5/5

"Hey! Big nose-stupid Bug!" Luffy's voice called out from where he finally got back from being tossed away by the Buggy Ball blast.

"What did you call me, you stupid Straw Hat brat!" Buggy screeched and abandoned his assault of Nami to focus back on the biggest pest of them all. His leaving Ann and Nami, however still didn't leave them free from assault.

"Oh, my splendid siren! Fate has brought us together again!" Cabaji crooned as he used a highly acrobatic maneuver to snatch Ann off from Balloon's back and attempt to cradle her to himself.

"Eek! Feather Sleep!" Ann screeched as she tore a feather from her outfit and smacked Cabaji across the face with it, knocking him out momentarily and allowing her to pry herself away. "That's so embarrassing!"

"Oh look, I think he likes you." Nami teased playfully and tried not to flinch when Ann glared at her. "What? At least if someone is flirting with you it's a sign that it'll be easy to get what you want from them, right?"

"Being hit on is embarrassing." Ann hissed over to Nami. "So's having people think I do things with people. I always feel like I'll die whenever it happens."

"Aww, but you're so cute. I bet you have people flirting with you all the time." Nami cooed causing Ann to grow red with even more embarrassment.

"The thief has a point so please don't be embarrassed, my lovely lass," Cabaji said, having awakened himself from his enchanted daze. "Even if you are a subordinate of an idiot my appreciation of you remains the same!"

Another Buggy Ball exploded on the beach and Balloon screeched in pain when a burning ember hit him. Ann, having to hear his screech of pain while still suffering from her embarrassment over Cabaji's words and actions, completely snapped her final thread of tolerance.

"That's it! I've had enough of all of you idiots!" Focusing on draining every last bit of dormant magic left from the feathers making up her outfit Ann began to glow white again as she began her spell. "With the Power freely given to me from Balloon, the free Roc that flies by the light of the sky: Fall forth and rise up from this place and place a curse upon all who fly under the flag of the Buggy Pirates for one year and one day!"

A ripple seemed to pass across the sky originating from the point where Ann stood and an invisible swell of...something seemed to rise up from the island.

Nami nearly was overcome with sickness when she felt the pressure in the air change and she shouted. "Take cover! There's going to be a hailstorm!"

"You've got to be joking," Cabaji said with a scowl but widened his eyes when he spotted the dark thundercloud that seemed to be forming just above the Big Top with ominous-looking lightning scatting through them like splashes of glitter. "What in the...?"

The sky then seemed to fall apart. Hailstones fell from the clouds like stones. The mast and sails they hit bent and moaned seemingly in pain, with the sails threatening to be torn like they were made from paper. The storm, supernaturally created as it was, seemed only intent on driving away the Big Top and the crew that went along with it. It threatened like the screech of an eagle with its intent to destroy anything and everything belonging to the Buggy pirates.

Ann groaned under the weight of the curse that rapidly drained her of all the energy she had and sank to her knees even as she kept fueling it with her magic.

Seemingly getting a second wind the duck-poodles, zebra-ostriches, peacock-cats, crow-snakes, rooster-foxes, and even duck-turtles began another round of attacking the Buggy Pirates, causing them to flee into the storm above their ship with no other alternative to turn to.

The duck-turtles swarmed Cabaji like feathery, shelled, cannonballs and relentlessly attacked him until he began to run, just like his subordinates had earlier.

"I can't believe we lost to those thieves, even if one was a heavenly siren!" Cabaji groaned as he ran by a fighting Luffy and Buggy while he looked at the decimated remains of their ship and crewmates who were onboard.

"We're not thieves. We're pirates!" Luffy said proudly and let out a gleeful shishishishi.

"I'm going to sleep now, Luffy," Ann said as she wobbled a bit while Balloon rushed to her side with just enough time to collapse in exhaustion a few yards away from where Zoro was laying.

"Ok Ann. Just leave the rest to me." Luffy said with a nearly manic grin as he made his way towards the last one standing - Buggy.

"You said you were pirates but that is a witch for sure!" Buggy accused as he pulled himself back together again with just his hands separated from his arms, holding a set of knives in each grip, ready for another attack.

"Yes, but she's a pirate. We're all pirates and we're going to the Grand Line!" Luffy confirmed.

Buggy scoffed and said, "Don't be stupid. That place isn't a place where idiots like you can just go because you want to. Why would you want to go there?"

"Because I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!" Luffy said with complete confidence.

Buggy couldn't hold back a mocking laugh, "Gya-ha-ha-ha! Don't be a fool! If you were the pirate king, I would be the god of all pirates. So forget it you brat - you'll die if you even try!"

