The moon was high up in the night sky as the two small boats bobbed up and down in the dark water. On one ship, Luffy, Y/N, and Zoro were all asleep on the deck, but on the other ship, which was still flying the flag of Buggy the Clown, Nami's eyes snapped opened. She got up and used the cool night breeze to carefully guide her ship up alongside the other one. When her boat bumped the side of the ship the guys were sleeping in, Nami dropped the anchor again to keep her boat from drifting too far.

There was something she was curious about and wanted to do for a while now. This seemed like the perfect time to do it, while they were sleeping, or to be more specific, while he was sleeping. Nami held her breath and drew on all her experience as a sneaky thief as she climbed out of her boat and into the other one. She carefully stepped over Zoro who was sprawled out in the middle of the boat and silently walked over to her target. She let out the breath she had been holding then took a new one as she carefully knelt down beside him.

She reached out for her target. Finally the questions that had been eating at her since she had met him would be answered. Her fingers curled as she grabbed onto it without touching him, but then she found out what curiosity did to the cat.

WHAP! A hand grabbed her wrist and another grabbed her shoulder and Nami suddenly found herself on her back underneath him, WHAM! Nami stared up at him and saw a look in his eye that she never wanted to see again. It slowly faded and Y/N released her and backed away.

Nami sat up and held a hand over her heart, and quickly converted any fear she was feeling into anger. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" she demanded.

"I could ask you the same question," Y/N growled, he seemed just as angry as she was, but was restraining it.

"I just wanted to see what was under your eye patch!" Nami snapped, "you didn't have to attack me!"

"While you're on this crew," Y/N said. "The last thing you want to do, aside from damaging Luffy's straw hat, is touch my eye patch. As you just found out, I'm a light sleeper."

"No duh," Nami grumbled.

"You never want to see what's under my eye patch," Y/N assured her, "it still disgusts me."

"Maybe I should be the judge of that!" Nami argued

"You're gonna have to take my word for it," Y/N told her. "I'd never hurt you, you're Nakama. Hurting our Nakama goes against everything Luffy and I stand for, the same thing probably goes for Zoro. Just stay away from me when you think I'm sleeping."

Nami got up and climbed back to her boat, "I wouldn't want to sleep near a smelly pirate anyway!"

Nami watched as he stood up and silently climbed the mast of the boat he was in then reclaimed his spot on top of the sail and stared up at the night sky. Nami still wondered how he managed to balance on that thin wooden rigging, but decided she'd figure that out some other time. She went inside her boat and went to sleep, but silently vowed that she would find out what was under that eye patch of his.

-x-

Luffy, Y/N, Zoro, and Nami continued on their way, sailing side-by-side in their two boats. Zoro was sleeping as usual while Y/N was once again lying on top of the sail while staring up at the sky. Luffy was wide awake and was currently overjoyed due to the actions of their new navigator.

"YOU FIXED IT!" Luffy cheered as he held up the straw hat that Nami had repaired for him like she said she would.

"It's just temporary," Nami reminded Luffy, "I just sewed up the holes. It'll be fine if you aren't too rough with it."

But of course Luffy wasn't listening, and instead was poking the spot on the hat where one of the holes had been. "Thanks, the hat was full of holes, now you can't even tell!" But suddenly the weak stitching gave way to Luffy's finger, causing him to poke right through the hat.

"YOU DON'T LISTEN!" Nami yelled as she suddenly took her sewing needle and stabbed Luffy in between the eyes. SLIK!

"OW! You stabbed me with that needle!" Luffy complained as he held the small bleeding spot on his forehead.

"Well that's the only way I can hurt you!" Nami snapped.

"Hmm... you're right," Luffy agreed.

All through the little spat Y/N had been watching them with amusement and Zoro had been woken up, "Cut out that racket, I can't sleep!" Zoro called out.

"I'm starving," Luffy whined.

"I'm kind of hungry too," Y/N admitted from the top of the sail.

"Hey, share some of your rations with us," Zoro asked Nami.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Nami questioned, "Don't you know anything about seamanship? You don't even have food or water." While Nami continued scolding Zoro, Y/N noticed something in a distance.

"Hey Luffy, do you see that?" Y/N asked the Captain as the pointed off in the direction he'd spotted something in.

"Yeah! I see something!" Luffy exclaimed, now ignoring what Nami was saying.

"... You have to respect the sea. How have you lunk-heads been alive for so long?"

"We manage," Zoro answered Nami, he was the only one that was listening.

"What is it?" Y/N asked, his lack of depth perception once again irritating him.

"It looks like an island," Luffy observed. "Let's check it out!"

"Forget it," Nami told him, having overheard Luffy, "It looks uninhabited. Hold your course."

But Luffy and Y/N still weren't listening and quickly changed course and started sailing towards the island. "COME BACK!"

"Maybe there's someone there that'll join our crew!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Maybe we can find some food," Zoro suggested, "Like Nami said, we're unprepared."

