My ears twitched as I heard people muttering about Captain Kuro and being done for. That couldn't be good if his own crew was saying that.
"It has been pretty long since dawn, I was wondering why the plan wasn't carried out," said Klahadore, or should I say Captain Kuro because this man was different from the butler. It was the man from my staring contest. And he was much more pissed than last time. To prove my point he screamed, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!" He then collected himself as he carried calmly, but with a sneer in his voice. "I didn't expect you to be held up by these kids, the Black Cat Pirates have been reduced to a truly pitiful state. Isn't that right Jango!"
"But… But… That day you said we could let the kid go… Cause he didn't affect out plans!" defended Jango.
"Yes, I did say that. So what! He still cannot affect our plans, I expected that he would come after us. I didn't expect your uselessness. I don't want anymore excuses!" Kuro snapped darkly.
"You said we're useless…" said Sham front in front of me, his broken arm clutched by his working arm.
"Don't look down on us Captain Kuro," Buchi hissed.
"What are you trying to say?" Kuro asked with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Jango attempted to shut the damn cats up. A futile attempt if I ever saw one.
"That was three years ago Captain Kuro! You've been pampering yourself in this village! But we've never stopped our attacking," continued Sham.
"We've attacked many villages and sank a lot of ships!" Buchi boasted.
My wounds were starting to itch more as I stood still, the pain coming back as my mind had time to concentrate on the pain. I turned my eyes back to my side just quickly and saw that orange fur was matted and stained with patches of red blood. The wounds were not fully visible though because of my thick fur. The side of my muzzle also tickled, so I allowed my tongue to flick out the side, and wipe away as much of the blood there as I could. If I could hazard a guess, I was guessing that the cuts were only into the fatty tissue of my skin, not all the way through to the bones or intestines. Which meant that I would be alright for a little while before I bled to death, but it would still be damn painful.
My head snapped back around as Sham yelled, "We won't allow ourselves to be killed for a stupid reason like a 'failed plan'!"
"You've been inactive for three years! Do you still think you can beat us, the Nyaban brothers!" Screamed Buchi.
"You're no longer our captain!" The yelled, both charging at him at the same time. I saw Sham shift his injured arm out in front of him, as if ready to use it, but I didn't miss the flash of pain that crossed his face as he did so. "Instead of being killed by you silently, we might as well kill you first!"
They both jumped forward at the same time, slashing where Kuro had been standing before. All they slashed was the bag that Kuro had been carrying.
He appeared behind the brothers, his weapons that were long blades on each of his fingers, showing. "Who did you say you were going to kill?" he hissed.
"When did he get behind them…" Usopp said in befuddlement.
"Ah! It's the 'Nuki Ashi'," called out one of Kuro's pirates.
"What a weird looking weapon," Zoro said, his teeth clenched together. Now that they Nyaban brothers weren't close enough to attack me I slipped forward, plodding clumsily and with a limp on one side, up to Zoro.
"He's behind us?" hissed Sham, both of the brothers spinning around to try and see Kuro, but he had already gone by the time they had turned around.
"He disappeared…" gasped Buchi, both of them looking startled.
Kuro suddenly appeared behind then, slinging his arms over both the brothers' shoulders and sighed, "You're right. I don't feel to active." He then flexed both of his thumbs upwards, so the long blades attached to them were resting against the brothers' necks. The Nyaban brothers had gone deathly pale, and were shaking by now, apparently they didn't think through their plan very well. "You're also right that I am no longer your Captain. I am only the client in this plan. A client who will kill if this plan fails!"
I narrowed my eyes at Kuro, he was so… heartless. He thought people's lives were worth nothing but to further his own cause. What a pig. My ears flicked back as Jango began to explain about Kuro's moves, and how he moved without making a sound. I ignored it though, I'd learnt better then to allow myself to be distracted in a fight.
Kuro dug his blades into the two brother's neck, drawing a line of blood. "After three quiet years it's seem I have become more generous. I'll give you five minutes, if you can't settle this in five minutes…No one will escape my wrath! I'll kill all of you!"
