Sooo, please don't kill me? Life's been pretty hectic. I haven't been updating because to start with I got a job at a pet shop (yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is as great as your dreams make it seem), and then I got accepted in to study Animal Science at University! I've moved away from home, and am now living by myself and trying to adult while studying at the same time. This takes up a lot of my spare time, this why I haven't been able to write. But when I noticed it had almost been a year since my last update, I felt so bad I procrastinated my uni work to write some more of Mamori's story.

So, without further ado, here is a new chapter.

"Oh, such a wonderful dining room! And the kitchen too! This is an incredible ship, yohohoho!" Brook cried out, throwing up his arms.

The skeleton man had managed to find himself at the end of the dining room table, comfortably seated in a chair. Waaaay too comfortably. Nami and Robin sat on one side of the table, and across from them were Zoro and Luffy. Chopper and Usopp sat on the couch at the edge of the room, still holding up their exorcism gear in an attempt to protect themselves. Sanji was busy cooking away in the kitchen, and Franky and I perched on the bar stool watching the whole proceedings.

"That's right! Super Franky made this ship! You have good eyes indeed!" our shipwright boasted.

"Don't be so friendly with him, Franky," Sanji sighed, probably well aware it was too late already.

"But it would be nice if we could start eating," Brook declared. "It's been decades since I've had a proper meal. Every day I've been living with this pain, as though the skin on my back and belly were stuck together. But of course I don't have any skin on my belly. Or on my back! Yohohoho! Skull joke!"

Luffy burst out laughing and clapping straight away, like the dimwit he was.

'I get the feeling that's going to get old awfully quickly,' I snorted, shaking my head.

"Since I'm a gentleman though, I will wait for the meal," Brook said, although within a second he had grabbed his knife and fork, smashing them rhythmically on the table while chanting, "Dinner~ Dinner~"

Luffy, ever the idiot, was quick to join in the farce.

"Shut up and wait quietly!" Sanji snapped from the kitchen. "I'm making it! Please just drink your milk in the meantime!"

"By the way, Koropk-kuru,*" Luffy started to say.

"I'm Brook," he corrected. "Although I don't know your name yet."

"I'm Luffy!" our captain said. "By the way, what on earth are you?"

"You two don't even know each other yet!?" Zoro snapped, slamming his hand on the table.

'Typical,' I snorted, not even slightly surprised.

A few minutes later, Sanji had finished preparing the meal, setting the table with the mouth watering food. The rest of the crew had taken seats at the table, other than Franky and I who continued to stay perched on the bar stool. Franky didn't really need to eat, being a cyborg and all, and Sanji had sat a plate in front of me.

"Right, it's done," Sanji said, using his arms to gesture to all the food. "Let's worry about evicting the skeleton later, it's time to eat."

Luffy made a sound of appreciation before saying, "Brook! Make sure to eat lots of this, Sanji's food is the best!"

"What should I do? Instead of my stomach, my heart is full…" Brook mumbled, putting his head in his hands for a second. Although a split second later, he was eyeing off Robin's food, saying, "Oh, young lady, your meal seems to be a little bigger than mine. Would you like to trade?"

"YOU CAN HAVE MORE, SO EAT YOUR OWN!" Sanji yelled.

As quickly as the food was put down, it was cleared up. Thanks mostly to Luffy.

"Yomi Yomi no mi?" Nami asked.

"That's a Devil's Fruit, right?" Franky concluded.

"That's right," the walking, talking skeleton confirmed. "The truth is, I already died some decades ago. In short, the Yomi Yomi no mi has the power of revival. I was promised that I could live a second time as a 'reviving human'. Oh, how wonderful that ability seemed! I was a pirate in those old times. Oh, excuse me."

Brook burped loudly, and Sanji snapped, "Want me to hit some manners into you?"

"On the ship you saw earlier, I came to this Devil's Sea along with my nakama. Unluckily we happened to engage with some frighteningly strong fellows, and my entire crew was annihilated. Of course, I also died at that time. When I was alive, the only ability the Yomi Yomi no mi gave me was the inability to swim. That day, at last, the fruit's ability was activated; my soul was returned from the underworld. If I had returned to my body immediately, I could have been resurrected, but, as you can see, there is a thick fog on this sea and I got lost. My soul wandered around this fog for a whole year! When I found my own body, it was only white bones. I was utterly surprised. I didn't even have my eyeballs! Yohohoho!"

