Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.
The Dragon Chronicles
Chapter 9 - Surreal
"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go."
-Richard Bach
It was the sounds of a beautiful morning that slowly pulled Rei from the depths of her slumber. She could feel the warm air wrap around her like a security blanket and the sun beams were warming her skin as the sun slowly peaked from the horizon. The sound of the ocean waves rolling back and forth was a soothing white noise to her as she began to drift off once more.
Never in her whole life had she ever been more exhausted than she was at the moment. Not even when she helped unpack all the canned goods at her father's general shop. Never once opening her eyes, Rei began to snuggle further into her bedding, hoping that her mother wouldn't insist on her getting up for several more hours.
Suddenly, the events from the past days hit her like a ton of bricks. Her kidnapping, her escape, the marines, the female pirate, the passenger ship, and the horrible storm that sunk it. She wasn't home in her bed. She wasn't even with her family. She had been drowning in the ocean as the waves overpowered her and pulled her into their vast depths. She shot up from where she lay so fast that she almost lost her balance and crashed back onto the thing she had been sleeping on, which was not a bed of any kind. She blinked as she looked around.
Apparently she had survived, how, she wasn't sure at the moment, but the island she was on currently was nothing more that a sandbar with a few trees for shade and none of them had fruit on them whatsoever. It didn't come to her right away, still too shocked that she had survived when she had been so sure she was going to die, that whatever she was standing on wasn't a rock or a plateau upon the sandbar. She only realized what she was standing on wasn't natural when the sun, which had been slowly rising in front of her, reflected painfully into her eyes like a mirror was applying its rays.
Only then did she look down and see the golden scales that slowly moved up and down in a slow breathing rhythm. That was when she realized she wasn't alone and that she was standing on an actual creature- a dragon to be exact.
Letting out a startled scream, she quickly lost her balance when she jerked away from her discovery, crashing into the wet sand below. She quickly crab crawled away from the beast, the best she could with her leather jacket turned cloak getting in the way, getting no farther than a few feet before the creature's tail cut her off, stopping her momentum in one move. Rei's eyes darted about the long, golden scaled body of the reptilian, trying to find its face before it devoured her. Glowing gold eyes met hers when the dragon at last opened its eyelids, waking itself from its sleep that she had disturbed with her scream. Though frightened for her life, Rei couldn't help but calm down as she stared into the beast's eyes. It made no movement, other than when its tail had stopped her from leaving its vicinity, only quietly observing the human child. The young girl, now that she wasn't scared senseless, took the opportunity to observe the dragon.
She had only head about dragons through old stores the village elders would tell during one of their festivals. And all the stories that had been told to her were about giant beasts that spewed fire and brimstone and left death in their path. Remorseless beasts that killed for pleasure and enjoyed feasting on men and women and children.
But this dragon didn't even look remotely interested in making her a morning snack, if anything, it looked annoyed at being woken at such an early time of the day. Its irises were gold, the pupil was slit much like a cat's, and the sclera was black, making it hard for Rei to distinguish the eyelid, which was also black. Its ivory horns protruded from the temple of the creature's head, curling outwards a bit before extending forward.
Its horns reminded her a little of a mountain goat's, only these horns didn't curl around its head, it looked like it could use them to stab its opponent. The body was enormous compared to Rei and any creature she had ever seen, but it looked sleek and slender at the same time, like it was flexible and light on its feet.
Dainty, if Rei could be so bold as to categorize the gargantuan beast as such. Its wings were folded and resting on each side of its frame. The claws were also very noticeable, five long digits with sharp black talons on each limb. It even had a short, gentle, and wispy looking mane going from the crown of its head to the end of its long neck and the tip of its tail had hair (or was it fur?) that was as long as hers. And what's more? The dragon was decorated head to toe in big golden scales.
It was nothing like she had ever seen before and it was awe-inspiring, even if it was going to devour her soon.
The dragon finally blinked, raising its head slowly and opening its giant maw causing the young girl to flinch. It took Rei a minute to realize that the beast wasn't trying to eat her, only yawning. Rows of sharp teeth were visible as well as its black lips, tongue, gums, and throat. It made Rei wonder if the flying reptile was black on the inside and if it was black under the scales. Once it yawned, it licked its lips as if to wet them, much like Rei's sisters did when they were waking up.
Great. She was comparing a dragon to her sisters. Rei wasn't sure it worked like that as she kept her eyes on the golden beast.
The dragon did little now to acknowledge the child's existence as it slowly began to stand, stretching like a lazy cat waking up from a long catnap. Its talons gently dug into the sand as it stretched, making deep gouges in the sand despite the gentleness of the motion. Finally, after what seemed to be a good long hour to her, the dragon looked at the stunned child once more and without hesitation moved its tail to gently push the child closer to it.
This was it. Rei was sure that the dragon was going to eat her, finding herself more shocked with the dragon sat on its haunches, using one of its front claws to pick her up and take a good sniff of her before observing her with gentle, docile looking eyes. Rei held on to one of its long black talons, in a stupor as it studied her.
"A-a-aren't y-y-y-you go-go-going t-t-to ea-ea-eat me?" Rei stammered as she looked the beast in the eye.