I heard Zoro grit his teeth from his position beside me, putting his sword in a position which he could fight with it. He was ready to fight again, so I'd better get ready too. I spread all four of my legs out, getting my balance so that I could move in any direction with less than a seconds notice, and I began to growl softly. Here we go again.
"Damn it!" cursed Usopp. "We actually let this guy stay in our village for three years!"
"Five minutes?" stuttered Jango. "With five minutes we can settle this! Him! We can finish him off! And that dog! We can get up the slope!"
"That's it! They were no match for us just now!" declared Buchi.
"No problem! We can beat him in five seconds!" hissed Sham.
It was as I thought. When they were battling us before Kuro arrived it wasn't to their full ability. I knew it had been too easy for me when I went against Sham. He probably could take me down in less than five seconds. What could I do now!
"ZORO!" I heard Nami scream, my eyes flickering momentarily to her. I watched as she kicked Zoro's two katanas up in air and towards Zoro. "Your katanas!"
"Stupid girl!" he snapped. "How dare you kick my katanas!"
She just smirked and said, "So how are you going to repay me?"
He caught them, turning around to face the cats again.
"Ah, thanks," he thanked her. His eyes then quickly flicked down to my as he said. "Dog, get out of here. I can handle them now, you'll just be in way. Go help Nami."
I saw the reasoning behind his request; he was right. With all three swords he would be able to take down the cats easy. Nami was in trouble though, not only did she just openly defy the pirates we were going up against; she acted against them and she was surrounded by them. She was also standing right near Jango, who was a very dangerous person in his own respect. I was of more use helping Nami.
I barked one soft bark at Zoro in reply, before spinning on my heels and taking off towards Nami at a run, ignoring Buchi as he called out, "Stop dreaming! Even with three swords you are still no match for us!"
I could hear them charge at Zoro, as he got in position with his three katana.
"You don't know the difference between 'using three swords' and 'using three swords style'," he informed the cats.
I heard Zoro call out Tora Gari from behind me, and then I heard the cries of the Nyaban brothers. I'm guessing he managed to get them then. They had underestimated him this time. Things were looking up for us now, I hope.
"With only one slash the Nyaban brothers are defeated..." I heard a pirate call in awe.
"Within five minutes I'll kill all of you… No exceptions!" stated Zoro.
I stumbled a step and paused, turning back to stare at Zoro wide eyes. Was he really thinking of challenging Kuro? I knew he was strong, but I wasn't sure if Zoro could take him down too…
'Damn! Luffy! Wake up!' I begged mentally. 'We need you!'
"Let's see you try it," challenged Kuro.
I heard muffled sounds of pain from behind me, my head spinning around again to watch as Buchi pushed himself up again hissing. "That… Guy… I... Will... KILL HIM! Cap... Captain Jango! Hypnotize me!"
My eyes widen as Jango began to hypnotize him, and I took off running again. I shouldn't have bloody stopped to watch Zoro! Zoro could handle himself! Now I was too far away to stop Jango! Damn it!
Buchi threw his arms with a cry, his muscles bulging with power.
'No! NO! NO!' I screamed mentally.
He was bad enough before, but now he was hypnotized, he could kill us easily now. He would at least put up a good fight against Zoro. But Zoro had Kuro to deal with, he didn't need to deal with this too! Plus Nami was too close to Buchi for comforts sake! Buchi needed to be stopped, and I was the closest to him.
'Fuck this, I must be suicidal after all,' I sighed mentally as I kept up my charge at Buchi.
I saw Nami running towards the ship, heading straight for Luffy. Thank God someone had enough brains to wake Luffy up, we needed him about now. I saw Jango throw his round blade behind him towards Nami but I completely ignored it, instead concentrating in my self-imposed mission. Buchi had noticed me when I was almost on top of him, swinging his claws to try and get me. I feinted to the right, my eyes widening in shock as his claws hit the ground, the whole ground around the area splintered, even the ground under my paws. I knew it was too late to back out now, and in the distanced I heard someone screaming,
"NAMI! WATCH OUT!" I recognized Zoro's voice.
