(A/N: The Warship Island arc continues! Enjoy!)

Chapter 2: Miraculous Creature! Apis' Secret And The Legendary Island

"Hm...? What the heck is that? Hey! I see a flock of birds to starboard!"

"Alrighty! Gum-Gum... Grab!"

"Venus-chan, get down!"

"Welp, you killed Zoro."

"Hey, look."

"It's a girl!"

"Ugh!"

"A wind is coming. A strong wind is..."

"I feel like this ship hasn't been moving at all for a while."

"The ocean's not moving either."

"Dammit... we've entered the Calm Belt!"

"Calm Belt?" Usopp repeated in confusion.

"What the heck is that?" Luffy asked.

"Calm Belt!" Nami exclaimed. "It's an area of sea where nothing moves a muscle!"

"Nami grew her muscles?"" Luffy misheard.

"Idiot!" She yelled.

Just then, they all felt a strange rumble. "What was that?" Luffy wondered aloud. "An earthquake?"

"Earthquake? On the sea?" Zoro pointed out.

"You guys, enough chit chat!" Nami commanded. "Fold the sails, and start paddling now! Put the ship back on its earlier path!"

"Okay, Nami-san!" Sanji gushed.

"What're you panicking about?" Zoro asked.

"Paddling? This is a sailboat, y'know," Venus added.

"She's right," Usopp agreed, "Why're we taking the trouble to go back to where the Marines are waiting for us?"

"Just do what I say!" Nami ordered. "We're in big trouble!"

"Well, the sea is quiet," Luffy reminded.

"Yeah," Usopp nodded.

"All right, fine!" Nami raged. "Then I'll explain it to you! Listen up! Since we rushed and ran away, we came further south than we planned!"

There was a brief pause. "Then did we enter the Grand Line?" Luffy asked.

"All right!" Usopp cheered without waiting for an answer.

"If it was that easy, anyone could enter!" Nami interrupted, then unfolded a map. "Look. The Grand Line is running between two sea areas! Do you get it?" It showed the Grand Line was, indeed, between a pair of Calm Belts. "The area on both sides of it are called the Calm Belt." Luffy hummed in indication that he was listening. "The reason is unknown, but in these areas, there's no wind and no current. They're an area of sea with complete calm. Sailboats run by catching winds, so it's an extremely dangerous area, indeed a fatal area, for all of them! Luffy, did you get it?"

"Yeah. At least that we're in trouble."

"I see. Good, you got more than I thought."

Venus looked at the map in pondering. "If there's two of them, shouldn't it be Calm Belts? As in plural?"

"What's that got to do with anything?!" Nami shouted.

"So this is what the geezer meant when he said it was dangerous," Sanji remarked.

"No wonder there hasn't been any wind," Zoro added.

"We can't do anything if the ship doesn't move," Usopp pointed out.

"We can just wait until the wind starts blowing," Luffy said.

"Like I said, once you're in this area, wind never blows no matter how long you wait!" Nami reminded. "And that's not all!"

"Can't Venus-chan use her winds to bring us back?" Sanji suggested.

"No, the moon's in the last quarter," She shook her head, "Anything I do won't be strong enough. And I don't know any wind spells; just energy balls."

"Guys!" Nami snapped. "There's another reason that people call this area dangerous! In this area..."

Before she could finish, there was another tremor, only much stronger. "Ah! Another one!" Everyone yelped.

"What's going on?" Usopp noticed the witch looking over the railing, holding on with a tight grip. "Venus!"

"Something is coming this way," Apis said.

"There's some shadows out there," Venus gestured to the sea.

Just then, what appeared to be mountains began descending. "Here they are!" Nami screamed.

"Huh...?" Luffy looked out at the sea. "What's that?" The mountains revealed to be giant sea creatures, almost the size of whole islands, the ship on one's head. "They're huge!" Everyone gawked in horror.

"The Calm Belt is the nest of the Sea Kings," Nami finished fearfully, "Moreover, the ones here are super huge! They're another reason why people can't cross the Calm Belt."

"What're we gonna do now?" Sanji asked.

"F-for the time being, no one move," Zoro ordered, "They'll probably go back to the sea eventually. Then we'll paddle hard using our oars."

"Are you serious?!" Usopp exclaimed from his place on the sail post, gripping on for dear life.

"Shh!" A pair of small, pale hands clasped over his mouth.

Unfortunately, it caught the frog-like Sea King's attention. "Sorry."