"Shut up. Come on and show me what you've got!"

The two pirate captains clashed in a furious flurry of punches (from Luffy) and slashes (from Buggy) as they wailed on each other. Buggy, being the type of guy he was, couldn't resist making a few snarky comments against Luffy. "That hat you're wearing is stupid, by the way! It reminds me of a red-haired idiot I know!"

Luffy ducked a slash and being Luffy, couldn't resist asking, "Do you mean Shanks?"

"Of course I mean Shanks! What other red-haired idiot is there!? WAIT A MINUTE! HOW DO YOU KNOW SHANKS!?"

"I met him a long time ago and he let me borrow his hat. I'll only return it after I've become the greatest pirate there is. It's nearly my greatest treasure." Luffy replied almost conversationally, despite the fact that he and Buggy were still assaulting each other.

"Gya-ha-ha-ha! Well, then you'll never get a chance to give that dirty old hat back because I'll crush you right here and now! That's the worst treasure I've ever heard of - ant that includes this stupid island and the stupid animals on it!"

"Well besides Dawn this hat really is my greatest treasure so don't ever try to hurt it!" Luffy warned.

"Oh? You mean like THIS!" With a vicious downward stab Buggy clipped the edge of the straw hat's rim, and the knives sliced it in three evenly spaced cuts.

Luffy crossed his eyes to look up at the damage and a thunderous expression crossed his face. "You hurt...my treasure..."

"Gya-ha-ha-ha! So what if I did?" Buggy split himself again like he had against Nami and swarmed around Luffy, who had gone still and was clutching his fists at his sides and gritting his teeth in absolute fury.

"Rubber Jackknife." Buggy's swarm of parts came to a complete standstill as his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Luffy had, with stupidly accurate precision, managed to kick Buggy in his...Buggy Balls so to speak...while his hips had been floating about a hundred feet behind Luffy's back.

Buggy took a wheezing breath and hissed, "I will never forgive you for that! CHOP! CHOP! Come Together!"

How odd. He felt shorter than normal. When he spotted Nami grinning as she held down his torso though he realized what happened.

"What? Are you looking for this?" Nami asked, falsely coyly.

"My body! Give that back!" Buggy shouted.

"Only if you go away," Nami said and defiantly crossed her arms. "Your ship will sink in that hailstorm above it if you stay here anyway."

Buggy grit his teeth together and said, "Fine. Give it back."

Nami released Buggy's torso and he united it together with his head and limbs. He looked thoughtfully down at his knives and then back at Nami but had to stumble back when he saw Luffy, now standing between himself and Nami.

"Goodbye, Bug! RUBBER-"

Buggy spotted Luffy's arms stretched far, far back, and remembering his way of removing Cabaji from his presence earlier shouted, "NO! Wait!"

"BAZOOKA!" Buggy went flying and with impressive precision, he arched up into the stormcloud (getting shocked by a few bolts of lightning while up there) before falling down, more crispy then ever, flat onto the deck of his ship offshore.

Nami whistled in appreciation and said, "That was good aim."

"I win! That felt great to kick Bug's butt! Now he better leave or I'll do it again." Luffy said as he watched Buggy's ship in silent anticipation, waiting for what would come next.

What a mess. Buggy pulled himself back together and glared up at the storm brewing above his ship and ground his teeth together when a hailstone struck him in the eye. He hated magic, it should be left out on the Grand Line or hidden away out on secluded islands where it belonged. "Let's go men. We need to gather reinforcements if we want to go after a crew with a witch on it."

"But Captain, we can still take them! Who cares if there's a little storm right now." Mohji retorted but quailed under the absolutely furious expression on Buggy's face when he glared over at him.

Buggy grit his teeth together and said, "Just get us out of here. We'll have revenge one day but this damn curse will sink us for certain if we stay. Set sail men! Let's get out of this storm!"

Holding back a shiver Mohji responded. "Aye Captain! You heard him! Set sail for the horizon! We're getting out of here!"

Nami watched in fascination as the storm above the Big Top seemed to literally chase away the ship as it sailed away, leaving the sky filled with blue sky and puffy white friendly clouds once again. She was now free from being pursued by Buggy and his crew it seemed.

"Thank you for saving me," Nami said. She would be dead right now if it hadn't been for him so she would swallow her 'shame' of being indebted to a pirate for now. Maybe Luffy and his crew really didn't belong on her personal pirate spectrum.

"No problem." Luffy simply replied.

