Chapter 16: A Talking Skeleton isn't even Weird Anymore
I don't own One Piece
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Sometimes I wonder. If I had know that joining this crew was going to into such strange encounters, would I have joined? There's no doubt that almost every other crew I was offered to join never encountered a talking skeleton. Hell, they probably- no definitely didn't come in contact with a three headed dog. If by chance they did come in contact with one, I'm positive the captain didn't try to tame the beast. Then again, all those other captains were boring and predictable. I needed a little instability in my life, sorta, and Luffy kept me on my toes.
After the ship got trapped in a spider web, we had been forced to go on the island. Of course Luffy, Franky, Robin and I had all planned to go. However now we decided it was best the whole crew go, as three were currently missing.
Luffy still had his net and cage. That lead me to believe that my captain still had his hopes on catching a ghost and keeping it for a pet.
As soon as we ventured off, I had placed myself towards the front of the group beside Franky. I knew of my directional problems, and if I was placed towards the back I would easily take a wrong turn and end up lost.
"That's strange for the entrance to have stairs going down." Sanji muttered.
"This is the entrance, so there's no point in thinking about it." Luffy shrugged.
My eyes traveled down to the ground, settling on my feet. They had lost feeling again. Though I knew I was wiggling my toes, I couldn't feel a thing. I would need to focus my attention more on the ground right now, since I didn't want to accidentally injure myself and not know.
My nose wrinkled in distaste as I realized the ground, beyond the stairs, was littered with bones. Franky, who also had a habit of being bare foot, didn't seem to mind the bones. Or maybe he just didn't notice them.
As Franky fell behind, making me believe the bones were slowing him down, I found myself next to Luffy, who had taken the lead. His net was resting over his shoulder.
"Oh, the ground is covered in bones!" He announced, both of us coming to a stop at the creature in front of us. Had he really just noticed the bones?
The creature appeared the be a three headed dog, though I knew it wasn't born that way. The three heads were sowed onto the body. The head in the middle was yellow and only possessed one eye. It appeared to be the main leader in the three heads.
Rather than cower at the three headed growling dog, Luffy grinned and licked his lips. Apparently Luffy was thinking of eating the beast.
"Hmm. Cerberus, huh?" Sanji muttered behind me. "He would have been safer in hell."
"My, how cute!" Robin added.
"Hey, isn't he lookin' for a fight?" Franky piped in.
"He doesn't even know his place." Zoro scoffed.
"Think he's yummy?" Luffy asked, a grin on his face.
I couldn't help but smirk. "I wouldn't mind a closer look. I don't get to draw a real Cerberus everyday."
Appearing to understand us, the growling stopped. The Cerberus's tail's slowly lowered as sweat tinkled down its faces.
Luffy snickered in excitement then yelled, "Woof!" Rather than stop, he continued to bark at the Cerberus, scaring the poor creature.
"Luffy, that's not very nice." I nudged his shoulder, stopping his barking. Now, the Cerberus was growling once more. "Look, he's annoyed again." I sighed.
"He looks ready to fight," Franky added.
"Actually, he's found his courage after being cornered." Sanji corrected.
I could hear the faint click of Zoro's swords. "So I'll-" Luffy held up a hand to Zoro, stopping him.
"Wait." Luffy demanded, a giant grin forming on his face. "I wanna tame him."
I raised an eyebrow, "You just wanted to eat him. Now you want to keep him as a pet?"
"Stupid!" Sanji scoffed. "He may be a dog, but he's basically the boss of all dogs."
"A dog is still a dog." Luffy countered, looking at the shaking dog. "Yeah, good dog. Good boy." Then he held out his hand. "Paw!"
My eyes widened as I barely managed to jump back as the three headed dog chomped down on my captain. "They almost bit me." I complained.
"And here we just warned him." Franky sighed, glancing at me. "Nice reflexes, Katsu."
With his free hand, Luffy patted one of the dog's snout. "There, there." He said, his head still inside the dog's mouth. "You're a good boy." As he got the dog to let go of him, still praising it I raised an eyebrow. The dog appeared to be showing signs of confusion, probably from Luffy's calmness.