She was surprised to hear a thrumming noise coming from the dragon's throat before it set her down and puffed hot air into her face, making her involuntarily flinch in discomfort. It dawned on her a few minutes later that the dragon was laughing at her.
"S-s-s-so you-re n-not going to ea-eat me?" Rei stupidly asked the dragon, more shocked at the revelation that it had laughed at the idea than expecting a definitive answer.
The only answer she got was the same throaty thrumming sound and another puff of hot air blown in her face.
No. It seemed the dragon wasn't interested in eating her. And if it wasn't going to eat her, then why was she on an island with a dragon of all creatures. That's when it hit her.
"You s-saved me," she said quietly, surprise evident in her realization. "You saved me from drowning in the storm, didn't you?"
There was a different thrumming noise coming from the dragon as it nodded its head lightly, as if it was affirming her proclamation.
So a dragon had saved her. Huh. There went all her preconceived ideas about dragons that had been taught to her by her village elders. Then again, didn't she just recently learn that one could not judge a person based on how society labels them, because society might have been wrong? Still, it seemed almost novel that the dragon wasn't interested in eating her and had saved her instead.
"Th-thank you. Thank you so much." Rei bowed respectfully to her savior.
Said savior just rolled its eyes and made a huffing noise before growling gutturally like it was trying to mutter under its breath. Rei straightened up and stared with wonder as the dragon once again moved, getting back on all fours and searching the island for anything that resembled food. It continued the muttering growly sound as it came up with nothing.
This sandbar was void of any edible vegetation or animals, even Rei had figured that out within the first few minutes of observing the barren little isle. She was really hoping that the dragon didn't expect her to stay here were she had no food or water, waiting for someone to find her.
The dragon paced around the island, searching the sandbar thoroughly for any signs of food. It would scratch at its scales from time to time as if it was uncomfortable in its own skin as it continued the vain search. Finally, it gave up and looked agitatedly at the little girl that kept it company.
"Y-you're n-not leaving me here, r-r-right?" Rei stuttered shyly as she looked once more into the beasts golden eyes.
She received another puff of hot air and then a throaty rumble that she quickly translated as 'no'. She was relieved in her realization, but couldn't help but dislike the way the golden dragon would puff hot air at her. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't the most pleasant thing she had ever experienced and the dragon's breath smelt like sulfur. She didn't know why the sentient beast kept doing it, but it was getting old fast.
"Th-then where are we go-going?" Rei boldly asked, no longer afraid of the large reptile.
Rei concluded later that she probably should have asked 'when' they were going. The dragon had giving a huffing noise before snatching Rei up with her front paw, holding the girl uncomfortable in its grasp as its claws circled around her and held her in place so that she couldn't even squirm at the uncomfortable grip.
Before Rei could voice her displeasure, the air was knocked from her lungs when the dragon launched itself from its haunches and high into the air. She barely caught her breath before the golden dragon unfolded its huge, powerful wings and began to flap them, pulling them higher into the atmosphere where the air currents were the strongest and allowing the large beast to glide for a while before having the flap again.
By that time, Rei had just given up trying to voice any sort of displeasure and just concentrate on breathing in the high altitude. If this was how the whole trip was going to go, where the air was knocked out of her lungs with each powerful flap of the beast's wings and low air levels, then Rei was sure she was in for a very, very long trip.
Rei wasn't sure how long the two of them were flying. For her, it felt like eternity because of her uncomfortable position within the dragon's grasp. The wind was blowing in her face, forcing her to keep her eyes shut at times in order to prevent them from tearing up. She had gotten use to the high altitude remarkably, but rather than be triumphant about it, she was too concerned with when they were going to land. She really, really had to go to the bathroom!
When the dragon started to descend, Rei almost let out a cry of joy. Potty break at last! Right before the dragon landed, flapping a few feet from the air, it quickly dropped her a foot or two from the ground before roughly landing itself, causing slight tremors in the earth at the motion. Rei was glad that she had been dropped, the harsh sound of the dragon landing did not seem like it would have been a comfortable thing to experience as a passenger.
Getting off the ground, Rei wobbled over to the nearest large rock and hid behind it as she finally relieved her poor bladder. The dragon merely stared at the rock, waiting for the red eyed child to reappear from behind it. When she did, Rei had her hands on her hips and giving the dragon a not too happy expression.
"W-why did you carry me like that?" She asked in an agitated manner. "It was not c-comfortable at all!"
The child had already realized that the dragon was not going to eat her, so oddly enough, she found herself able to speak to the beast without stammering too much. The dragon lowered its head to the child's level to stare at her. Rei wasn't sure how long they stared each other down, but the dragon ended it by puffing its sulfur smelling breath in her face once more.
"Stop that!" Rei coughed as she waved her hand in front of her face. "That smells really bad!"
When the dragon let out another puff of hot air into her face, Rei realized that the dragon was now playfully teasing her. It meant nothing bad by it, the dragon merely realized it bothered the child and was having fun pestering her with it. It probably even knew that the child had been uncomfortable the whole flight, but Rei didn't understand why it chose to carry her like that. The golden reptile let out that familiar chortling sound as it slowly turned from the child and began to investigate the island it had landed on.