It made a leap for the ship. "A frog is coming!" Luffy screamed.

The ship began tilting towards its giant mouth. "What?! What?! What?!" Usopp rambled in fear.

Luffy was on alert when Apis started falling in. "Oh no!" He managed to grab, and pull her back up before the frog closed its mouth, and hopped back into the ocean.

Apis opened her eyes again, after they were closed in fear, and was shocked to see his arm stretched beyond normality. He then carried her upward, back to safety. "Y-your arm is stretching! Luffy! Do you have the power of a Devil Fruit?!"

"Yeah, that's right."

As she flew, Apis saw the Sea King's nostrils, and had an idea. "Luffy! Stretch your arm downwards again!" Although confused, he did as told.

"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp called.

"What're you doing?!" Nami yelled.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?!" Venus raged.

"Apis!" Nami addressed the little girl in concern.

"Watch out!"

"On, two...!" Apis swung into the creature's nostril, then was flown back up.

"What did she just do?!" Zoro exclaimed.

"She pulled his nose hair," Luffy replied.

The creature's watering eyes began to squint. "Hold on a sec...!" Usopp whimpered.

"If you do that..."

"He's gonna sneeze!" Sanji frantically finished Nami's sentence.

"Ahh..." Luffy watched Apis land on the deck, a large clump of hair in her hands, before she dropped it when she crashed into Zoro. "That's a huge nose hair!"

She gave a thumbs-up from a disoriented Zoro's lap, as Venus grimaced in disgust. "Yeah, don't need to keep that." She kicked it off the deck cautiously.

"All right! We're going back!" Luffy cheered.

On cue, the creature finally let out a huge sneeze, and sent the ship and crew rocketing off. "Do it some other way!" Everyone yelled at once, before they were sent soaring.

"Amazing! I feel like we're flying!" Luffy beamed with excitement.

"Idiot!" Usopp's eyes were wide with terror. "We are flying!"

With a huge splash, they were back on track, albeit shaken up. "Looks like we're back in the area we came from," Nami observed.

"I don't see any signs of the Marines either," Zoro added.

Usopp stayed low to the floor, still petrified. "Ahhh... I thought I was a goner."

"I had always said... I wanted to fly," Venus panted close by, "Just not... like that."

"Good job!" Luffy praised Apis.

"Yep!"

"Okay! Unfurl the sails!" He commanded. "Our destination is... of course! Warship Island!"

Later, a dense fog formed all around them. "We can't see a foot in front of Merry's nose," Venus pointed out.

"Well, we can see the fog," Luffy said.

"That doesn't help us," The witch gave him the side eye.

"Apis, is it really around here?" Sanji asked.

"Not sure."

""Not sure?" You..." Usopp griped.

"It should be close by," The navigator deduced.

"That's our Nami-san!" Sanji swooned.

"You sure know your stuff," Luffy commented.

"Ah...! Look!" Apis pointed out to the ocean.

"Huh?" Everyone looked in that direction; it appeared to be a large boat up ahead. "Oh! It's a sailboat! It's huge!"

"Now listen here..." Sanij grumbled.

"The word "huge" doesn't begin to describe it," Zoro remarked.

"Then, a super humongous sailboat?"

"No!" Nami exclaimed.

"That's Warship Island," Apis grinned, "It's shaped like a warship, so it's called Warship Island."

"Ohh, right," Venus nodded.

"I see! Interesting!" Luffy looked from the prow.

As they descended to the harbor, they were spotted by one of the island locals. "Ah! That flag is... pirates!" He began a sprint through the village, frantic. "Pirates! Pirates have come!"

"Pirates?" A young boy's eyes widened.

"Stay inside!" His mother closed the window they were peeking out of.

A group of soldiers gathered around the harbor, spears ready, as the Going Merry anchored, and a rope ladder was thrown down.

Up on the ship, Apis showed herself. "Hi! I'm home!"

"Apis...!" They widened their eyes in shock, as she stepped down the ladder, and on the ground. "Why are you coming out from the pirate ship?" The crew climbed down next. "What's going on?"

"Say, you guys..." The soldiers waited nervously at Luffy's pause.

"Wh-what?!"

"Is there a BBQ restaurant on this island?!"

"Huh?" They stare in confusion. "Wh-what's this guy?"

"Listen!" Apis announced. "They're pirates, but they're good ones."

"Are they really good pirates?"

"Yes!"

"Weren't you taken away by the Marines in the first place?"

"That's right. But I escaped. And these guys, Luffy and the others, saved me. Right?"