"You're just as stupid as Zoro, huh?" Luffy asked, and I snorted, not very quietly, in the background.

"Hey," Zoro grumbled.

"So that's how you became a talking skeleton! Being resurrected even though you were only white bone is the dreadful power of the Devil's Fruit," Franky said.

"But you're still cursed, right?" Sanji asked. "Once the function of the fruit is fulfilled, the only ability you have is the inability to swim."

"Usually when your body rots away, you also lose your hair. But you're an afro skeleton," Zoro pointed out.

"The roots of my hair are strong," the skeleton declared proudly.

"Well… Yeah, whatever."

"So, are you a ghost after all, or not?" Usopp snapped, shoving the cross in his face again. "Even if you were a human, you don't look like one at all!"

"But I strongly dislike ghosts!" Brook claimed. "If I happened to see one, I'll scream."

"Have you seen yourself in a mirror?" Nami asking, holding one up for him.

"GYAAAAA!" Brook screamed, covering his eye sockets, with his arms. "Take away that mirror!"

"Wait a moment!" Usopp yelled, jumping forward. "You're not reflected in the mirror!"

"REALLY! THAT'S INCREDIBLE!" Luffy cried.

'Hmmm?' I leaned my head to the side to look into the glassy surface, and sure enough, there was no reflection of the skeleton. I eyed him off from the corner of my eyes. 'Vampire?'

The rest of the crew must have come to the same conclusion I had. "HE'S A VAMPIRE!"

Sanji and Franky jumped to their feet, and Nami dove behind the table. Chopper was out of there, dashing to hide behind Usopp who had also jumped back, taking up the offensive once again with his cross. I bounced down to the ground, leaping over next to Usopp and Chopper, just as a precaution.

"And… Look carefully, you don't have a shadow!" Usopp yelled.

"Uwah! It's true! What are you?" Chopper cried.

Brook just sat down, picked up is tea and slurped it loudly.

"HOW CAN YOU BE THAT CALM!" Sanji snapped, slamming his fist on the table.

"We're making all this racket because of you!" Usopp joined in, producing a wreath of garlic.

"I'll tell you everything now… It has been a long time since I began drifting on this sea… Being a skeleton, and not having a shadow… are completely different things." Brook paused for a few moments before saying, "To be continued!"

'Hey,' I snapped, stamping my paw on the ground with a glare in his direction.

"Tell us everything now!" Sanji yelled.

"Some years ago, a man snatched away my shadow," Brook admitted.

"Snatched away… your shadow?" Robin spoke up, her interest suddenly on the conversation.

"You're a talking skeleton. It doesn't matter what you say. It won't surprise us anymore, alright?" Zoro said.

"But it could," Brook said. "A shadow being stolen… It means that I cannot exist in a world with light. If my body is exposed to direct sunlight, it will start to disappear. I saw someone I met disappear under the sun in front of my own eyes! It was a horrible sight for me, even though I'm a skeleton. I don't have the shadow that should be seen in the light. I also cannot be seen in a mirror or in a photograph. In short, I live, rejected by light, my nakama all annihilated... I'm Dead-Bones Brook, nice to meet you!"

"Why are you so cheerful?" Sanji snapped. "Your life sucks."

"And even then, I'm still alive and kicking. As a skeleton though! Yohohoho!"

"Shut up!" Sanji and Franky snapped.

"Yohohohoho!" Brook danced around laughing.

"Hey, are you alright?" Usopp questioned.

"Today is a wonderful day! I was able to see people once more!" he said in a cheerful manner. "I couldn't tell the difference between today and tomorrow on this dark sea with a thick fog. All alone on a ship that won't obey its rudder. How many years I've been wandering… I've been really lonely! Lonely and afraid, so much that I wanted to die! I've lived a long time! People are a delight. For me, you're my delight! Yohohoho! If I had tears, I could cry with happiness. You invited me to be your nakama. I'm really glad, thank you very much. But the truth is, I should decline."

"Hey! What!" Luffy snapped.