Letting go of her annoyance, Rei let out a few more coughs before sitting down. Her legs felt like jello from the long flight anyways and she was merely relieved she wasn't being carried anymore. She watched as the dragon once again used one of its front paws and prodded agitatedly at its scales as if it was uncomfortable and trying to readjust its skin underneath without scratching at itself. It was a rather odd thing to do, but Rei didn't know much about dragons so it could have been completely normal for all she knew. But it looked odd to her.
Realizing they weren't going anywhere right away, Rei pulled her backpack off her back, having remembered its presence a little into the flight since it was smashed against her uncomfortably the whole trip. The child opened up the bag to inspect the damage done not only from the storm, but from being smashed against her for the better half of the morning.
Needless to say, her coloring paper was unsalvageable and her crayons were broken too. She pulled them out and set them next to her as she decided now was as good as time as any to see what Gin had left her. She was pretty much alone, aside from the dragon not too far off sticking its face in a waterfall to drink to its content, and she wasn't sure when the next chance she'd have would be.
Pulling out her clothes, both the new ones and the old set, Rei realized everything in the worn leather bag was still damp. She panicked for a second as she quickly yanked out the book Drake had given her to see if it was possible to save or just like her coloring paper. The book was still damp, causing the young girl to let out a cry of distress as she quickly tried to open the book to see if the pages were stuck together or if the ink had run off the pages. To her relief, the pages could be coerced to separate, if done so carefully, and the ink held fast to the paper. It was going to dry funny, but at least the hard-back book wasn't a lost cause like her coloring paper.
Rei nearly jumped out of her skin when the book in her hands was nudged by a long black talon. She glanced up to see the dragon looking curiously at her book and Rei understood that it wanted to know about the object.
"This... this is a book." Rei started out, unsure of how much the dragon actually knew of human things. When it gave her a nod of its head, she figured it knew what a book was but was curious about why she was fretting over the waterlogged thing. "Drake gave th-this book to me. He's been v-very kind to me and... and... and I was worried that." Rei paused, taking a deep breath when she felt her stuttering was going to overtake her and tried to speak clearly once more. "I was worried that it might have been ruined by the water. It is okay, but it's still sorta damp and some of the pages might try to dry together."
The dragon nodded once more before holding out its forepaw, palm up, as if asking the child to deposit the book on the pads of its paw. Rei stared at the appendage before looking up into the dragon's face to stare at its mellow golden eyes. Warily she placed the book in its palm and was immediately in awe and fear when the dragon flipped the book open with one of its talons before letting out a bright yellow fire from its maw, aimed just above the damp book. Rei would have snatched the book back, but was too afraid that she would be burned by the odd colored flame. A few seconds later, the dragon stopped breathing out the yellow blaze and offered the book back to the child. Rei snatched it up almost immediately, already checking the poor book for any more damage. She was genuinely shocked when she realized the paper was now dry and oddly enough, not all clumped tightly together. If she was careful enough, she could separate each and every page without anymore lasting damage.
Rei couldn't help but give the dragon her brightest smile. "Thank you so much!" Her gift from Drake would survive after all.
The dragon let out a muttering growl as it turned around and continued to look about the area it had landed in. Rei decided to investigate the area later, she wanted to make sure everything else would be okay, especially since she didn't know what else the worn leather backpack held. Digging into the bag once more, Rei pulled out more clothes that were not the ones she had owned previously or the new clothes Drake had bought her on the previous island.
These were Gin's clothes, Rei realized. The woman didn't have much. The outfit she had worn on the ship had been given to her by the marines to hide her identity, but these were obviously hers. They were pretty basic: a few pairs of black pants, a few skirts, several oversized shirts which had been hemmed to fit her that had no doubt been pinched from various men in her life (if her stories were anything to go by, the woman had a habit to keep the clothes she stole from her victims), things Rei could only describe as satin bandages, panties, an actual bra or two, two belts (one that looked pretty odd), stockings, black worn leather gloves, and some blouses. Gin had an odd, classy, and fashionable flare to her wardrobe, even though half of it had once belonged to men.
Setting the clothes next to her heap of damp clothing, Rei pressed on. The next thing she pulled out was a sewing kit. It was the nice kind too. It was all protected by a metallic waterproof case that held all the woman would need to hem any piece of clothing to fit her or to repair a nasty sized tear. Rei figured that this might come in handy if her clothes ever were torn in the near future. Traveling with a dragon was bound to cause a few tears in her wardrobe, Rei surmised.
Closing the kit, she set that on top of the stack of clothes and pulled out the next large object. It was a first aid kit. Out of curiosity, Rei opened it to see what condition it was in. It was slightly used, she surmised as she noticed a gauze wrap missing and some blood stains on the inside. Closing it again, Rei set it aside to continue her dig. She pulled out a hair brush, a toothbrush that was not hers as well as hers and her toothpaste, some beli coins, a small hunting knife, a blanket that had been folded tightly at the bottom, and, to her great surprise, a grappling hook.