Gaimon sobbed in relief upon seeing that his hybrid animal friends had come out alive after the clown poacher's (they didn't deserve to be considered pirates by him) invasion and attack. Ann was slumped up against Balloon, fast asleep with a duck-turtle hybrid snuggled into her lap while Zoro was laying flat on his back beneath a tree sleeping soundly even as a tiger-striped and whiskered horse snuffed curiously at his hair.

"You guys won!" Medaka shouted as she scrambled across the beach, finally released by Dawn from her deck and she jumped up to tackle Luffy in a delighted hug, causing him to laugh with delight.

"Shishishi! Of course we did!"

"You and your crew helped protect my friends. Thank you so much! You never told me your name though, Straw Hat."

"I'm Monkey D Luffy. The man who will become the King of the Pirates." Luffy declared.

"The "D" stands for Daring." Dawn's sparrow spoke up cheekily from where she was perched on Luffy's hat.

"Didn't I say to stop doing that?" Ann sleepily muttered before falling back to sleep again.

"Wh-what?" Gaimon asked, nearly falling over from shock.

"I'm going to become the King of the Pirates and get One Piece," Luffy said bluntly.

"One Piece you say? You're really planning to go to the Grand Line like you told that Bug fellow, aren't you? Don't underestimate it. That place is hell's coffin. I have seen pirates that escaped from the Grand Line. They were spiritless like the undead. Whether something horrible happened to them, or whether they met terrible monsters. Not one person was able to say anything. One Piece is no longer a mere legend but a dream in a dream." Gaimon warned.

"Where is the Grand Line, anyway?" Luffy asked.

"Who knows," Gaimon answered, still in a daze.

"I do have a map you know," Nami said as she unrolled it and showed it to Luffy and Gaimon who peered at it with interest while Medaka squished between them to get a glimpse for herself as well.

A beat later Luffy said, "Hey, you wanna know something Bush-old-man? I don't understand maps at all."

Gaimon nodded his head and said, "Well, in that case, we're the same."

"I can read a topographic map, but not sea charts," Medaka admitted.

Nami snatched the map away and muttered, "You really would be lost forever without a navigator, wouldn't you."

"I sure would," Luffy said without a hint of shame. "I'm sure we'll find the One Piece. I have good luck and a good ship."

"Where do you get so much confidence from?" Gaimon asked.

"We'll definitely find it and show you it one day," Luffy said with a wider grin.

"We?" Nami asked as she looked at him suspiciously.

"In order to find treasure, losing your life doesn't matter," Luffy said as he fondly clutched at his straw hat.

"It was that passion that changed my life." Gaimon said with an expression of gloom settling over his face.

"Wa-Wait, what are you talking about?" Nami asked.

"It was 20 years ago. I landed along with my companions on this island as a pirate. We came to find the treasure that lay on this island. Though the Captain searched this island for a month I checked the top cliff and I couldn't believe my eyes. Five chests all mine to be opened. That was when I fell and got stuck in this box. When I came to, my companions had already set sail. They had left me behind!"

"They left you?" Medaka asked with a quaver in her usually confident voice.

Gaimon nodded his head and said, "That one glance at the treasure has never once left my mind. But those clown poachers couldn't be deterred by either my weapons or my Nakama! When pirates, poachers, or other people come to this island in search of treasure I just shoot them or get help from my Nakama to scare them away. That treasure is mine!" Gaimon declared passionately.

"There's no doubt about it." Medaka agreed.

"They're yours," Dawn said with a grin on her lure's face.

"Gaimon, I understand. We'll help you get those treasures." Nami said, with determination in her voice.

"Really? Aren't you a thief of pirates?" Luffy asked as he scratched his forehead in confusion.

Nami's face transformed from sympathetic to enraged as she shouted, "You! That's rude! Even I can be emotionally moved you know."

"Balloon, you keep an eye on Ann and Zoro while we're gone, alright?" Luffy said and Balloon fluffed out his feathers and squawked in a way that seemed to mean "Of course I will you rubber brained captain. I'm the best guardian ever."

So up the island tiers went Luffy, Dawn, Medaka, Nami, and Gaimon with a menagerie of hybrid animals following along - aside from the bird dominant hybrids who stayed in the clearing with Ann, Zoro, and Balloon. Within about a half-hour of walking the group finally made it to the top tier where the base of a rocky plateau shot out of the ground over three hundred meters up into the sky.

"So it's up there, huh?" Luffy said as he looked up to the top of the rocky cliff.

"I haven't been here in a long time. Finally, the time has come! Today's a good day! I'm counting on you, straw-hat!" Gaimon said with an excited grin on his face.

"Okay! Rubber Rocket!" Luffy shouted as he stretched his arms up to the top of the cliff and pulled himself up with a snap.