"Earlier, I told you that my shadow was stolen. My body cannot live under the sun. Right now, I'm protected because of the fog of this Devil's Sea. Even if I could leave this sea with you, it would be just a matter of time before my body disappeared. I have to get back my shadow which is still here. I have to wait for a miracle day! Yohohoho!"

"What are you saying? We're not strangers!" Luffy objected. "If that's the case, we'll get your shadow back! Tell me who stole it! Where is it!"

'Of course, here we go again,' I exhaled and shook my head. Not that I would refuse to help. My captain may be an idiot, but he has a good heart. I think…

"You're really a good person. I'm surprised," Brook said. "Even then, I cannot tell you that. I only just met you. You should say that you'll fight for me."

"Is your enemy so strong? It won't hurt if you just tell us his name," Franky said.

"No, I won't say it. You can't make me, yohohoho! I don't know if I will be able to meet him before my second life ends. If I can do that then I've decided that I will fight him." Brook pulled a violin out. "However, let's sing a song! In honour of the good encounter we had today. I'm very proud of my abilities. I used to be the musician on my pirate ship."

"EHH?" Sparkles grew around Luffy's head. "I'M BEGGING YOU, BE MY NAKAMA!"

"Yohohoho! Let's have a happy sea song." Something caught the corner of my eye at the same time as Brook. "GYAAAAAAAAA!"

'Watch out!' The skeleton fell back on his ass at the same time I bristled, slipping into a protective position in front of Usopp and Chopper.

"A GHOST!" Brook cried in fright.

"UWAH! THERE'S SOMETHING THERE!" Chopper cried. "I'M SCARED!"

The crew was yelling various things, Chopper and Usopp were screaming and crying. And sure enough, a large opaque ghost slid through the wall of the kitchen, and into the room just as the boat started to shake and rock.

"What's the vibration?" Zoro asked.

Brook jumped back up and ran to the kitchen door, throwing it open. "What's this? Is this ship under surveillance already? Please look at this! The forward gate has already closed! This is what caused the vibrations. This is the inside of the gate."

The quicker members of the crew had piled out of the kitchen by this point, jaws dropping at what we saw in front of us; an oddly mouth-looking gate that was blocking out way.

"Quick, let's look out the back!" Brook yelled, running back into the kitchen, and then through the medical bay, and out of the back of the ship. The whole crew followed this time. Behind our ship was an eerily dark and gloomy looking city. Like something from a Halloween park. "That means… Did you pick up a floating barrel on the sea?"

"We did!" Luffy confirmed.

"That was a trap. This ship has been targeted even since then," Brook declared.

"Targeted? What does that mean? Even though this ship only just got here…" Luffy asked. "Why is there an island here?"

"This is the ghost island that wanders through the sea, Thriller Bark." Brook announced.

'How do you know so much about this all?' I demanded, eyeing him off.

"A wandering island? The log pose isn't responding…" Nami mumbled.

"That's right. That's because this island came from far away in West Blue," Brook said. "But today was a lucky day! Not only was I able to meet some people, my heart's desire was fulfilled! Yohohoho!"

As he was speaking, everyone made their way back to the front of the boat, following the skeleton. Brook sprung easily from the back deck and onto the ship's figurehead, as though it were no trouble at all.

"Wow, his body is so light!" Sanji gaped.

"Yohohoho! That's right! As light as dead bones! Please try to break through the back of the gate and escape! Do not even think about lowering your anchor at this island. I'm glad that I met you today and could eat your delicious food. I'll never forget you! If it is fated, we'll meet again on some other sea!"

"Hey, wait, Brook!" Luffy yelled.

'Where are you going?' I called after him, jumping up on the railing, knowing full well he couldn't hear me.

Brook jumped off the figure head, down towards the sea.

"Hey! You're a Devil's Fruit user!" Zoro yelled after him.

"What are you thinking jumping in the sea!" Usopp joined in.

"Yohohoho!" Brook laughed as he landed on the sea, moving his legs so fast he was treading on water and powering forward. My jaw, along with most of the crew's, dropped.

"He can run on the sea!"

"Anyway, Luffy, let's do as he told us!" Nami stuttered. "We don't know what will happen, but this island is definitely dangerous!"

"Hmmm?" Luffy turned around, giving the crew his biggest and devilish looking grin. "Did you say something?"

"YOU WANT TO GO?" the cowardly trio cried.