Pulling out the last item that had been wrapped up in the blanket, Rei inspected the metal hook connected to a thin metal rope that was wrapped up neatly in a loop knot. Gin must have used it time to time to scale up various objects. She must have used her gloves to hold onto the rope without cutting into her skin, the funny looking belt to loop the rope through so she wouldn't fall if she lost her grip, and the medical kit for whenever the rope managed to cut her skin.
Rei wondered who had been in charge of going through Gin's belongings, because honestly, whoever was suppose to probably didn't if the sewing kit, the knife, the first aid kit, the grappling hook and its accessories were anything to go by. It had no doubt been that lazy ass Aokiji's job. That was the only reason these things had not been confiscated.
Rei stared at all the items a bit longer before rolling them all back up neatly and putting them back into the leather bag in which they came. It was surprisingly able to hold the large amount to items without problem, as long as it all was put inside in some sort of order. Closing it securely, Rei put her backpack on her back once more before turning her attention to the dragon who was now standing on its back legs with its forearms in a tree, pulling at something.
Noticing the child was now paying it attention, it managed to detached something from the tree and lowered itself onto the ground without making the ground rumble under its weight. It looked right at her as it dropped a coconut right at the young girl's feet.
"F-for me?" Rei asked, looking up at the dragon inquisitively. "Thank you, b-but I'm not sure how I would even open it."
She didn't even get time to react before the dragon skillfully swung its tail at the top of the coconut, barely missing the cloak that Rei wore around her shoulders. Rei blinked in shock as the top part of the coconut fell clear off the fruit as if it had been sliced. Gazing over to where the dragon's tail now rested, Rei could see something gleam under the beautiful black mane growing from its tail.
The dragon seemed to understand her confusion and lifted its tail as it slowly moved it to rest in front of the child, shaking its tail's mane to reveal what it had used to cut the coconut. Rei's reflection stared back at her as she gazed wondrously at a polished double-sided blade once hidden by the long, thick hair (fur?) follicles. It was shaped more like a spearhead, but was riddled with elegant engravings that took the form of some picture. They seemed to hold great meaning to the owner of the tail.
"Wow... So beautiful." Rei muttered as she attempted to touch the tail only for the dragon to pull it back. The child pulled her hand back and looked up at the dragon. "Oh. Sorry."
The dragon let out another rumble of noise before prodding the coconut carefully with the tip of its tail before laying it to rest where it originally had it. Rei guessed that touching a dragon's tail was some sort of taboo. Looking back down at the coconut, Rei turned her full attention onto it. She hadn't eaten anything all day and this was no doubt her breakfast and possibly her lunch.
After drinking the coconut milk and stripping the inside of its fruit, Rei realized how hungry she had been and how greatly the simple coconut had satisfied her. As she was about to thank the dragon for the food, a familiar golden claw wrapped around her once more. Instantly, the small girl was filled with dread.
"No!" She let out a quick cry of panic, trying to pry off the dragon's grip. "No!"
The dragon paused in its movements. It stared at the human child a minute longer before letting out a heavy sounding sigh of air as it rolled its golden glowing eyes. It began to lift the girl once more, still getting shouts of disapproval, but instead of stopping and readying to launch, it dropped the child onto its back. Rei paused in her cries of 'no' when she realized she wasn't going to be held this time.
She was about to say something, but stopped when she felt the muscles under the scales tighten and instantly grabbed onto the dragon's mane as fiercely as she could. The dragon was readying to take off again and Rei remembered the force of launching itself into the air had greatly winded her and if the dragon had not been holding onto her the first time, she would have no doubt tumbled off. She pressed herself close and clenched her eyes shut, almost afraid that she'd fall off if she didn't hold on tight enough.
Feeling the harsh push of gravity upon her body, Rei could only guess that the dragon had once more launched into the air. There was not doubt once the wings began their rhythmic beating beside her that they were indeed now flying in the air. She loosen her hold on the dragon's mane and slowly opened her eyes. She was amazed at the view. They were already as high as the clouds. Last time she had been too preoccupied by her uncomfortable position, but this time she was able to enjoy the view around her.
"Wow!" Rei said in awe as she carefully peered down past the dragon's long neck. "This is amazing!"
The dragon let out its familiar chortling noise as it glance at her through the corner of its eye. It seemed well pleased that she enjoyed flying. Watching as the island they had been on previously disappear, Rei couldn't help but wonder aloud.
"Where are we going next?"
The sun was beginning to set by the time they descended to land. Rei was grateful, since she had been forced to hold her bladder once more. It was the first island they had encountered since the last one and Rei could tell that they would not be traveling again till it was morning. Though her bladder had been bothering her the last leg of the trip, as a whole, she had loved every second of the flight. There was something about flying that gave her a feeling of freedom that not even sailing could fulfill.
The dragon was now scouting the area, much like last time, but after having taken care of her bodily functions, Rei was trailing after the large, golden beast eagerly. Any fears she might have had about the sentient creature had disappeared after that long flight. It had many opportunities to be rid of her, yet it kept her safe the whole flight through.