"He has a strange definition of good dog." I muttered, crossing my arms. "Though, he does seem pretty good with this taming."
No longer in the dog's mouth Luffy stood beside me again. Then, he punched the Cerberus into the wall. "Damn mutt!" He hollered.
"Ah, his calmness didn't last." I muttered.
While the dog was knocked down, Luffy held out his hand in a 'sit' command. "Down." He commanded, calm once more.
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Apparently my captain can tame animals. In record time too. Though, in all honesty, the Cerberus didn't stand a chance against Luffy. The poor thing was practically a puppy in Luffy's eyes.
"Those injuries are quite extensive." Robin muttered, looking at the dog Luffy was currently riding.
"Before that, I think a fox was thrown in the mix." Sanji said, "Makes it one messed up creature."
I couldn't help but feel bad for the animal. It was clear he wasn't born this way, he was a product of an experiment. Something I would relate to.
"We found a fun animal as soon as we arrived!" Luffy grinned, "I can't wait to see what this island has in store!"
"You look blue, Cerberus-san." Robin smiled, looking at the sulking animal.
"Hey, don't show the defeated any sympathy." Zoro grunted, "It'll hurt his pride."
Zoning out their conversation, I looked back at my feet frowning. There was still no feeling in them. Granted, this wasn't the first time feeling in my feet disappeared, but it's been two months since this happened. I was getting used to being able to feel everything I walked on.
Typically a person isn't able to walk when they lose feeling in their feet. However, I somehow managed to learn to use my feet even when feeling leaves. When I was first retrieved from the marines, I didn't have feeling in my feet. Taro, and his crew, were the only people who knew.
His doctor, Tomi, had done some test. He managed to figure out there was something wrong with my nerves. His guess being the marine experiments. Tomi assumes that they were trying to make it to where I didn't feel pain. They almost had it, however there are some problems. The main one being my feet, they just randomly lose feeling for no reason. Pain wise, I still feel it, mostly.
Of course the experiment wasn't completely done correctly. It wasn't until three weeks later that feeling had returned. It had surprised me when a tickle started at my feet, feeling grass for the first time. The way the single blades rubbed against my toes that tickled and made me a little itchy. It was glorious and wondrous. It was the reason I didn't like wearing shoes. Why would I want to wear shoes, when all they do is block the feeling of the ground? Something that was new to me? Something that I didn't take for granted.
Though, times like now, I still have moments where all feeling goes away. I just need to wait until the feeling returned.
"Hey Katsu," I blinked, looking up towards Franky. "Can you use your air powers to make the fog disappear?"
At the question, Robin, Luffy and Zoro looked at me. I could feel my face heat up in embarrassment. "S-Sorry, but not really. I still don't have full knowledge or control over my devil fruit. Logia don't really turn up at Gold's island, so I never really knew how to get help with it." I paused, "Well there was one Logia user that showed up, he helped me a little bit."
Robin smiled at me, "That's okay, Katsu. Though with the fog we're likely walking in circles."
"Nami-swan!" Sanji called out, I'm not sure how his voice isn't hoarse from all the yelling he's been doing. He paused his yelling to join in our conversation. "We should have left moss head on the ship. It's probably because of him that we're lost."
"Why are you putting the blame on me?!" Zoro growled. "Besides, Katsu is just as bad!"
"Don't insult Katsu-chan!" Sanji growled.
Their conversation was interrupted by something bizarre. It actually made me thing our encounter with Brook was completely normal. Or maybe I'm starting to just go insane.
"Robin, you see a tree pouting a cup of sake for a unicorn too, right?" I whispered. She silently nodded as an answer.
Well, I'm not crazy. That's good. Though it definitely makes the encounter with Brook completely normal.
"A-An elderly tree and a unicorn sharing a drink!" Luffy stumbled out.
Before I knew it, the tree was running and Luffy was chasing after it. The net was raised over his head as he attempted to catch it.
"Save me!" The tree cried.
"Wait!" Luffy demanded.
Maybe I should be questioning Luffy's sanity?
"Wait! Wait!" Franky chased after the unicorn.