"What is a ghost island anyway?" Usopp panicked.

"Hey, hey, where is that ghost from before? Is he still on the ship?" Chopper asked.

"No, he went to the island. He probably lives there," Zoro answered.

'He did?' I quirked a brow. I had totally forgotten about it.

"You remember that big vibration from before?" Robin asked. "If that was the sound of that mouth-like gate closing, then it means we were probably eaten by that mouth."

"Eaten?"

"It's hard to see in this fog, but it seems as if the walls attached to that gate are surrounding the island," Robin explained, as observant as ever. Then she started to moved down to the lower deck, looking around. "Meaning this ship is confined by the walls that surround the island."

"I see! That's why that skeleton told us to get out here ASAP!" Usopp gasped.

My paws touched the grass of the lower deck as I bounded down, running up to the side of the ship before peering over. Hmm. What a predicament to be in. Eaten by a giant floating mouth attached to an island? Ghosts? Talking skeletons? This smells oddly like something Luffy really enjoys…

"That means this is island is wandering around at sea?" Nami asked, walking down the stairs. "What for?"

"If the island keeps on moving, we cannot lower the anchor because we're in the middle of the sea," Franky pointed out.

"Hey! Why would you want to anchor!" Usopp protested. "We've got to escape! We've got to get out now, or we'll be cursed!"

Nami crouched down, wrapping her arms around herself. "Listen, guys… I seem to have contracted the 'I can't go on this island' disease…"

"Me too! I have it too!" Chopper wailed.

"All right! Take the ship to the island!" Luffy declared, suddenly pulling out a net and wire cage that he strung over his shoulder.

"Did you contract the 'Always ready for adventure' disease of something!" Usopp snapped. "Hey, think it over Luffy! Look at it! That creepy building is a real haunted house! You're underestimating the evil spirits!"

"What are you talking about? I'm taking all the necessary measures possible." Luffy showed off the cage at his hip. "I'll catch that ghost from earlier and feed it!"

"YOU'RE UNDERESTIMATING THIS!"

"Anyway, we have to get out precious nakama back. Sanji, gimme a pirate bento!" Luffy called.

'Well, that's that. Brook is now officially our nakama. Our crew keeps getting weirder and weirder.' I wandered over to the scared reindeer, nuzzling the side of his cheek as I cooed, 'It's okay. You can stay on the boat and not go on the island.'

In response, Chopper wrapped his arms around my legs, still crying. "I hate ghosts!"

"Our nakama? I object! If that skeleton is our nakama, I'll be too afraid to sleep at night!" Usopp yelled.

"The bento is ready," Robin called, walking out of the kitchen with Sanji.

'That was quick.'

"Luffy! Franky! Make sure to protect Robin and Mamori!" Sanji called out, pointing to them.

"Franky, Robin and Mamori, you're going too!" Nami asked.

"I like the excitement," Robin said in a way that sent shivers down my spine.

'Well, I guess I'll go if you guys are. It's not like I really want to stay on the ship or anything. Plus, someone has to keep our captain in line,' I barked. 'Sanji will stay here and look after you, Chopper.'

"Great!" Franky said. "Now then, we'll be using a small boat to land. But there's still something that I haven't shown you guys yet. The Soldier Dock System; Channel 2! This system has five channels. There are two 0, and a 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each dock had a different function!"

"You showed us the paddle wheel of 0, 1 and 3," Usopp pointed out. "But you told us 2 and 4 were empty."

"Hahaha, they're so special that I kept them a secret. You don't want to land in it? Just try riding it first!"

"Bring it on!" Usopp yelled, suddenly excited at the idea of one of Franky's inventions.

"Soldier Dock System: Channel 2!"

"What's gonna come out?" Luffy said as most of us hung over the side, watching and waiting.

"Set sail! Shopping boat!"

Out popped a small boat, shaped like the Merry Go. It didn't take long for the coward trio to pile into the little boat, taking it for a test run before the rest of us set out on our adventure.

"Mini Merry 2!"

"Gyaaaah! Merry!"

"It's a paddle steamer for four people," Franky explained as the other drove it around the boat.

"It's Merry! Merry reincarnated as a boat!" Usopp cried.

"I never though you would be hiding such a nice little present!" Namic chimed in. "Thank you, Franky!"