"Yeah," The captain confirmed.

"What'd you do, Apis? We don't know why, but the Marines were looking for you. You should stay away from your home. They're still around."

"What am I gonna do?" She asked fearfully.

"We'd like to help, but... they're pirates, right?"

"Ahh, what should we do?" Apis asked nervously.

"Like she said, we're good pirates," Usopp said.

"Apis!" The soldiers dispersed, revealing a grey-haired old man with a cane, and a hunch. "Come to my house!"

"Who's that?" Nami wondered aloud.

"Don't know," Luffy replied.

Apis ran to him with joy and excitement. "Grandpa Bokuden!"

She gave him a big hug. "I'm glad you're safe." He then turned to the Straw Hats. "Thank you for saving Apis. How about this? I'd like to throw a small welcome party for you."

"Is your place a BBQ restaurant?" Luffy asked.

"It's not a BBQ restaurant, but Grandpa Bokuden's pork buns are the best on the island!"

"All right!" Luffy cheered. "Let's go!"

"Well then, we'll go," Zoro decided.

"I can go for some food," Venus added.

Meanwhile, a Marine ship was in the sea nearby, with one officer looking out from the crow's nest. "Hm?!" He saw the Going Merry docked at the island; he looked closer, and saw Apis with the crew. "There she is!"

Inside the ship, a morbidly obese man with red circles on his chipmunk-like cheeks sat on a throne, messily eating a huge chicken leg. "Eric!" The swirl-haired mercenary approached him. "I've been here all along. I thought that that girl got lost in the Calm Belt, and wasn't going to come back alive!"

Eric was shocked at that. "Can't be... that girl...?"

"She's...!" The man ate another bite, but started choking, and coughed out crumbs all over Eric's face. He wiped them off in disgust. "...back on Warship Island! Capture that girl, you bum!"

"Then they escaped from the Calm Belt...!"

In the house, Bokuden placed a pan of pork buns on the stove, and closed the lid. "There, the preparations are finished. Wait a little while."

"Cool!" Luffy beamed.

"Whoa! Smells good!" Usopp agreed.

"I see... this is the real deal," Sanji remarked, "Old man, how long do we have to wait?"

"Hm? Well... maybe about 4-5 hours."

"What?!" Luffy and Usopp exclaimed simultaneously.

"Ah, I'm starving," The captain leaned by a window.

"Bokuden-san, why are the Marines after Apis?" Nami asked. "Do you have any idea?"

"Apis!" Bokuden addressed his granddaughter. "Do you have any idea?"

"Not at all!"

"Well that's helpful," Venus mumbled.

"You said there was a reason, but you didn't want to tell," Nami reminded.

"Oh, that! I lied."

"What?" Usopp's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Then none at all," Bokuden said.

"None at all?!"

"Really, there's nothing on this island. Nothing but an old legend."

"Legend?" Zoro questioned.

"The residents of this island are said to be descendants of Lost Island people who prospered but sank into the sea tens of thousands of years ago." Luffy noticed Apis' look of irritation. "On Lost Island, there lived dragons called Millennial Dragons. The bones of these dragons are called Dragonite," Bokuden stood, and walked over to prepare a light, "And it's said to be an elixir of immortality."

"I see," Sanji remarked, "But a legend like that is no reason for the Marines to get involved."

"Yeah," Usopp agreed, "Why are the Marines doing this in the first place?"

"That's the thing I don't get," Nami chimed in.

"Doesn't this legend hold some sort of clue or something?" Zoro guessed.

Bokuden returned to his seat in front of the crew, who all sat cross-legged on the floor. "To begin with, the first king of Lost Island was Iscardunk."

"Here we go again," Apis whispered to herself.

"Now, King Pokeportes had three children. The oldest son was BokeHontas, the second son was Bokebonboko, and the third son was BokeBokePon." Luffy noticed Apis sneaking away, but she shushed him, and left the house. "One day, the king said to these three, "Listen. Go find the tree that grows stars, which is said to be in Dragon's Valley." Apis sneaked around the wraparound porch, ducking under the window, and "So Bokehontas, BokeBonboko, and BokeBokepon journeyed out, one to the sea, one to the mountain, and one to the forest."

"Once Grandpa starts that story, it'll take forever. I'm not gonna listen to all that." She then left undetected.

Mostly, at least.

In the evening, hours later, Bokuden's story was still being told. The Straw Hats were getting quite bored. "Now, the 317th King IngriMongri III's son, IngriGrimori was quite a wise ruler.