I couldn't let anything distract me so I ignored it, jumping at Buchi, using the only weapons I knew how to use at the moment, my fangs. My fangs were ready to sink into any piece of flesh I could wrap my jowls around, but Buchi moved much faster than I ever remember him being able to. I saw his hand coming towards me but it was too late, I was already in mid jump. I didn't even have time to close my eyes as a fist swatted at me, smashing into my side, his claws cutting up more of my flesh. The pain was immense as the force of the blow connected with my earlier wounds, the force of the hit sent my flying back through the air. I was suspended in the air for a few moments before I felt my back connect with a hard rock wall, pushing the air straight out of my lungs so I couldn't even yelp. The pain also blocked out my other senses of hearing and sight, the only thing I could feel was the pain.
'That was stupid,' I thought as everything went black. I didn't even feel my body fall to the ground.
"... HURTS!" I heard a muffled voice yell causing my senses to snap back into life. My eyes shot open, black blots covering my vision. It took a few seconds for my vision to clear fully, and I was sure that I couldn't have been out for too long because everyone was still in much the same positions as before. I lifted up my head slowly as pain shot through my body again. I saw Luffy standing up now. He was finally awake. Thank the gods.
I rolled over onto my stomach, shakily tying to lift myself back up to all four legs. I froze half way up as agonizing pain shot through my body, causing me to whimper. 'Damn it! Is this all I can do! Am I really that pathetic!' I snapped at myself. I then gritted my teeth and shoved myself all the way back up, freezing as a new wave of pain shot over my body. As soon as the pain lessened off I released my tense muscles, my eyes darting around to try and figure out what was happening now.
"In three more minutes all of you will dead." I heard Kuro state. I mustn't have been out anymore than a few seconds then.
"Buchi! We don't have any more time! You go and kill the guy with the stomach band!" ordered Jango. "I'll deal with the straw hat kid."
"KLAHADORE!" I heard a feminine voice scream. "STOP THIS!"
Everyone was shocked into silence as Kaya stood on top of the slope, behind Kuro.
"Kaya! Why are you here!" yelled Usopp.
"Oh! Isn't that Kaya of the mansion?" Jango exclaimed. "She's the target of the mission!"
I heard several pirates exclaim about killing Kaya now, but I was too tired to bother with growling at them. Instead I just stayed silent, watching Kaya like everyone else.
"You surprised me Kaya," muttered Kuro. "What are you doing here?"
"Merry told me everything," she stated quietly.
"Oh. He didn't die?" asked Kuro emotionlessly. "I didn't show any mercy to him."
Kaya turned her head to Usopp and said, "I'm really sorry Usopp. Maybe you can't forgive me so easily, but I can't believe that Klahadore is a pirate."
"Never mind that!" snapped Usopp. "Why are you here! Didn't I tell you to run away! These pirates are after your life!"
"Aren't you fighting as well!" Kaya screamed back at him. "We treated you so badly... and yet here you are fighting even with those wounds."
"We are different! I'm… I'm a brave warrior-" Usopp started to say but Kaya cut him off.
"Klahadore! If you want my money I will give it all to you! Please leave the village!" she begged.
"You got it wrong Kaya, it's not money I'm after..I also want peace of mind. I spent three years here to gain the villagers trust. I feel at peace here. Only when I have obtained peace and money will my plans be complete..." Kuro stated. "That's why having my crew attack the village, and making you leave a will at your death is essential."
"Kaya! Run! Don't bother negotiating with him!" Usopp yelled at Kaya. "He is no longer the butler you knew."
Kaya ignored Usopp and pulled a pistol out of coat, aiming it Kuro much to a lot of people's shock. "Leave this village!" she demanded.
"So…you've become stronger in these years," Kuro purred. "Do you still remember? A lot has happened in these past three years. Since your parents passed away, we've been together for quite some time. We took boat rides together, went to town together. When you were down with a fever I always stayed by you to take care of you. We shared our troubles and our joys. I served you tirelessly. I suffered taking care of this nosy little Kaya. I suffered waiting long enough. All this is so, I can kill you today!" Kaya had tears streaming down her face at this point, the gun in her grasp shaking. But Kuro continued with his speech. "I was a captain in the past, and I had to serve such a young, naïve little girl obsequiously, deliberately to make her like me. Can you understand how demanding my days have been?"