"Yaaay! It's small, but we can ride Merry once again!" Chooper celebrated.

'It's so… cute. And thoughtful,' I mumbled to myself, tilting my head so I could narrow my eyes at the shipwright. The cyborg was growing on me. Like a fungal infection.

"That's a nice gesture, Franky," Zoro said, actually complimenting the shipwright.

"If that's out shopping boat, I don't mind shopping any longer," Sanji admitted.

"Lemme ride it! Hurry!" Luffy called.

"Just wait a moment. We'll ride it soon enough. Just let them have some fun for now," Franky chide Luffy. "Anyway, I showed you 1 and 3 before, so now all the systems are ready. Channel 0, assistance paddle wheel. Channel 1, one person waver: Wooden Horse I. Channel 2, four person shopping boat: Mini Merry II. Channel 3, scouting submarine: Shark Submerge III. Channel 4 is still empty, but depending on the needs during our trip, I might out some weapons in it. For now, that's it for the soldier dock system! Each channel can be considered as a supporting solider for the Thousand Sunny, our mother ship."

"I love the way you think, Franky!" Luffy cried, slapping him on the back.

The cyborg posed, saying "SUPER!"

"Hey, Nami and the other are taking so long?" Sanji pointed out, looking at the horizon.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!" they screamed in the distance, causing my head to shoot up as my useless dog eyes tried to see through the fog.

"NAMI? WHAT'S GOING ON?" Sanji yelled.

'CHOPPER? GUYS?' I yelled out to the sea my ears flicking back and forth in worry. I paced back on forth on the rail, my tail swishing. Why do this shit always happen.

"What happened?" Zoro asked. "I can't see anything because of this fog!"

"It came from the island," Robin said.

"You guys!" Luffy cried, running to the railings. "Heeeey! Hurry up and let me ride Merry!"

Sanji jumped over and karate chopped the back of our captain's head. "What are you saying! You should worry about Nami!"

"And you? You should worry about the other two as well," Franky sighed.

"That scream just now… Were they cursed or killed by ghosts!"

'Robin!'

"If you have time to jinx some bad stuff, let's bring the ship closer," Zoro said.

My ears twitched as I heard the sound of something on the ship moving. Next thing I knew, the anchor began to drop.

"The anchor just dropped!" Luffy pointed out.

"No one touched it though!" Zoro snapped.

"There's no way the cog wheel could be loose, it's brand new!" Franky protested. "Anyway, raise the anchor again or the ship will lose its balance."

I snarled loudly as the hatch to lower area of the ship sprung open, clattering against the ground. Zoro rested his hands on his swords, and I bound over to his side, the hairs on my hackles raised. 'What is going on! What about Nami, Chopper and Usopp! We don't have time for this!'

"The hatch opened by itself?" Luffy gaped. "Did anyone touch it!"

"No one was even near it!" Sanji objected.

"Hmm," Luffy made an odd sound as the pouches of his cheek stretched out, as is moving by themselves.

"Hey, Luffy! Why are you joking around at a time like this!" Sanji snapped.

"Noh iss noh hat! Ah hihiny huu anything!" Luffy tried to speak, but his mouth was so far stretched the words were jumbled.

"You didn't do anything? Then what's with that mouth?" Sanji continued yelling.

A scent tickled my nose, causing my snarl to rise up another notch. I didn't know that scent. What was it… There was something weird going on here.

Luffy's cheeks suddenly went flying back into place, smacking him in the face hard enough to cause him to stumble back, before he was seemingly pushed by something, causing him to faceplant.

My head jerked around, ears straining to pick up any sounds. There was so much commotion going on, it was hard to pinpoint just one thing.

Zoro's sword suddenly went flying out of it's sheath, nearly taking off my ear. It would have probably done so, if I hadn't stumbled back out of the way, yelping in shock. The katana went flying through the air, diving straight towards Luffy's prone form.

"Watch out, Straw Hat!" Franky yelled, kicking him out of the way before the sword imbedded itself in the deck. Franky then spun on Zoro. "Hey! What are you doing!"

"Sorry! My katana just…" he mumbled.

"Strange…" Is there someone else other than us on this deck," Sanji asked.

