's side as she still clung to him.
"Where are James and Nami?" Zolo asked, looking around suspiciously.
"They're by the bow." Usopp said as he sounded almost scornful.
"I wonder what they're doing over there…" Keiko mumbled; the thoughts of sheer perversion going through her head.
"Eh, they'll be back." Zolo said, shrugging casually.
James didn't hear them, but only watched as Usopp stood close by him and Nami and looking on curiously, he just simply observed him like a panther… not saying a word.
"You still dare to attack the Going-Merry, knowing it's led by the great Captain Usopp?!" He yelled, obviously stuck in his imaginary world.
James jumped startled when Usopp leapt down, unaware of his presence, and landed right on top of him.
"What the hell was that all about?!" James snarled, reaching blindly for his cat-claws which were still down in his quarters.
Usopp looked around for support, but Nami just turned around to try and stifle her laughter at their awkward position.
Usopp immediately jumped up and scampered over by Luffy.
Luffy, however, shouted with excitement, holding the piece of cloth that he had been quietly decorating for the past few minutes.
"What do you think? Nice isn't it?" he asked, beaming with sheer pride.
The design was completely lopsided and distorted.
"What the hell is it?" Keiko asked, putting her hands on her hips.
Zolo examined the make-shift flag curiously.
"A pirate's flag is supposed to be a symbol of death and terror" he said raising an eyebrow.
Before Zolo could finish, Nami cut in.
"I do feel the terror, but it's the terror of your talent." She said, looking rather startled.
James smirked,
"Or lack of." He added smartly.
Usopp grinned,
"You should have discussed it with me first." He said.
James and Keiko looked at him,
"Why would anyone discuss anything with you?" she asked wholeheartedly, "That was one thing he did right."
"How can you forget this genius painter?" he asked, ignoring her comment.
It was then that everyone looked at him oddly.
"Genius painter?" Luffy asked, resembling a confused mutt.
"Usopp, you're not a genius in anything." Keiko muttered, shaking her head at his obvious lie (in her opinion) "So stop telling yourself that."
"I've had fifty years of experience painting on walls, "he shot back, "so when it comes to painting, no one does it better than me!"
"Incredible!" Luffy exclaimed, completely impressed.
"You mean vandalism?" Keiko asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Fifty years? Usopp that makes you older than my father." James pointed out, "You're an old man!"
"Yeah, maybe he has five or six grandchildren already." Nami said, playing along.
"That's even more incredible!" Luffy said taking in and believing every word of it.
Usopp gawked dumbly at them but then tried once again to ignore it, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Just give me that!" he said, grabbing one of the paintbrushes Luffy had been using and started painting.
They watched him carefully, as James silently wished that he would mess up, but much to his disappointment, he didn't.
"Now take a look at this masterpiece!" Usopp exclaimed once he had finished.
Everyone was completely shocked to see, instead of Luffy's Straw Hat emblem, it was Usopp's emblem.
Keiko looked as if she were going to be sick.
"What on earth is that crap?" she yelled.
"Who told you to make your own flag?!" Luffy asked, as Keiko and Zolo whacked him in the back of the head at the same time.
"Okay, okay!" Usopp said, as he swiftly painted the Straw-Hat emblem.
"Hey, it's pretty good, isn't it James?" Nami commented.
"Eh, it's okay." James said with his arms around her waist.
"That's good. I like it." Luffy complimented.
Zolo looked at the finished symbol, Keiko, of course, by his side.
"So, this is our symbol from now on, huh?" Zolo asked.
Luffy nodded and looked up at his still blank sail.
"Usopp, paint this on the sail!" Luffy said, pointing up to it.
Usopp nodded eagerly and like a mouse, went to climb the mast.
"Don't you dare get any paint in my hair!" Keiko warned.
However, sooner than expected, their sail was finished and it billowed proudly in the wind.
"Hey, now the ship is complete!" Luffy said elatedly.
Everyone onboard couldn't help but grin at the completion of their vessel.
They sailed for hours after that, as Usopp, Keiko and Zolo rested.
James stood at the front of the ship.
"We are going the right way…right?" James asked, spotting a cluster of large, dark clouds ahead of the ship, "Because it doesn't look too good."
Nami looked up at him, grabbed one of her maps and binoculars and looked out into the distance.
"That's it alright. There's no doubt about it." She said, double-checking the map.
"What is it?" Luffy asked, as the others started to gather around.
Nami looked at them,
"That's the legendary treasure island." She said smirking.
"Legendary treasure island? I've heard about that." Usopp said, breaking the temporary silence.
"Yes, it's an island famous among pirates." Nami said, "And it has a strange legend."
Luffy cocked his head as Nami went on to explain.
"Whoever goes close to that island, is said, faces God's anger." She said as thunder and lightening started cracking above their heads.
Usopp screamed out of terror and gripped onto James' arm.
"Could the legend be true? Is this God's anger?" he asked, as James tried to shake him off.
"Well, I think it sounds interesting." Keiko said, "And there's only one way to find out."
Nami, James, Zolo and Luffy nodded in agreement.
"Let's go to treasure island!" Luffy commanded as he sat on the ram-shaped figurehead.