The dragon peered down at her, as if keeping tabs on its young ward, while it continued to meander deeper into the forest of the island. After some time, the two of them discovered a decent sized stream and followed it to find it pool somewhere further up with a small waterfall as well. There were fish jumping out of the water as they fought the current and attempted to swim up the waterfall. Rei watched in fascination as all of them slowly succeeded in the quest and were able to defy what seemed to be the impossible to the young eight year old girl. She was pulled from her observations when one of the fish that had almost made it up the waterfall had been snapped by a familiar golden maw.
Rei watched her dragon companion consume the fish in a few bites, bones and all before dexterously snatching another fish from its plight. Rei watched with a morbid fascination as the dragon continued to pluck the fish as they climbed upstream through the waterfall. Eventually, the golden dragon snatched a fish and instead of consuming it like the rest of them, held it in its maw as it turned its neck and slowly faced the small girl.
Ruby met gold as the two of them stared at each other before the dragon broke its gaze away to drop the good sized fish at the girls feet. Rei was puzzled for a second before realizing what the dragon had intended the gesture to mean.
"It's for me?" Rei pointed at herself. "Y-you caught me a fish?"
The dragon let out its familiar grumble sound before giving a light nod. Rei couldn't help it when her face lit up and she practically beamed stupidly at the beast over such a simple gesture. "Thank you so much!"
Rei was about to pick up the fish, but realized she had no way of cooking it, better yet, she had no idea what to do in order to cook the water dweller. She gazed at it a moment before glancing up at her large guardian with a lost look on her face as she placed her hope that the dragon might have a better idea. The dragon peered down at her, understanding coming to its eyes as it realized she was too young to even know what to do with an uncooked fish. Letting out that familiar grumble, it looked about until it found a decent sized stick.
With nimbleness and dexterity that Rei never imagined a dragon of massive size to have, it laid on its belly, snatching the stick with one paw and the fish with the other. Using mainly its talons, it managed to stab the fish through with the stick before stabbing the bottom of the stick that the fish wasn't inhabiting into the ground. The stick stayed where it had placed it before the dragon got back up and stood on its hind legs so it could grab at the branches of the trees above, tearing out some of the smaller ones and causing them to fall to the ground. Using the fallen foliage, it grabbed a small handful setting it close to the fish. Rei was watching, curious as to what it was doing, but it all made sense when the dragon took in a deep breath of air before suddenly letting out a blast of yellow flame that ignited the wood and leaves in the pile and caused them to light on fire.
It was odd, in Rei's opinion. The flame that the dragon spewed was yellow and it radiated an faint electrical charge that caused the hair on her arms to stand up. However, what was more puzzling to Rei was the moment the dragon cut off the stream of yellow flame from its mouth, the yellow flame eating away at the sticks and foliage instantly became like a normal fire and even simmered down to a reasonable level. It was like the dragon's flame wasn't like regular fire but more like lightning in the form of a flame.
Rei was going to say something about it to her newest keeper, but her interest was suddenly diverted by the smell of the now roasting fish. Rei suddenly understood what the dragon had been doing. It had shown her how to prep and cook her fish. She instantly clamored over to fish ready to observe if it was ready to eat. The dragon laid back down again upon its belly, watching over her quietly.
"Is it ready?" Rei asked, glancing up at the dragon's head with eager curiosity. She wasn't sure how long the fish would take, but she had a feeling that the dragon knew.
It shook its head lightly, a definite no, which caused Rei to pout slightly as she sat a small distance away and watched her fish impatiently. Every once in a while, she'd tear her eyes away from her fish to look at the dragon, to see if it thought it was ready yet. For a while, it would give her a shake of its head and she'd wait a while longer before casting up another glance.
When she finally got the go ahead, Rei quickly plucked the stick out of the ground and took a big bite of her fish in her overeagerness to eat. Though the fish was hot and she probably burned her tongue with how hot it was, Rei couldn't believe how delicious the fish tasted to her in this state of hunger. She hadn't had much all day and she had thrown up her snack the night before as well as a belly full of sea water. The coconut had been good, but it had only managed to tie her over for a small while.
Rei ate her fish with much gusto, licking her lips once she had finished eating all the edible parts of the fish. She gave her dragon companion another bright smile as she went to the stream to wash her face and drink some of the water. When she was done, she settled close to the dragon, feeling well assured that it wasn't going to harm her for any reason. It let out a pretty rumbling sound that sounded similar to a purr. Rei liked the noise, to be honest.
She shifted closer and closer to the dragon until she was resting her back against its belly. She could feel it breathing, its skin moving from the light expansion and contraction of its lungs within, as well as feel its heart pound strongly and steadily from within its ribcage. Though Rei knew that every living creature had a heart beat and used their lungs, the knowledge felt so much more remarkable when she could feel such functions occurring within a dragon.
She looked up, staring at the beast's head as it scanned the area in an alert manner, perhaps getting ready to sleep since the sun had set some while ago. Suddenly, she realized that she did not know the dragon's name or if it had a name. Surely, she thought to herself, any sentient beast like this one had a name. She merely did not know this one's name. Deciding that her dragon companion needed a name, something at least to personalize the dragon so she did not have to call it dragon or something akin to that, Rei mused upon a decent name. She didn't want to give it a name name. It already had a name, she assumed, so instead, she needed a nickname for it.