'There is, I can smell it!' I snarled, nodding my head. 'Although I don't exactly what what "it" is…'

"Is this a ghost's doing? Or is it a Devil's Fruit user or something?" Franky asked.

"I did feel something touching me," Luffy admitted, getting back to his feet.

"The dog has noticed something too. And I heard a bestial howl earlier," Robin joined in.

"A beast?"

"I'm more worried about Nami and the other!" Sanji said, jumping up onto the railing. "I'll leave the ship to you guys!"

He went to jump off the side, and something seemed to trip him mid-air, smashing his face against the side of the ship.

'Sanji!'

"EEEEH! HOW LAME!" the three boys gaped.

"Uwah! Sanji's floating!" Luffy yelled as he seemed to float back up through the air, hanging limply. "What's going on."

The cook was suddenly flung, none too gently, across the deck, straight towards me. I yelped and stumbled out of the way and he went flying by into the other side of the sorry. 'Sorry, Sanji!' I sweat-dropped a little guiltily, not in the mood to break his fall.

"Gah… What was that just now, dammit!" he grumbled, standing back to his feet.

"You made interesting sounds," Zoro said dryly.

"Shut up! You should be in this situation!" Sanji snapped back.

"They don't want us to leave the ship?" Franky questioned.

"I don't understand their intention. If they want to kill us, they can attack us or something," Zoro said, getting into a defensive position, swords ready to be drawn.

"Ah!" Robin cried, falling to her knees as something slobbered on her.

"What's happening Robin?" Sanji yelled.

"Something's grabbing me!" she replied.

"Damn you bastard, doing whatever you want!"

'Robin!' I cried out, charging towards to her. I aimed a head-butt to the area I suspected whatever it was to be, but they dodged and and let out a howl, causing me to stumble before skidding to a stop.

"I really did hear a bestial howl!" Luffy cried. "Could it be beast ghosts!"

"Uwah!" the crew cried as the deck heaved and rolled under out feet. "Waves! Artificial waves from inside these walls! The ship's drifting away!"

"Robin, are you alright?" Sanji asked, rushing over to her side.

"I'm fine…" she replied. "It disappeared when the dog ran over here."

'STOP RUNNING LIKE A LITTLE BITCH!' I yelled out my challenge to the wind, spinning around as my ears flickered wildly trying to track the invisible attacker down.

"Hey, shitty cook, raise the anchor so we can control the ship!" Zoro ordered, springing into actions.

"Don't' call me that, punk!" Sanji snapped back. "But we can't leave Nami and the others!"

"Well, we've been patient, but there's no choice," Franky admitted. "There's no way we can break free of this giant spider web."

The rough waves from before had dragged our ship straight into a massive spider web, stranding us there. Brook's ship was dragged along for the ride too. Ironically, the ship had been dragged right to the entrance of the island.

'I just hope we don't meet whoever made this giant-ass web,' I snorted, not overly keen on meeting anymore huge spiders.

"Well, hanging around here any longer isn't going to help us find Nami and the others," Sanji pointed out.

I barked in agreement, starting to get more concerned about them. Mini Merry was also caught in the spider web, but there was no sign of the others. Chances were they were already on the island.

"Why is there suddenly a staircase going down?" Sanji asked as we trooped down the said staircase.

Luffy was several lengths in front of the rest of us, swinging his net around in an excited manner. "No matter how you think about it, this is the entrance, there's no other option!" he said before pausing at the bottom of the stairs. "There's something at the end!"

I leapt down the last few strides of stairs, landing by Luffy's side, my nose twitching. What was that smell? I shifted my weight across my paws, looking down as I felt something weird. The ground was a sea of bones. I blinked a few times before shrugging my shoulders, and looking ahead as the others arrived at the bottom.

"Bark!"

"Bark!"

"Booow!"

I growled my challenge, holding my head high and puffing out my chest as a giant three headed creature abled out of the darkness. 'Fluffy?' I questioned before I noticed it wasn't black, rather it was a mix of blue and yellow, and rotting pieces of flesh.

"Is that Cerberus? Hell'd probably be safer than this place," Sanji said.

"Oh, it's cute," Robin laughed.

"Is it trying to pick a fight?" Franky asked, rubbing his chin.

"How impertinent…" Zoro grumbled.

"Is it tasty?" Luffy questioned, licking his lips.