"Hey, how long is this gonna go on?" Nami whispered to Usopp, who had his cheeks slumped on his palms.

"Who knows." He blushed when the young witch laid her head on his left shoulder, on the verge of slumber.

Zoro was also asleep, leaning against the wall. "He had 18 children. His 18 children..." Luffy was out as well, with his head rested on one hand. "He was a king who carried out major reforms."

Usopp's stomach growled with hunger. "Ahhh, I'm starving..." He leaned into Venus more, though she didn't move.

"This King Ikemenes had so many children."

"We won't be able to eat until this story is over, will we?" Nami complained.

"He had many princes. 65 of them!"

"We won't be able to eat the pork buns until then?" Usopp added.

"Pork buns?" Luffy's eyes peeked open at that, and walked like a zombie.

"Luffy?" Nami noticed him.

"I hear it was like, "If you throw a stone, it'll hit one of the princes."

"I gotta take a leak." Luffy trudged to a shed outside, and a delicious smell wafting from the inside made him grin. "Pork buns..."

In the shed, Apis was stashing some buns in a large sack. "Hold on, Grandpa Ryu." She heard footsteps, and panicked at Luffy coming closer. "Oh no!" She worked faster, and he kept coming. "He's coming this way! What am I gonna do?" She leaned against the wall in hiding, as he stood at the doorway. "Please! Don't come here!"

He sniffed the air, and smiled. "Pork buns smell yummy."

Apis prepared to strike him with a frying pan when he walked inside, but to her surprise, he fell over, and was out again. "No way! I didn't hit him yet, right?"

"Ahhh, pork buns," He mumbled. She looked him over, smiled at his staying asleep, and continued her work.

Back in the house, the story was still going on, to everyone's chagrin. "And the 111th... no, the 1,121st king was HokeHontas. So, NemeNememitas thought about what he could do to protect his kingdom."

A sleepy, famished Usopp noticed Nami crawling away. "Hey, where're you going?" He peered around Venus' head.

"I'm worried about Luffy, since he's been gone for a long time. So, I'll go check." She winked, and made her leave.

"Then, he made preparation before large countries attacked them."

"That's not fair," Usopp whined.

"Nami-san's lovely even when she sneaks out," Sanji gushed.

"Phew!" She sighed in relief when outside. "Good grief!" She heard snoring from the shed, and saw Luffy asleep on the ground, pork bun on his cheek. "Luffy!" She shook him awake by his shoulder, and the bun fell into his open mouth. "Ahhh! Not even one bun is left!" She fussed at the empty pan.

Luffy sat up, eating the one from his face. "Yeah, this is yummy."

Nami punched him in the head. "Yummy?! How do you intend to make up for eating everyone's share?!" She yelled.

He rubbed his head over his hat. "What're you talking about?" He asked cluelessly. All he ate was the one.

"Geez... hm?" Nami noticed a trail on the ground, as if something was dragged behind someone's back. "What's this?" The trail went outside, and to the left. "What made this trail?"

The two followed the path, up to a mountainside, surrounded by trees. "Hm? A dead end?"

"What's the deal?" Nami wondered aloud.

"Hm?" In the brush, Luffy noticed an opening, and kneeled down for a closer look, sticking his head fully in.

"Hey Luffy, what're you doing?"

"A hole."

"What?" She peered in, and saw he was right; the trail went through a hole in the rocks. Now curious, they crawled through; on the other side, they saw a large sack sliding up a pathway.

Up higher, Apis grabbed a rope, and swung herself to the other side of a gorge, along with the sack.

A little later, Luffy and Nami stopped at the same gorge. "Looks like they went across here," Nami deduced. "Luffy!"

"Yep! Gum-Gum...! Suspension bridge." He stretched long enough to make himself a bridge, and Nami scooted her away across cautiously.

Apis dragged the sack into a large cave, unaware of her followers. "Grandpa Ryu!"

"This is the other side of the mountain," Nami said.

"How far did they go?" Luffy pondered.

It was then when they found the cave. "Ah, that's..." Nami led Luffy inside.

"Yes, I was fine. These weird pirates saved me," Apis talked to someone, "No, they're not that scary. You must be hungry. I brought Grandpa Bokuden's pork buns. Here you go. No! Slow down!" She was oblivious to the footsteps coming closer. "Oh, I'm sorry. I still don't know yet. Although I'm searching very hard, I still haven't found a clue yet."