Maybe Franky's too?
"Strong Right!"
Then again, I couldn't blame them for going after those creatures. They were kind of cool. A bit on the unbelievable side, but cool.
"Hey Luffy! What are you going to do with that?" Zoro asked, inquiring to the tree begging for help.
"Tame it?" I snickered.
Sparkles appeared around Luffy as he grinned. "Guys, why don't you join my pirate-"
"Cut that out!" Zoro and Sanji shouted.
A giggled escaped me. My captain was quite unpredictable. Which meant trouble most of the time, but also that there was never a dull moment.
My body froze when I felt something cover my mouth. Something else help my arms at my side, not letting me reach out to Robin as she passed by me to get a better look. I had been sure the invisible man had left. Apparently I was wrong. He was back, and now I couldn't say anything to get some help.
A sharp pinch in my neck and I found myself going limb as darkness greeted me.
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(I was going to stop here, but I decided to keep going...)
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You know, being knocked out my pressure points hurt. My body ached, though I now suspect it may be from the steel table I lay on.
"You said I could take that one as my bride, since she didn't have a bounty." A voice complained behind a set of old french doors.
"That was before I saw her." Another voice growled. "She's government property. You saw her shoulder."
My eyes widened as I looked down. How the hell did I not realize I wasn't in my own clothes anymore?! Why the hell was I in a white wedding dress?
"I couldn't have the other pirate, so i was going to settle for this one."
My eye twitched. While I didn't want to me anyone's bride, I also didn't like basically being told I was the back up option. That was just plain rude.
"Tell you what. I'm sure Moria will let you take the cat burglar in exchange for this one. I'm sure the government would want this one more than that one."
Hearing that set of news I made an effort to stand up. However, I quickly found that I was strapped down to the table.
"Shit," I whispered, pulling harder against the metal. My heart pounded in my chest as I found my throat tightening. "Please." I whispered, my limbs shaking.
"Really?"
A chuckle answered the man. "Yes. You get our bride, I'll go see Moria. The girl's unconscious, and tied down, I don't think she'll go anywhere."
I froze, hearing the retreating of two figures. Which meant I was officially alone.
When I was changed, they had taken my weapons, so as soon as I found a way to free myself I needed to hunt those down. At the moment though, I needed to find a way off this table and out of here.
"Come on," I pleaded, still trying to tug my arms out of the metal. However, it didn't last long as the door slammed open. My body went rigid as I looked towards the door.
Two people stood by the door. One being a pudgy man with vampire teeth and circular glasses. Beside him was a much larger man with a long neck and horns on his head.
"Oh, she's awake." The vampire grinned. "Moria, let me show you the mark I mentioned."
My body stiffened as they walked closer to me. My heat pumped faster with every step they took. Uncontrollable fear overtook my body as the vampire gripped my arm, his finger tracing over my brand.
"You're right, Hogback. She is property of the government." The man I believe to be Moria grinned, his hand tracing a strand of my hair, his eyes narrowing. "Red hair? Girl, is this hair natural?"
I clenched my teeth, turning my head away. I didn't want to answer any of his questions.
Moria laughed, "I'll take that as a yes. Hogback, I'll give you permission to do some test on this one. Meanwhile, I've got to make a call. It seems that the government's little experiment has finally made an appearance."
My mouth went dry. As Moria laughed and left the room I could feel my body trembling as Hogback retrieved a few medical equipment.
"N-No.." I shook my head, a fear of medical tools surfacing.
"Now, now, the more you struggle the harder this will be." Hogback chided, bringing a tingling sensation to my head.
In an instand, Hogback was replaced by a man with marine clothing. His face was shadowed over as he looked at me, a big grin on his face. "Now, still child. Otherwise this will hurt a lot more than intended."
As the memory faded a shrill escaped me. "No!" I screamed, my throat going raw as I shook my head. "S-Stop!"
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End of Chapter 16! It's been a while since I updated... Between school and work I've been really busy. However today I reserved just to make updates! Though I don't really know how many I'll be able to push out... What did you guys think of this chapter? I'm excited for the next chapter because I'll be introducing another character.
This is not edited.
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