It took her a while, her eyes getting heavier as she continued to think. Soon she was snuggling up to the dragon's warm hide and laid on her side so she didn't have to bother removing her backpack, in fear of losing it on accident. Just as she was about to fall asleep, the perfect name came to her. It was so simple and yet perfect for her gargantuan savior.
"Goodnight~" Rei yawned out gaining the dragon's attention. "Sleep tight, Oji-san."
The dragon peered down at its little ward with great shock. It had not expected such a thing from the child, especially for her to try to give it a name. It shook its head as it cast its gaze to the stars above for a while. Soon, it lowered its long neck and curled its body and tail inward as well as its head, creating a protective circle around the slumbering child with its body.
It did not regret saving the child. It was merely concerned about the child's future. A child with eyes like this one's were often in danger of being put in bad circumstances. This child had already seemed to have suffered so much if her condition was to say anything to the dragon. She needed to be in a community where she was not in danger by being the odd one out. She needed protection that humans merely couldn't give, by folk who didn't care about the human ideals of wealth, greed, and desire.
The dragon let out a heavy breath as it came to its conclusion of what to do with the young child it had saved. It merely hoped that its plan would not backfire in its face somewhere down the road.
And that maybe the child wouldn't pursue this silly name.
"Neh, neh. Oji-san." Rei tugged lightly on the black mane of her dragon companion. She missed the way that her dear Oji-san's ear twitched in annoyance to being called such, she was only concerned with getting the golden beast's attention since it was difficult at times to do so while in mid-flight.
Rei could feel the rumble of the dragon's voice vibrate from her spot at the base of the neck and knew that Oji-san was listening. "Are we going to land soon? We've been flying for forever and I have to go to the bathroom."
Oji-san let out a harrumph of a sound as it nodded its head, never once looking back at the child on its back. Rei smiled lightly in relief. They had been flying for hours now since Oji-san had woken her up early this morning and though she did go potty before they left, that had been forever ago. The sun was already slowly making its way towards the horizon and though it wasn't going to set for a long time yet, it was no longer morning or early afternoon.
Rei was curious as to where in the world this dragon was going and why it didn't seem concerned with a tag-a-long like her. Rei wondered if the golden beast was taking her to a human inhabited island. The last one they had been at as well as the one before that had not inhabited by anything at all, not that they really stayed long for her to inspect the place properly. However, Rei was sure that if there had been people, her Oji-san would have known about it since it seemed to know about the island's existence in the first place.
She hadn't known the dragon long, but, for goodness sakes, it was a dragon! How much cooler did it get? But besides that, her connection with the flying reptilian was special. It had saved her life and she would never forget its kindness and dedication towards her. No matter when the two of them went their separate ways, she'd always remember the dragon that had saved her from the ocean's wrath.
Turning her gaze to the horizon, something caught the young child's attention. It took her a moment, but as it slowly came over the horizon, Rei realized that it was an island! Not only that, but it looked like it was surrounded in a sea of colors! Studying the weird anomaly, something from one of her readings about the ocean came to mind. She had read about a unique marine creature that lived in compact colonies with its own kind. If she remembered correctly a huge colony like this was called a coral reef. It was made mainly of the skeletal remains of coral with new coral living on top, or something like that. She needed to re-read the book, or one similar to it, to be sure, but what she was positive of was that she was staring at a huge coral reef that encircled the massive island almost like a barrier with how close to the surface it came. From where Rei was, she could spot out a few spots upon the mass of colorful coral where the coral was actually white (and dead) from constant exposure to the air, hinting that how high the coral had grown.
Rei was pulled from her musings as she felt the two of them start their decent from the sky, making the young ruby eyed child realize that her companion had every intention of landing on this island. They had been flying all day and to Rei's knowledge, this was the first island she had seen, but she could sense that this island had special meaning to the golden dragon. Perhaps this was their final destination?
If so, why this one? With the coral reef as thick and high as it was, it would be impossible for a boat to dock on it. Rei wasn't able to dwell on these thoughts much longer as Oji-san prepped itself for landing. Rei clung tightly, knowing the amount of force could send her flying off from her spot. Oji-san landed short of the island, instead landing in somewhat deep water of the beach as an attempt to buffer the landing a bit for its young ward. It had landed at a pretty sharp angle and would have landed hard if it had not.
Rei was glad that the water did not reach her spot upon the dragon, instead only reaching the dragon's elbows and knees. They had created quite the splash landing in the water, but Rei had manage to stay relatively dry. She only had a few splashes of water on different parts of her clothes, but not enough to accidentally soak her bag and her poor book along with it. Oji-san didn't stay idle, already moving towards the sandy beach and out of the water and soon Rei was carefully sliding off the dragon's back as it took in the island before it.
Rei stayed silent, curiously watching her dragon companion as it stretched out its long neck and raised its head slightly before letting out a powerful roar, as if trying to gather the attention of something upon the island. It paused after a minute, closing its eyes as if concentrating before suddenly opening its eyes again and swinging its neck to it could look the child eye to eye.