"I wonder who on Earth Apis is talking to."

"Hey, Apis!" Luffy called out. "Who're you talking to?"

"Don't just jump out, and say "hey"!" Nami scolded.

When he walked closer, Apis protectively stood in front of something huge and feathery. "No! Don't come here!"

Luffy kept coming, the creature watching silently, and leaned closer in shock. "Whoa!"

"Luffy, what's the matter?" Nami asked, walking in, before she stopped. "Ahh!" Her brown eyes widened.

It was a dragon! He had teal blue feathers, gold eyes, and a bald head, and was almost the size of the Going Merry.

"Amazing!" Luffy gushed, scaling every part of his body. "Amazing! Amazing!"

"Stop it!" Apis protested. "I said stop it!"

"Hey, Luffy..." Nami muttered in shock.

He snuggled the dragon's snout, while Apis tried to pull him away. "This is the real thing! Is he alive?"

"Stop it! Leave him alone!"

'I can't believe... that it really exists,' Nami thought, 'I thought that dragons were just legends!'

"This is incredible!" Luffy gushed. "Where did you come from?" The dragon stared silently for what felt like an eternity. "I see... you want to go home, huh?"

Apis gasped in shock, then slumped in relief. "Okay... Grandpa Ryu says that you can be his friend, Luffy. He says he can tell you're a good person." Nami watched in awe, as he gave an assuring grin. "Luffy, how could you read Grandpa Ryu's mind?"

"I somehow did."

"Somehow...?"

"How did you know?"

"Oh, well, I..."

Nami then figured it out, and spoke up. "Could it be... a Devil Fruit?" Apis turned to her. "You have the power of a devil fruit, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yes. I ate one called Whisper-Whisper Fruit or something. Since then, I've become able to read animals' minds."

"That's why you knew a wind was coming that time."

Apis nodded again. "Yep. The seabirds told me that. I met Grandpa Ryu thanks to the Whisper-Whisper Fruit too." She recalled hearing his sad voice when in a flower field, and running to follow it. "He had lost his energy. He said that he got separated from his friends, and that since then, he had been looking for Lost Island, where the dragons' nest is."

"Didn't Lost Island sink a long, long time ago?" Nami asked.

"Grandp Ryu says that the island will surface again. He says it's about time, but he no longer clearly remembers where it is. He's gotten very old, and lost the energy to fly. But he keeps telling me that he wants to go back. I wanna help, but I can't figure out where such an island exists at all. The legend by itself doesn't really give me a clue. So I asked the Marines, who happened to stop by this island, about it. That was a mistake. They were looking for the Dragonite."

"Dragonite... you mean the one for immortality?" Nami clarified. "They took you away because of such a thing?"

"Yes. They told me to tell them everything I knew, and took me away. The pendant that I made with a claw Grandpa Ryu gave me may have been another reason, though..."

"That's why you escaped in that storm," Nami recalled, "You are too reckless!"

"I know," Apis nodded, "That's why I keep this a secret from the villagers, and even Grandpa Bokuden-san. I don't want to cause trouble for them. But I want to take Grandpa Ryu back to his home, no matter what it takes. He always tells me that he'll get his energy back for sure, once he goes back to the dragons' nest. I'll find it for him, no matter how many years it takes. For sure... no matter what it takes, I'll find it for him."

After a pause, Luffy made an announcement. "Okay then! I'll take him there!"

Apis turned to him in surprise. "Luffy! Were you listening?! Lost Island sank into the sea!" Nami pointed out.

"But since the legendary Millennial Dragon exists, I'm sure Lost Island also exists somewhere!"

"An island that's not even on a map?"

"Yeah, that's why we're going!"

Nami laid her hand on her forehead. "An island that's not even on a map, huh? Oh, what the heck." She snapped her fingers. "Let's go!"

"All right!" Luffy cheered.

"Really?! Really?!"

"Yeah."

"Thank you!"

"Now that's been decided, eat more!" He leaned into Ryu's face.

"Oh, Luffy, I forgot to tell you..." Before Apis could finish, the dragon bit down on his head. "Grandpa Ryu is a little senile," She finished, as Nami gawked in horror.

The next day, some Marine ships began closing in on the island. "That girl had a pendant with a Millennial Dragon's claw," Eric recalled, "She must know about Lost Island. That darn girl who knows the secret of the Dragonite... I'll definitely capture her this time!"

(A/N: That concludes chapter 2! You know the disclaimer.)