"Alright! How is it? Do you see it?" Gaimon asked after a minute of silence.

"What is he doing?" Nami asked out loud as she shielded her eyes with her hand while she looked up the cliff.

"Luffy? What's happening?" Medaka shouted up.

"I've got them: five treasure chests!" Luffy called down.

"Finally I've got the treasure! Treasure! Can you bring them down? My treasure? Hurry! Hurry!" Gaimon said, practically vibrating with excitement.

"No!"

A moment of incredulous silence passed.

"What?" Gaimon asked.

"I said no. I don't want to give them to you." Luffy said, crossing his arms defiantly as he looked over the edge of the cliff.

"What nonsense are you saying? Stop joking around." Nami shouted up as the familiar feeling of betrayal crawled up her back and she found herself uneased. How could she have fallen for being emotionally invested with a pirate after all? How could she have been so naive again?

"Yeah! Those treasures are Gaimon's! Don't be so mean!" Medaka shouted up.

"It's okay," Gaimon said, even as tears dribbled down his face.

"It's not okay!" Nami shouted at him, feeling aggravated.

Medaka nodded in agreement and said, "That's right! You've been guarding that treasure forever, it should be yours."

"Straw-hat, you're-you're really a nice guy!" Gaimon said even as he cried harder, shocking both Nami and Medaka.

Feeling suspicious Nami turned to Gaimon and asked, "What do you mean?"

Sniffling with the emotional onslaught Gaimon said, "I had thought of it before. That maybe... even though it's unbearable to think it... there's nothing inside, is there?"

"Yeah. They're all empty." Luffy confirmed bluntly.

"No way! The treasure you've guarded for 20 years are only empty boxes?" Medaka asked, feeling astonished at the unfairness of it all.

Feeling settled now that she had been proven wrong about Luffy (again) Nami agreed and said, "Yes. It's something that happens a lot with treasures. Sometimes you reach them after the treasures have been taken. That's why I steal from pirates above treasure hunting for myself. It's a lot more reliable to get treasure that way."

"So searching for treasure really is a trial for pirates," Medaka said.

"Wasting a lifetime, sacrificing your own life, only to get nothing at the end. There are many pirates like that." Gaimon agreed, as his animal Nakama pushed along to comfort him by licking away his sad tears.

"Don't be so sad, old man! Good thing we got here in the 20th year. If no one came in another 30 years you could have wound up dead." Luffy said as he landed with a tuck and roll so he wouldn't bounce away. "Now let's finish up our real treasure hunt Medaka and see if we can find some food. We should have a celebration ready for when Zoro and Ann wake up."

"You missed it, Luffy. I already won." Medaka said proudly as she grinned up at him.

Dawn laughed from her perch on Luffy's hat and said, "It's true. While you all were fighting on the beach Medaka showed me her loot. She's the winner of the game all right."

Luffy, childish as he was, actually pouted and grumbled, "No fair! I was so close! I even found a shell with six colors first before looking for any other colors!"

"Really? I had a lot of doubles since I was able to find some treasure on the other ship. Take a look at this though!" Medaka reached into her pouch and pulled out the sparkly tiara. Luffy, Gaimon, and Nami each made appropriate 'oohs' and 'ahs' while they leaned in to look at the treasure closer.

Nami was especially appreciative. "That's a very nice find. From what I know about lost treasures here in the East Blue that looks like it could be the crown of the youngest princess from the kingdom of Cozia. The kingdom was mysteriously destroyed during a storm about eleven years ago and the entire royal family went missing along with many of their citizens in what was probably a coup by the current government there. A lot of their treasures went missing afterward and their rarity makes them even more valuable. You could sell that for a lot of money!"

Medaka smiled but stuffed the tiara back into her bag. "That's really interesting! But I don't want to sell it. I'm going to save it and the rest of what I found today since they're my first official pirate treasures."

The celebration they had started in the afternoon and went on long into the night, Luffy and Medaka were dancing like they'd forgotten how to stand still. Luffy was moving like his limbs were made of spaghetti and Medaka's face was an epic picture of pure excitement. When Zoro and Ann woke up following their post-battle naps the food and drinks were ready to go.

The fruit-wine made by Gaimon was full-bodied and sweet and whet everyone's appetites for more food. Ann and Luffy seemed to be gorging themselves from the pace and amounts they were consuming but once Ann explained how much energy she had actually used in the fight it made a little more sense.