Kaya dropped the gun from her shaking hands, bringing her hands up to her face in distress.
"ARGHH!" screamed Usopp as he suddenly launched himself at Kuro, arm pulled back in readiness to punch him.
"Usopp, now that I think about it..." Kuro said, dodging Usopp's punch effortlessly. "I still haven't thanked you for that punch you gave me last time. You hit me really hard."
Suddenly Kuro was socked straight across the face by a stretchy arm, smashing him into the ground with brutal force.
"If you really hate being hit, I must make sure to hit you a few hundred more times," Luffy said, a smirk plastered in his face.
"What happened!" cried one of the Black Cat pirates. "How did he knock Captain Kuro down from that position!"
Luffy just cracked his knuckles, glaring at Kuro now.
"Captain Kuro is really pissed now!" cried another of the pirates. "What do we do?"
"Here's our chance!" yelled a young voice and suddenly all three of the veggies appeared, slamming a pot, a baseball bat and shovel down on top of Kuro's head.
"How did you all…" murmured Usopp.
"You can't be here!" yelled Kaya.
The sudden appearance of the three veggies snapped me out of my pain filled staring haze. I had been zoning out, just watching what was going on emotionlessly, but those kids shouldn't be here! Kuro would kill them!
"Hit him! Hit him! Hit him!" yelled the onion as they continued to bring the weapons down on Kuro's head.
"You damn pirate trying to disrupt the peace of our village!" cried the pepper.
"Die bastard!" screamed carrot.
"Wah! What are those kids trying to do!" called the pirates.
"Stop it, all of you! Stop it!" Usopp yelled in panic
"Okay, we'll have mercy on him," stated carrot. "Our captain was really fighting..."
"Why didn't you tell us?" screamed the pepper. "That's disloyal!"
"Wrong!" cried the onion. "It should be dishonest!"
"It doesn't matter if it's dishonest or disloyal!" yelled Usopp in panic. "RUN AWAY!"
"We won't leave you Captain!" carrot snarled, his pan at the ready.
"Yeah! We wanna fight too!" snapped pepper, holding his bat out in front of him.
"If we run, we'll ruin the reputation of the Usopp pirate group!" onion cried, his shovel also held out in front of him.
They froze though when Kuro stood up behind then, pushing the rims of his shattered glasses back up his nose. I saw the fear and shock on the kids' faces and took a few limping steps forward, being slightly unsteady on my feet from standing so long in one spot.
"WAH!" they all screamed, falling on their asses in the dirt.
"Idiots! Run!" yelled Usopp.
I still stumbled on forward even after he just walked past the kids. I just gritted my teeth, the pain getting easier to bear the more I pushed on. Kuro then walked straight up to Usopp, kicking him roughly in the stomach which sent him tumbling part way down the slope.
"I'm curious," Kuro called to Luffy. "That was quiet an odd attack you just used. Looks like you possess the power of devil's fruit."
"Yep!" confirmed Luffy. "I ate the Gomu Gomu fruit and I've become a rubber man!"
"What that guy ate the Devil's Fruit?" yelled one pirate.
"This is bad!" exclaimed another. "They really do exist."
"So, Rubber-man, then the stretched arm wasn't an illusion," muttered Jango. "But he can still stand up after getting hit in the head with my blade. Incredible!"
I went to trot past Zoro and I notice his eyes widening as he saw me. I must have looked like more of a mess then I thought. I didn't manage to pass him though because I paused at his side when I heard Kuro call, "Jango! I will take care of kid! You take care of Kaya, and make her write her will, then... Kill her! And also those three puny ants that are annoying me."
"Got it," said Jango.
"Stop!" demanded Zoro, holding out his sword to block the way of anyone who wanted to get up the slope. I growled softly at his side, my eyes on Jango also. No way in hell was I going to let him kill the kids or Kaya. "I won't let you get through me." His eyes then flickered down to me. "Dog, get out of here. You are in no shape to fight."
