Chapter 8: Big Adventure In Little Garden!

Dymon D. Ciara

Me, Luffy, Vivi, and Karoo have been walking through the woods for a short while. We were given our lunches and we started walking.

We came across a river. It was shallow, only going up to our ankles. Luffy bent down and picked out a weird animal. It looked like a squid mixed with a snail. "Look, it's a squid shellfish," said Luffy. He was holding it up to me and Vivi.

"It looks like an ammonite," said Vivi. If only I knew what that was.

"This isn't a research expedition. I'm here to catch a big bird. I want a big dinner," I said to them. Luffy was interested in the food part.

"You think there's even bigger animals?" He was drooling as he said it.

Suddenly, there was an earthquake. I couldn't place what it was. "Hey let's go find out where that shaking came from!" I ran ahead, and the rest of my group followed. Luffy kept up with me, rambling about getting to eat meat.

I went to a stop when I saw a long-necked lizard. It was rating plants. It looked weird. How did their necks get so long?

"A dinosaur," Vivi screamed. "This place is still in the time of the dinosaurs!"

"What's a dinosaur?"

"How do you not know what a dinosaur is? Didn't you go to school?"

"No." My old captain did teach me to play piano. She was weirdly obsessed with it. I never liked playing it so I didn't bring it up. "I'm self-taught in most things. Reading, writing, dislocating limbs on command. You know, the usual."

"Boooring," said Luffy. He then stretched his arms, grabbed the dinosaur, and flung himself onto it. He started climbing it. He then reached the top and on the animal's head.

"Wait! It's dangerous up there," yelled Vivi. She was right. He needed some backup.

I crouched down and used all my strength to push myself off the ground. I made it a full meter up before falling back down. I forgot that I couldn't jump high at all. "Luffy! Can you help me up there, please?!"

He stretched his arms down and wrapped them around me. I did one more line to Vivi. "Don't worry. Together, we're unstoppable."

"How do you know that," asked Vivi.

"I guessed." Luffy's arm contracted and I was shot in the air. I zoomed up to his perch.

Then right past it and into the air. I went so high I could barely see the weirdly shaped mountains. Damnit, Luffy. At least I could look for that bird. I started falling. I needed to work fast.

I saw the bird. It was really small, or at least far away.

Pretty sure it saw me, it was growing, or I should say flying at me. It got bigger and bigger.

It disappeared. What happened? I've stopped falling. I felt a pressure on my neck. I looked around.

The giant bird was carrying me by my cloak. I reached up to its talons. I couldn't touch them, it was too high up. I was stuck. It was so embarrassing.

My only hope was Luffy. He just had to stretch his arms and he was eaten by a dinosaur. I don't know why I expected more of him.

I didn't see much else because the bird descended into the trees. I hit a few branches, but I was much stronger than a few twigs. It was still annoying.

"Hey bird," I choked through the cape. "Let me g-" A branch hit my head. "I said le-" Another branch. I didn't talk, then no brach for a minute. "Oh, come o-" The bird turned, swinging me into a trunk. It exploded into many different splinters. I watched the tree fall as I flew away. Good, I hated that tree.

I was carried to a nest. With many tiny baby birds, or were they big? They were much larger than I was. They were all trying to nip at me. I was just out of reach.

That bird was a mother? Well, at least this one feeds her kids. My old captain made me root around the cabin for bugs because I didn't call her mom. It was worth it, I hated that woman so much I'll never refer to her as mother. Even if it meant calling her by the wrong name.

My actual old captain was just a guy who got some prince killed. I never respected him, he was a coward. He only became a captain because of his reputation.

That's why my so-called 'mother' was the true captain. She put that guy in charge just to keep me in check. It was a statement. Like she was saying, "I own you." Even while not there.

That's why whenever I think of my old captain, it's always Mary D. Read, captain of the Immortal Pirates. Except for when I don't, I'm not the most consistent.

What was I doing again? Oh right, birds. I wondered why I hadn't been eaten yet. Was this that 'seeing life pass through your eyes?' Was I getting eaten and just didn't realize it?

At that moment, the bird let me go. I fell into the nest and the birds immediately got the upper hand. I struggled for a bit before two of them pulled my arms while one of them ate my left eye.

I couldn't say what happened next. I was in a blind rage. I vaguely remember a volcano erupting, distracting the birds enough for me to fight back. All I remember was that after the fight was done, I was on the jungle floor with a dead family of birds.

I was pretty tired. I hadn't had a big meal in a while and it was taking its toll. Damn that Luffy, always taking most of the food. How does he keep breaking into the fridge? I'm never sharing my bird with him. I just had to make Sanji cook it.

I briefly considered yelling for the chef, he'd come around faster than Nami getting her alimony, but that could draw the attention of these so-called 'dinosaurs.' I fought a big bird, a big lizard wasn't what I wanted to see.

The growls of a beast took my attention. It was a dinosaur with a large jaw filled with sharp teeth. He must've wanted the bird meat. I stood up to block his way.

"Listen, buddy," I said with assertion. "I lost an eye to that jerk's kids. I deserve one of hers at least!" It was a new philosophy I just made up. 'Eye for an eye.' It means I could be as violent as I want without repercussions if someone even slightly offended me.

The dinosaur didn't get the message. I punched him in the face. Before my fist made contact, a massive shockwave hit me. I was slightly dazed. This allowed the dinosaur to take a bite of my hand. He didn't take it off, which would've been a major inconvenience, but he didn't let go either.

The giant lizard stood up. He took me with him. "Uh, what are you doing?" He slammed me into a tree. Then into another one. I normally wouldn't have felt it, but I was so hungry that I couldn't move. Then the dinosaur launched me in the air, opened his mouth, and let me fall in. He swallowed me whole.