Nami ended up indulging herself in eating more than she'd thought she would. She started on the refreshing coconut soup that felt warm in her own stomach. It had been milky white, with islands of orange sweet potato floating through the base. A delicious fish dish had followed. Fleshy pink strips of trout that were garnished with dashings of green herbs that Nami didn't know the names of but liked the taste of. Large sections of the fish were served with a zesty fruit sauce that Gaimon said was his specialty. It tasted like it was made with lemons. Nami vaguely wished it had been tangerine flavored but mentally waved the thought away.

'Should I sail with them or not?' Nami wondered as the night settled in and everyone fell asleep one by one around her. Nami looked over to Medaka and the pouch that laid beside her with a single treasure that would probably be enough to bring her all the way up to 100,000,000 beris without having to look for anything else. Nami huffed and reminded herself, 'I'm a thief who steals from pirates and these are all pirates, right?' She promised herself she would make her decision by the time the sun came up.

The next morning had Zoro and Medaka dragging crates of leftover fruit and island wine provided by Gaimon over to Dawn who took over picking up the crates and storing them away carefully with her ropes and vines (and two larger monkey lures). Luffy, on the other hand, was talking with Gaimon down on the beach one last time before they departed. He looked down the beach as he did, having faith that Nami would eventually show up instead of sailing off on her own.

"Thank you for the food and drinks! Are you really going to stay on this island, old man?"

"Yeah, Straw Hat. Even if there are no treasures here, there are other things for me to protect."

"Things to protect?"

Gaimon gave a few appreciative pets to a nearby platypus-sheep and said, "I have lived with these guys for 20 years through hard times and happy times. I can't just leave them. Knowing there's no treasure I feel truly free for the first time. From now on I'd like to live my life the way I want. In reality, I've begun to enjoy living in a box as long as I have my friends with me."

"Shishishishi! I see! That's too bad because you're an interesting old man! The strange creatures are your true Nakama huh? Though you're actually the strangest creature on the island, aren't you."

"What did you say?!" Gaimon demanded as Luffy laughed at his reaction. He smiled when he spotted Nami making her way down the beach towards them and with a delighted expression he ran over to her, practically bouncing in his excitement.

"So you're gonna be a member of my crew now, right?" Luffy asked with a grin while Nami ignored his smile as she made her way across the beach.

"I'm not a pirate. I'm just cooperating with you and your crew for a short time while it serves my purpose, remember that." Nami said but looked excitedly up at Dawn who was grinning back down at her. "I will sail with you as a navigator for now since it seems if I go along with you guys I'll be able to see some interesting things and find a lot more treasure."

Down a little ways from where they were standing and closer to the edge of the forest, Ann was giving a teary farewell of her own to the hybrid creatures she had befriended. "You guys are so special! You'd better stay safe and take care of each other understand?"

The duck-turtle was cuddling close to her and letting out very sad quacking noises. Every time Ann tried to break away and move towards the shoreline where Dawn was waiting it would follow and make the saddest quacking she had ever heard.

Gaimon grumbled a little bit before saying, "Take that duck-turtle with you and spare me it's crying. She would've died if you hadn't helped her out anyway."

"Really?" Ann asked, even as she scooped the duck-turtle up into her arms happily. "I thought you said you wanted to protect each and every animal on this island."

"I won't stop one of my friends from doing something that makes them happy even if that means she wants to go with you. You're a good kid and as long as you don't tell anyone where she came from I'll trust you to take care of her."

"Thank you so much!" Ann said and smiled down at the duck-turtle. "I think I'll call you Mishell Greenbill. Let me introduce you to Very Berry and Mango Tango since you've already met Balloon."

Once they were packed up and on their way, Gaimon, surrounded by his animal friends, sent them off with cheering and happy tears as they sailed away from his island. "See you! Take care! Goodbye Straw Hat! Work hard towards your dreams in my place! If it's you, then I'm sure you'll get it. The legendary treasure One Piece! Then you should buy the whole world!"

The gentle wind blowing from the island billowed Dawn's sails as she chased the horizon, skipping across the white-crested waves like a merry child in a field of daisies, ready and excited for what the new adventures lay before them.

To be continued...

Up Next: Penguins, pirates, marines, and chaos. The penguins are new but otherwise it's just another day in the life of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Thank you to all who are following my story for your incredible patience. I got stuck on a mix of writer's block and in a reading mindset at about 10000 words into the chapter, which was very frustrating. I have fun and exciting things planned all the way up to the timeskip and am still plotting out New World information which is a work in progress because fun new stuff in One Piece comes out a lot since it's still in production. Please know even if I am frozen for a few weeks (or months in this case) writing is nearly always in my mind.

Thank you for taking the time to read, follow or review my story. Until next time, may your life be filled with blessings!