I was tempted to growl at him, but I didn't. He had a damn good point. I wouldn't be any good at one on one fights at the moment. But I wasn't going to give up completely, I was going to protect Kaya and the veggies as best I could for now. So I just slipped past Zoro and continued up the slope, picking up the pace a bit.
"Buchi!" Jango demanded and the hypnotised cat answered with a battle cry.
"Cat-a-pult," I heard Buchi cry out behind me. "CAT-ASTROPHE"
I turned my eyes back in time to see Buchi landed on the ground with a flying kick, the ground shattering under the impact of his attack. But the destruction went a lot further this time than it did last time. The ground under mine and Usopp's feet shattered as well and some of the slope walls caved in. I managed to keep my balance, but only just. Having four legs on the ground at one time was handier than just two.
"Idiot. He can't control his own power," Kuro muttered.
I heard more sounds of battle behind me, but I ignored it and headed up the slope. I slipped past Kuro by staying close to the walls, but I saw his eyes flicker my ways as I trotted past him. He let me go past though, apparently he didn't see me as that big of a threat. But then again I wouldn't see myself as a threat either right now in the state I was.
I trotted straight over to the three veggies, spinning around in time to see Jango walking up to Kuro. Damn it, when did he get past?
"Usopp pirate group!" I heard Usopp yell at the veggies.
"I told.. you… we wouldn't run!" snapped the carrot, but he was stuttering as he did so.
"Captain! You're badly injured! We can't just run away" countered the pepper.
"We will destroy your enemies!" called onion.
These kids were brave I had to give them that, but very stupid.
"Protect Kaya!" is what Usopp replied with, from his position lying on the ground. "I'm giving you the most important task here. Protect Kaya and get her away from here safety!"
"Yes…YES CAPTAIN!" They answered, running over to Kaya.
"Idiots," chide Jango, twirling two round blades around his fingers. "You can't escape."
I quickly placed myself in front of Jango, so that he couldn't get at the kids as they pulled Kaya away into the forest.
"Where can you run to?" demanded Jango, getting ready to throw his blades.
I tensed up, getting ready for his attack when suddenly he was hit in the back by something, his blades flying off his fingers and he hit the ground.
"Hehe! Serves you right!" exclaimed Usopp, before calling out to me. "Dog! Can you help protect Kaya and the Usopp pirates!"
He didn't need to ask, I was going to anyway. I wasn't much use here, so I let out my bark in reply, before spinning around and trotting off after Kaya and the veggies. I couldn't quiet sprint flat out at this stage, but I could keep up with three kids and one sick woman. But I was finding the dogs bodies ability to deal with pain and injuries amazing. If I was a human I would have been writhering on the ground in pain, but the dogs body managed to keep itself up straight even with the injuries. Don't get me wrong, it was painful and all, but a dogs body could withstand the pain and still function. I was really beginning to like the fact I was a dog now, not a human.
I followed after the kids ran through the forest with Kaya, directing her in which was to go. I trusted the guys to handle things back at the slope.
"Is the hypnotist still after us?" questioned the pepper after a few minutes of running.
"No, I don't see him, maybe we lost him..." murmured the onion.
"He must be dreaming if he thinks he can catch us in the forest!" smirked carrot.
I was still trotting behind them, my head down in concentration so that I could hear anything coming. My wounds were now just a dull ache as I ran, I was trying to tune out the pain and doing it very well. They were only a couple of scratches and bruises after all of my bitching and moaning.
"Don't worry Kaya! We'll protect you!" the onion declared.
"That's right! In the name of the Usopp pirate group!" confirmed pepper.
"Yes… thank you!" Kaya said, sweat running down her forehead as she ran. I wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.
Suddenly I heard a whooshing sound and the next thing I know all the tress on one side of us had been slide cleanly through the trunks!
I heard the kids yell out in shock, and suddenly Jango called out, "Brats! Where are you! Don't think you can get away!"
Fuck, he was too close for comfort. We all spun around to face the way the voice had come. Most of my wounds had stopped their bleeding by now, thankfully. A few of the deeper ones on my sides were still bleeding just slightly, but my matted fur acted as a bandage.