After much work of steadying the sails and steering fiercely, they reached the island and went to explore the alien territory.
Nami, Luffy and James led the way with Usopp lagging behind the others.
Usopp yelped and screamed totally startled by the odd-looking forms of plant-life there were.
"It's said that there's an unimaginable treasure somewhere on this island." Nami said to James, who listened with much interest, "Many pirates have come here, but before any of them could find the treasure, they were scared away."
"Scared away, huh?" Zolo asked.
"For example, some pirates would just suddenly turn into boars in the middle of the night. There was one guy whose mustache grew longer and longer, and finally like a snake, it choked him to death." Nami said.
Usopp felt his nerves act up on him again and his hands trembled.
"You're lying right?" he asked, hoping it wasn't true.
Nami shrugged and looked at him innocently.
"I'm just telling you the most exaggerated stories though." She said.
James laughed at the expression on Usopp's face.
"Don't scare me like that" Usopp said from behind Zolo.
Everyone was in good spirits, but they needed a rest.
Zolo decided to lay down and sleep, while the others just gathered around and talked to one another.
Nami, however, looked restless.
"How could you sleep in such a weird place?" Usopp wondered as he glanced at Zolo, "Really! What kind of nerves does he have?"
Keiko sat next to Zolo (of course) but James looked around suspiciously.
He had the oddest feeling in his stomach that they were being watched and he held his cat-claws tightly on his lap.
Luffy, being totally silent, just stared at an odd looking creature in the gnarled foliage.
It was a while snake that had the long ears of a rabbit and some fur.
Other animals of odd genetics also emerged and Nami and Usopp screamed out in fright.
James went over to her, his cat claws already donned and he went to protect her, but even he shook when they heard a voice that seemingly came from nowhere.
"Get out of here." The voice said harshly.
Luffy looked around.
"Who's there?!" he demanded loudly.
The voice, however, just repeated its message.
"Get out of here!" it said again.
"Where is that voice coming from? "Nami asked, as all of them looked around, the same question on all of their minds.
"I am the Guardian God of this island." The voice answered, "If you want to save your lives, leave this island immediately!"
"Guardian God?" Luffy asked.
"Aren't you guys pirates?" the voice asked back.
"Yes, that's right." James said.
"I knew you guys were pirates." The voice said, in an almost casual tone.
Nami looked up skeptically,
"Why would a god need to ask that?" she asked.
"Listen; if you take one more step into that forest… you will have to face god's judgment. Do you really want that?" the self-proclaimed "guardian god" asked.
"Like I care, why are you asking me this?" Luffy asked curiously.
"What the hell is this," Keiko asked, "Some kind of sick game?"
"Yeah, this guy is weird." James said.
"What did you say?!" the guardian asked.
They all looked around to see that they were surrounded by the unique creatures of all shapes, sizes, colors and species.
"What is this?" Usopp asked, examining the "cavalry" of animals.
"All humans that come for the treasure… this is their form after being transformed by me." The voice said.
"That means you really are God?" Usopp asked.
Luffy gave another quick glance around.
"I don't think I'd mind." James said, "This could be cool."
"Oh, shut up James!" Keiko growled.
Luffy picked up one of the pig creatures. It was about the size of a small dog, and had the mane and tufted tail of a lion.
"Is this a lion? It isn't a pig." He said.
The creature, almost casually, leaned over and bit Luffy in the face; snatching onto his rubbery flesh, and when it let go, Luffy's face snapped back like a rubber-band.
Luffy rubbed his face in pain as the Guardian God spoke once again.
"Wh-what the heck are you?" it asked.
"I'm a rubber man." Luffy replied, stretching his cheek with his finger, "I ate the cursed fruit."
"The Devil Fruit? That's impossible! Back when I was a pirate, I'd heard rumors…" the voice said.
"Hold on," Nami said, "When were you a pirate?"
"N-no way, I'm not reminiscing about the past." The voice stammered, "I don't want to talk about the past."
"What are you talking about? You're the one who was talking…" Keiko said.
"You! Are you really a god?" Nami challenged.
"Shut up! If you're not leaving, then face god's judgments!" the voice yelled.
There was a loud snapping and several sharpened, wooden spears came flying at them like a deadly rain.
They all dodged when boulders came crashing down.
Luffy heard a rustling.
"Over there!" James pointed, seeing a piece of shrubbery move.
A shot rang out and shot Luffy in the chest.
Nami and Usopp screamed in total alarm but Luffy just bounced it back.
"That's impossible!" the "god" exclaimed.
"Hey god," James said, "a pistol is useless against him."
"But I don't like being surprised." Luffy said, holding his hat tightly to his head.
"M-monster!" the voice said, now totally frightened by him; the small piece of "shrubbery" ran off.
Luffy chased it feeling completely determined.
"Where did he go?" he asked as James caught up with him.
They spotted a box, with what seemed like a bush sprouting from the top.
"What is that?" Keiko asked, tempted to poke it.
"This is bad." Usopp said, "I can feel it."
"Oh shut it Usopp…" Keiko said, whacking him in the back of the head.
((A/N: I finally found my notebook! And I'm sorry to those who dislike the American dub of One Piece…but it'd be odd if I changed it now. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter… and I'll update soon!))