Rei stared at her Oji-san with slight apprehension. She wasn't sure what that had meant, but she knew it meant something to do with her. She watched as Oji-san finally looked away from her before padding over to the edge of the ocean where the water gently rolled in and out, kissing at the large beasts feet. Oji-san stood there a second before raising its long black talons and itching at its scales irritatedly once more, but instead of stopping, like it had done every time before, it scratched harder, digging its sharp claws past the scales and, to Rei's great surprise, pulling the large, thick scales off of its body.
At first, Rei thought that maybe it hadn't been intentional, but the dragon never batted an eye at the fallen scales and continued to do so until more scales had fallen, revealing black fur underneath. Soon, the dragon was rolling in the water, rubbing its spine against the sand ground and using both talons on its front paws to pull the golden scales off its body, as if purging itself of its protective armor. Rei wasn't sure how long it took, but it was like the other scales seemed to fall off after the dragon had pulled off the initial ones.
When Oji-san finally stopped and stood back up, it was dripping wet with jet black fur rather than golden, gleaming scales. The only thing that held the remarkable color still was its eyes. The beach now was shining and glimmering with the beautiful scales, as if cradling a precious treasure placed within its protection.
Rei wasn't sure what it meant, that her dragon savior had shed its beautiful scales, but she couldn't pull her eyes away as it stared down at her. Slowly, it once more lowered its head, a stray scale or two still upon its muzzle, and stared at her once more. Rei hesitantly lifted one of her small hands and petted the face of her companion for what was the first and probably last time. The fur, thought wet, was thick but silky to the touch.
It let out a lovely purr as it nuzzled against her little hand, but soon it pulled its head up and Rei had a feeling about what was going to happen next. This was not their final destination, only hers. The dragon thought that it had fulfilled its obligation to the child by leaving her on this island. She wasn't afraid of being left alone, clearly there was someone here if the dragon was willing to leave her here. However, she couldn't help but frown, biting her lip as she watched the dragon take two backward steps, already readying to lunge into the air.
She didn't want to cry in front of the dragon, but she didn't feel ready for it to leave. The dragon paused, looking down at the child one more time before looking at the edge of the jungle. Something seem to catch its eye and it gave one final nod of its head before launching into the sky. Rei never took her eyes off her beautiful dragon savior, watching in a mixture of sorrow and intrigue as the dragon opened its wings and began to beat them heavily to go even higher into the sky.
Rei watched the now black dragon fly towards the setting sun, slowly becoming a dot in the sky. She kept her eyes on it till she couldn't discern where it was any longer. Her dragon companion was gone now. Letting out a few sniffles and stubbornly wiping the tears out of her eyes, Rei decided it was time for her to press on too. She was here for a reason and she wouldn't figure out why until she stopped crying and started looking around the island.
After taking one last large, calming breath, Rei heard movement from the jungle. She felt stupid, realizing Oji-san had been looking at something before taking off. Obviously, whoever it was, she had unintentionally made him or her wait while she composed herself. Rei turned towards the jungle's edge, watching as to see who would make their appearance. The trees on this island were massive, tall, and thick, and nearly impossible for her to see anything past a certain distance.
When she finally got her first peek at who she had made wait, Rei's red eyes widened in shock and slight fear. It was not a person but instead a brilliant adorned crimson paw, making the ground beneath her quake slightly.
Another dragon. Rei realized as she continued to take in the scene before her. Though this paw was similar to the golden dragons' paw, decorated in scales, five sharp, black talons, and the ability to maneuver each digit of the paw like a finger, this particular claw was at least ten times larger, making Rei's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when she was craning her neck up to where both the treetops were as well as the red dragon's head.
This dragon made Oji-san look diminutive and sleek compared to it.
It stared down at her with flaming red eyes with a vibrancy in them that made Rei's eye coloring pale in comparison. Not long after it emerged from the trees of the jungle, Rei realized it was not just one dragon, but two LARGE dragons! The next one to emerge was adorned in teal scales with vibrant eyes to match. Not only that, but while the crimson dragon had ebony horns that curled around its head and out in a manner that looked like it could use them to fight, the teal dragon's ivory horns shot straight back. But this one was even larger than the red one, if only by a little bit. Its torso was thicker and wider than the red one's. The red one was more curved and petite comparatively.
Rei couldn't held but gawk at the two dragons. Compared to them, she was what a flea was to a cat! Did Oji-san leave her in their care or did Oji-san leave her as some sort of small snack!? The poor child felt like she was about to hyperventilate, but before she could, she felt something whisper over her, like a gentle breeze that flooded her with ease and tranquility. But there was no wind. The wind had not blown once since she had gotten to this island, so it had not been a physical touch, Rei realized.
She almost thought she had imagined it, but when the feeling washed over her once more, she knew she hadn't. She looked up, more calmly this time to her new company and realized that both of them had exited the haven of the trees and were now lying on their bellies, necks arched down as they allowed themselves a closer look at her. Rei realized that they were calmly waiting for her.
Feeling slightly sheepish, Rei instantly pulled her hands together, straightened up, and bowed respectfully. "I am S-swift Rei. P-p-please to m-me-et you!"