"He's coming!" yelped the onion.
"What! I thought he was just a hypnotist!" yelled pepper.
"Come on! This way!" urged the carrot, pulling Kaya away from Jango. I followed in my place behind them, my ears flickering around to act as an alarm if Jango got too close.
Kaya suddenly collapsed onto her knees, gasping down as much air she could get. "I'm sorry…you boys keep going ahead!" she said breathlessly.
"What are you saying? We are here to protect you Kaya!" the carrot yelled at her, all of them refusing to budge. I just wish they'd hurry up and sort it out or Jango would be here soon. "Oh no! She looks really sick guys!"
"Oh no! Hang in there Kaya!" called another of the children.
"We must take her to a doctor!" snapped the carrot in worry.
"Idiot! We are running for our lives right now!" argued pepper.
"But it's dangerous to let her go on!" said the onion. Gods damn it! Could they make up their minds, Jango would be here any second now if we just sat here!
"All then, we'll make a decision as the Usopp Pirate Group!" the pepper declared, about time.
"Okay," the onion said gulping.
"We're going fight!" the carrot exclaimed, his fist clenched.
I heard him seconds before he entered the clearing, and managed to fling myself in front of the boys and Kaya as a shield before Jango came into view.
"There you are!" he shouted at us. The kids screamed out in fear and I began to snarl at the hypnotist, my tail raised in the air with all of my fur standing on end. "Got you, he said smirking. I took a threatening step towards him, bringing up my growling a notch. He looked down at me and sneered. "The filthy mutt is still alive? I thought it was dead by now."
'Filthy? It!' I snarled mentally. 'Fuck you, freak!'
I began to devise a battle plan quickly in my head as I analysed the situation. I was a short range fighter, he was a longer ranger fighter. I need to attack him while his blades were flung away from him, and I need to not get hypnotised by him. And at the same time I need to not let him near Kaya and the kids. Well, this is going to be easy isn't it? Note the sarcasm.
He spun his blades around on his fingers, ready to attack and I tensed my muscles ready to try and dodge them. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he flung his blades but they missed me by miles. At first I was thinking 'what the fuck?' And then I realised they had sailed right past all of us and then swung back around like a boomerang and were heading straight for the kids. Son of a bitch! Could he sink much lower!
I spun around, jumping at the kids. They realised it at about the same time as me and were throwing themselves out of the road already. But the onion wouldn't make it, so I threw myself it him, my teeth snagging into his shirt as I dragged him out of the way without hurting the poor kid. I felt the air whoosh past us as they just missed hitting us by mere millimeters. That was too close for comfort.
The poor kid clutched at the fur on my neck as he tried to steady himself, he was pale as a sheet and I heard Kaya calling to him in the background, his friends joining in with her query.
"WATCH OUT!" they all screamed out once, causing my head to be whipped around to side to see a boot coming straight for it. I meet his boot with open jaws, snapping closed around his appendage, teeth sinking straight through the leather but not far enough in to break skin. He obviously didn't expect me to be able to do that though as he stumble from the sudden stopping of his swing, and I took advantage of that. I flung my weight at his other leg that was keeping his balance, his foot still in my mouth. I managed to knock his other leg out from under him causing him to topple to the ground with a shocked cry. Unfortunately I was knocked down under his feet, my grip on his foot dropping.
I yelped as my wounds were once again knocked into the dirt. Damn, I was going to hurt so bad tomorrow if I survived this. I didn't have time to contemplate my fate though as I shot out from under his feet, stumbling forward in my haste to get up and away from under him. I spun around in time to see the pepper and carrot bring their baseball bat and pan down on top of the back of Jango's head. The onion then slammed down his shovel after them, having obviously gotten over his near death experience from a few seconds ago.
Jango's arm suddenly shot out, grabbing onto the carrot arm's so that he could no longer slam the pan on his head. The other two froze seeing this, and I jumped forward, clamping down with my teeth into Jango's arm around the wrist area. Unfortunately do to the hurry I was in, I didn't build up enough power in my jaws to snap bones, but my teeth still sunk into the skin and drew blood. I got the sort of effect I was after as Jango let go of the kid with a pain filled cry.