The Cerberus looked shocked to say the least. Not that I blamed it. Normal people would have been scared of it. Not my crew mates. It quickly shook off its shock, growling threateningly at us.

"What? It looks like it wants to fight," Zoro pointed out, placing his hands on his swords. "Then I will…"

"No wait," Luffy interrupted. "Let's try to tame it."

"Fool. Even if it looks like a dog, it's more like a boss dog," Zoro argued. "It's not like Mamori."

'Hey, watch it. I might take that as an insult.' I snapped my jaws at Zoro's legs.

"Dogs are dogs," Luffy shrugged, putting down his net and pack before walking forward, hand out stretched. "There, there, there. Shake."

'Luffy, I don't think–' I started to say before the Cerberus jumped forward, biting Luffy with all three heads. 'Never mind…'

"Right after he was warned," Franky sighed.

Luffy remained still, reaching up and patting one of Cerberus's heads. "There, there, good boy. There, there, there…" The giant beast slowly started to let go, pulling back. "That's it, let me go slowly. You're a good boy."

'Thank fuck he never treated me like that,' I grinned, knowing I would have done worse to him than what the Cerberus was doing right now. I would have hit low and hard with no sympathy.

"YOU BASTARD!" The second the Cerberus had fully let go, Luffy punched it hard enough to knock all three heads out. The Cerberus was sprawled on the ground, so Luffy held out his hand, saying, "Down".

"That's not right," Sanji sweat-dropped.

'If you wanted it to help us, you should have just asked me to help,' I snorted, padding over to where the beast was laid out. I reached out, poking it with my paw, checking to see if it was still living. 'Hey. Can you here me? Don't feel bad, my stupid captain is an immortal deuce.'

"Maybe we should let the dogs sort this out?" Franky suggested.

Three sets of eyes slowly opened, all the heads whimpering. No doubt they all had a headache now. 'Come on now, I know you're not dead. Get off your ass, I want to ask you some things…' I trailed off as the eyes that were staring at me turned into hearts. 'Uhhh…'

'An angel,' the centre head said in a gruff voice as it started to rise.

'Sent from heaven to hell to smite us,' the end dog head said.

'Hey sexy little lady,' the fox head said, in a stereotypical sly manner that sent shivers down my spine.

"Looks like puppy love," Robin said in the background.

'I… I…' my voice shook as I spoke, not sure how to react. He took a step towards me, and I took several back. 'Listen! I need to ask you if you've seen a two humans and a small reindee–'

'How old are you?' the centre voice asked me, cutting me off.

'Are you single?' the other dog-head asked.

'You know, normally I'm not huge a cat fan, but I might make an exception if it's your pus–' the sleazy fox started to say.

'NOOOOO!' I screamed mentally, panicking and spinning around, thrusting my back leg into the chin of the centre head. The Cerberus slumped to the ground as I dashed away, diving behind Zoro's legs and cowering there. 'THAT IS NOT OKAY. NOT. FUCKING. OKAY.'

"Oi, Mamori, wha– " Zoro grunted.

'I'M NOT DEALING WITH THAT, SOMEONE ELSE CAN.' I shook my head before burying into the back of Zoro's knee. If I was in human form, my whole face would have been bright red. I could handle hostility. Getting hit on was a completely different matter. Especially by such a pervert. They didn't mention this in the myths.

"Well, that didn't work," Franky pointed out.

"If something this interesting popped out as soon as we entered, then I'm looking forward to this island!" Luffy declared from his place atop of Cerberus's back.

After being beaten mercilessly, twice, the beast had done what Luffy wanted without complaint, all three heads hanging to the ground as it walked. Franky and Luffy were both perched atop its back, and the rest of us walked along beside him, although I was as far away from him as I could get. We had finally left the channel way of bones we'd been walking in before, coming straight out into a creepy forest.

"Once we leave the moat, the forest is in front of us," Franky pointed out, looking around from his vantage point.

"You seem to have no energy, Cerberus," Robin commented, looking at the dejected beast.

"Well, you shouldn't sympathise too much with the losers; it'll affect his pride," Zoro said.

'A kiss from a fair maiden could revive us,' the end dog head mumbled, aimed at me.