She had tried not to stutter, but really, these things could eat her in one gulp. Oji-san would have at least had to chew first before swallowing her down, these two didn't even have to bother. And that made her legitimately nervous despite her odd feeling of tranquility.
Rei was nearly floored when the crimson dragon opened its maw and began to speak. It wasn't any language she had heard, much more guttural, hissy, and growly than any human tongue, but perhaps it was because it wasn't a human dialect. The dragon realized that she had no clue what it had said and let out a chortling sound, laughing at her surprised stupor. The other one let out a sound similar, but it was deeper and rougher than the other dragon's chortle.
Rei watched the two exchange glances before the teal one nodded its consent to whatever that glance had meant. The crimson one stood once more going back to where the two of them had entered and stuck its arm within the jungle and pulled it back. When it turned around, Rei could tell there was something within the palm of its claw. Without bothering to go back to where it once was lounging, the crimson dragon slowly swung its occupied palm until it was a few feet from the girl. She watched as it opened up its palm and dropped five different fruits before her.
Rei didn't even realize how hungry she was until she saw the fruit. Two were fruit that she had never seen before. One that was odd in coloring with strange swirls upon it while the other new one almost looked like the cactus fruit her mother sometimes bought when the produce stand had it called Pitaya or Dragonfruit. However, this one was larger in size with a pinkish white coloring instead of the vibrant hot pink color of Pitaya. The leaves that sprouted from the body of the fruit were, instead of a vibrant green, a soft pastel pink. The other fruits were what she knew to be a mango, a watermelon, and a pineapple.
Rei looked up at the dragon, a questioning look in her eyes. "Are these for me to eat?"
The dragon nodded, but before Rei could even choose one to start on, a sudden sensation washed over her again. She realized it was the crimson dragon that was giving her such odd feelings and that it could either invoke feelings within her, like the feelings of ease and tranquility from before, or a idea of some kind, like this one happened to be. The dragon was telling her through this sudden wordless thought that she could only pick two out of the five.
Rei nodded her understanding and studied her choices once more. However, instead of taking the fruit familiar to her, Rei was drawn to Dragonfruit look a like. It smelled sweet, even from here, and she could not resist picking it up and pressing it to her nose to take in the smell. Rei chose this one to eat first. She was surprised by the fact that she didn't have to dig through her bag to get her knife, by peeling down the leaves of the outer layer, it revealed actual fruit, soft and ready to be eaten. After all she had gone through, Rei learned not to be picky with her food, especially something as alluring as this one and took a big bite.
She gasped lightly at the taste, an explosion of sweetness that she had never had before flooded her tastebuds. Instead of quickly consuming the rest of the fruit, Rei took her time, allowing each bite to be as enjoyed as the last- the memory of Gin's story about the little girl echoing in the back of her mind. Though she doubted it was the same fruit, she didn't know when she'd be able to eat something as good as this one in the near future and ate it slowly to ensure she could take pleasure in every last bite of sweetness.
After swallowing the last bite of the first fruit, Rei was already eager to eat the next unknown fruit, pleased with how well her adventuresome with her choices had turned out so well. Picking up the next one, Rei didn't even pause to take in the smell, already plotting out how the fruit would taste in her mind. However, the moment she had taken her first large bite of the odd shaped fruit, she gagged horribly on the taste, swallowing the mouthful on reflex. Rei fell to her knees, already dropping the rest of the fruit in order to hold onto her throat and coughing violently at the revolting taste of the fruit. The sweetness from the fruit before was quickly forgotten at the horrible taste of this one!
Rei broke out into a sweat as she continued to cough and hack. Her body felt like it was jumping from one spectrum to the other. Hot as fire one minute and as cold as ice the next, both opposites fighting for dominance within her small body. She could hear the dragons shifting and she could sense their presence surrounding her as her body throbbed in pain at the internal war. What had she eaten that could cause such discord within her!
The child felt like she was suffocating from the inside out. She couldn't get enough air into her lungs no matter how quickly she tried to breath. Spots began to dance in the corner of her vision before slowly overtaking the world she saw and saturating it in darkness. Rei barely realized she had collapsed, still holding onto her throat as her breathing became faint and the internal war of temperature clashed within her.
It was only a matter of seconds before she was thrust into darkness.
Oji-san-Uncle
A/N: I must make clear that I came up the idea of having dragons before Punk Hazard arc, thinking it would be cool to have a legendary creature exist in the world One Piece. And with Volleys-chan help, we made sure our dragons weren't (spoiler alert!) man-made. Hopefully, you all enjoyed Oji-san's introduction, despite being a short time for the chapter. As for the reason why the chapter update was backed-up, well, Volleys-chan was busy with facing life head on and she didn't had internet. T_T
By the way, Volleys-chan has started her own One Piece story, following Law. Some of her characters might make an appearance in this story later on. No Gilded Cage to Hold Ye. Go check it out, you won't be disappointed.
Two more things to address. First, this second arc should be shorter than the last one. And second, the following arc will feature a few familiar, lovable canon characters from the series. I'll hint there will be appearances of two canon characters in this arc. :)
See you in the next chapter.