'Oh yeah,' I taunted. 'Who's the filthy mutt now you damn cat!'.
Jango used his other arm to push himself up to his knees, his eyes boring into my own. He then quickly pulled back on his arm trapped in my grip, pulling me forward a bit, his other fist coming down to slam across the back of my head before I had time react.
I yelped and let go of his wrists, jumping back next to the veggies as Jango climbed to his feet with a pissed look on his face.
"You filthy dog! You need to die!" I had to bite back a smirk as he said that. It was funny that I made him loose his cool like that, but then again that was a death threat he just issued.
He gathered up both of his round discs again, flinging them directly at me this time. I saw the veggies dive out of the way and I ducked under the first blade and jumped to the right to avoid the second. I then spun around to watch them coming back at me, throwing myself to the right again and then left to ovoid them once more.
"WATCH OUT!" I heard the kids scream and I spun around just as something smashed into the side of my face, slamming me into the ground, my vision covered in black spots. Apparently while I had turned my back on him he had crept up on me and managed to actually kick me this time. That was a stupid thing of me to do when I turned my back on him.
Before I could get up, his foot slammed down again, but this time his foot impact with my side and slammed straight into my wounds. I yelped loudly, writhing in pain on the ground, but he kept his foot in place grinding it down in my wounds. I yelped again, dirty bastard was cheating!
"Leave her alone!" the pepper cried, swinging his bat at Jango but Jango just caught it in his hands and used the foot that had been holding me to kick the kid away. I tried to climb back to my feet but before I could Jango swung his foot back around and managed to land a hit in exactly the same spot as before. The world tilted as everything turned black yet again, for the second time today.
I was woken from my haze went starting shaking me, a voice calling out, "Doggie! Hey doggie, wake up!"
'Fuck,' I though lazily. 'What happened to letting sleeping dogs lie, ay?'
"Is she okay?" asked another worried voice and suddenly everything that had happened earlier came back to me in a rush, as well as a wave of pain.
My eyes snapped open as I sucked in a deep breathe my vision still blurry. When my sight cleared I saw that the three veggies we leaning over me, looking relieved that I was awake. I noticed that I was lying on my side, and I gently lifted my head up, whining as I felt a hammer slamming into my brain several times. Damn, that stupid hypnotist packed a kick. Talking about the hypnotists I noticed that he was laying spread eagle on the ground and appeared to be knocked out. Thank the gods, it was over. I also noticed that Usopp was here now as well, but I wasn't too worried about what exactly had happened, I was just glad that is was over. The kids, seeing that I was okay, ambled back over to Usopp and Kaya as I rolled over onto my stomach, flinching as the pain hit me again. Damn, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I then gently laid my head on my paws, zoning out as Usopp spoke to the kids and Kaya about some stuff, I was too lazy to listen right now though.
"Thank you! It's all thanks to you!" Usopp told Nami, Zoro and Luffy as him and I reach the top of slope. Zoro was leaning against the wall of the slope, Luffy was in a spread eagle potion on the ground with Nami sitting next to him, her legs crossed.
After Usopp had finished talking to Kaya and the kids and had sent them home, he and I walked back to the slope. Well, I'm not sure you could call it walking, we limped all the way back here really. At least I knew I did.
"If it weren't for you guys this village wouldn't have been protected," continued Usopp.
I just walked past him and straight down the hill towards my captain, glad to see that all of them were alright. I knew that they would all live, after all the series had to continue, but sometimes I forgot that in the heat of battle. And I was glad that they weren't hurt that badly either. I walked down to Luffy, turning around and laid down against his leg, my head dropping lazily on his stomach like a true dog. I was so relieved that it had all worked out.
"What are you talking about?" Zoro said with a smirk on his face. "If you hadn't done anything, I wouldn't have either."
"Same here," stated Luffy.
"It doesn't matter," Nami giggled, holding a bag closer to her chest. "I was able to get their treasure."
"In light of this… There is a decision I have made…" Usopp said.