I saw their eyes watching me, and I pressed myself to the Zoro's leg, growling, 'Not going to happen in a million years, dick faces!'

"Would you stop using me a shield and tripping me up?" Zoro grumbled, stumbling over me.

"NAMI? HEEEEY! NAMI, WHERE ARE YOU?" Sanji yelled out, ignoring the rest of us.

"Huh?" Luffy said as something ahead caught his attention again. His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged as we figured out what it was. There was a zombie looking tree man, and a bandaged up unicorn pouring drinks for each other. "A middle aged man tree… and a unicorn having a drink together…"

Screams filled the air, but they were from the two creatures rather than us. Luffy and Franky both jumped down, Luffy grabbing a hold of the tree. "I CAUGHT IT!"

"Me too! These are rare!" Franky said, holding the unicorn by its neck.

"WAAAH, PLEASE LET US GO," the tree man cried.

"You guys!" Luffy yelled as he began to sparkle. "Do you want to be pirates with–"

"NO WAY!" Sanji and Zoro snapped.

"I told you! Stop trying to make all kinds of things your nakama!" Sanji lectured as we walked along again. "We already have a tanuki, a transforming dog, and a robot among other things!" He then spun on me, hearts in his eyes. "No offense meant of course, Mamori."

'It's not my fault I transform,' I mumbled, hanging my head.

"Hey, I'm not a robot! I'm a cyborg you dork!" Franky protested.

"Well, you're not a human anymore, that's for sure."

"I'M BASED OFF A HUMAN!"

"YOU'RE A PERVERT IS WHAT YOU ARE!"

"Eh, well, if you understand that much…" Franky rubbed the back of his head.

"NO, I'M NOT PRAISING YOU!"

"What's gonna come out next~ How fun~" Luffy sung, ignoring the fighting in the background.

"Like the tree man and that unicorn that we just saw…" Robin began to say.

"Hmm?" Zoro questioned.

"The common denominator for the off creatures in this forest are bandages, scars from stitches and number engraved on their bodies."

"Huh, that's true," Zoro agreed. "It means that they're being monitored by something."

"That's exactly what it means," she agreed.

"Hm? I can hear something," Luffy announced all of a sudden.

My ears perked up as I also heard something.

"Negative, negative," a voice sung as the ghost from earlier floated through the air in front of us.

"THERE! IT'S A GHOST!" Luffy yelled, pointing at it. As he spoke, the split into three, dancing through the air. "They're multiplying while dancing? How funny!"

"Negative, negative."

"What a disturbing call," Sanji muttered.

"I'll catch and raise them!" Luffy declared, jumping off the Cerberus, swinging his net at one of the ghosts. It just went right through. He swung at another, and the same thing happened.

"They're totally spirits…" Franky mumbled. "All right… Fresh Fire!" he breathed out a stream of fire at the ghosts, but they just swam right through it. "No good, it didn't work." One then made a beeline straight for Franky.

'Watch out!' I called, standing in a defensive position, my eyes watching the ghosts as they darted around.

It zapped right through him, coming out the other side. "It's useless…" He fell to his knees. "I'm totally no good this week. Everything I do is no good. I have no confidence to live. I should die."

"HOW DEPRESSED ARE YOU GETTING?" Sanji yelled at him.

"You bastard!" Luffy lunged for one, trying to grab it with his arms, but it just went right through him. Luffy joined Franky on his knees. "If I'm going to be reborn… I want to be a shell. I'm the worst. I should die."

"LIKE I SAID, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?"

"Negative, negative."

"Maybe when you touched these ghosts, your will becomes weak…" Robin theorised.

"That's silly," Sanji mumbled.

"Hmph, they're pathetic," Zoro sighed, stepping forward. "It's because they don't usually prepare their spirits that they get their minds played with by some weird ghost." A ghost came out of nowhere and zipped through him, leaving him to join Luffy and Franky. "I'm sorry I was born…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH"

I tried to hold it, considering the situation, but a snort slipped out, my body shaking with suppressed laughter.

"It looks like what Robin said is true," Sanji said, taking a drag of his cigarette. "On top of having no bodies, if your willpower is cut down by just touching them… If they're enemies, they'll be a handful."

"That's true," Robin agreed. "What an odd island."

"Negative, negative."

*Mythical ainu dwarf god

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