Luffy, Y/N, and Zoro eventually pulled up to the shore of the island, and while Luffy and Y/N quickly hopped out of the boat eager to go exploring (different degrees of eagerness obviously), but Zoro opted to stay in the ship, he needed some more rest. Y/N smirked when he noticed Nami pulling up along side their boat.

"We've found a desert island," Luffy announced to the other two.

"I told you it was uninhabited," Nami reminded Luffy, "You won't find anyone to join your crew here."

"It wouldn't hurt to look around," Y/N suggested. "We could find some food."

"Hey Zoro, get over here!" Luffy called to the swordsman who was still in the boat, but was now fast asleep. "He's asleep!"

"Let him rest," Nami advised, "He's still recovering from his injuries."

"Good thinking," Luffy commented as he turned around and started off towards the forest, "Alright let's go!"

"Go where?" Nami questioned, she stayed where she was and watched Luffy walk off.

"Maybe there are people living in the forest," Luffy pondered out loud.

"People, no. Hungry monsters, maybe," Nami replied.

"In that case, we'll have plenty to eat over the next few days," Y/N said calmly as he put his hands in his pockets and wandered off into the forest. Nami stood there and stared after him, was he serious? She couldn't tell... he always sounded like that. Nami didn't want to be left alone with a sleeping swordsman, so she quickly went after them.

But once the trio entered the forest they were greeted by a strange sight. A strange creature that looked like it was a white dog, except it had the plumage and tail of a rooster. The creature was making strange clucking noises.

"Hey look, it's a chicken!" Luffy pointed out.

"It looks more like a dog than a chicken..." Y/N remarked as he bent down and petted the rooster-dog as it rubbed up against him and licked his hand.

"Hey look, its some kind of weird rabbit!" Luffy called over to the other two as he pulled up a white snake with rabbit ears on its head and a small puffy tail at the end of it.

"Weird is right, but its more like a weird snake then a weird rabbit," Nami corrected him.

"And look at that lion!" Luffy exclaimed as he pointed out a large pink pig with a brown lion's mane.

"Lion! That's some kind of strange breed of pig!" Nami argued.

"There's something weird about this forest," Luffy commented as he and Nami warily glanced around them, they could feel eyes watching them from the darkness.

"Not really, you guys haven't seen the Grand Line," Y/N said in a bored tone. "There's people that can become animals, giants, strange hair-styles, bizarre animals, fishmen, mermen, and monsters. There's nothing like it." Out of the corner of his eye Y/N saw Nami flinch when he said 'fishmen'.

"Wow," Luffy gasped in amazement as he wandered further into the forest. "The Grand Line sounds amazing."

"DO NOT COME ANY FURTHER!" a loud voice suddenly shouted.

"Who said that?" questioned Luffy, while he and Nami quickly glanced around them to see who had said it. Y/N just stood there calmly.

"LEAVE NOW!"

"Where's that voice coming from?" Nami wondered as she, Luffy, and Y/N stood in a circle and faced away from each other, trying to see who was making the voice.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked out loud.

"I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THE FOREST!"

"The guardian of the forest?" Luffy repeated in confusion.

"THAT'S RIGHT! IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES, YOU'LL LEAVE THIS PLACE NOW!"

"And what'll you do if we don't?" Y/N challenged the voice, his eye quickly narrowed. "The voice is coming from the trees," he thought quickly, "We need to draw them out."

"QUIET YOU! ARE YOU PIRATES!"

"Yes," Luffy answered honestly.

"Why would he ask us that?" Nami whispered to Y/N.

"SO YOU REALLY ARE PIRATES?"

"The eye patch and the sword don't answer that for you?" Y/N asked calmly.

"DO YOU WANT TO DIE? DON'T TAKE ANOTHER STEP INTO THE FOREST. IF YOU DO YOU'LL HAVE TO FACE THE TRIAL OF THE FOREST!"

"Who cares!" Luffy said, "Why's he asking us all this anyway?"

"What's going on here?" Nami wondered.

"This guy's a weirdo," Luffy commented.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"

"Maybe he's over there," Luffy suggested as pointed off in a distance.

"Hmph, the coward's hiding," Y/N stated.

"THAT DOES IT! I WARNED YOU, BUT NOW YOU ALL MUST FACE THE TRIAL OF THE FOREST!"

Suddenly they saw bizarre creatures all around them. There was the rabbit-snake, the lion-pig, the rooster-dog, a zebra-ostrich, a hippo-gorilla, a panda-bat, two giraffe-bears, a tiger-elephant, a rhino-kangaroo, two sheep-ducks, and a huge bear-turtle.

"What are these things!" Nami asked, disturbed by the sight of the strange creatures.

"PREPARE FOR THE TRIAL OF THE FOREST!"

CHUNK! CHUNK! CHUNK! Wooden boards popped up around the three pirates and wooden spears were sent flying at them WOOSH! WOOSH!

WOMP! Y/N tackled the navigator to the ground and shielded her body with his as the spears whizzed passed them. Luffy was doing his best to dance and avoid the wooden spears. WOOSH! WOOSH!

"WAAAAHH!" WHUP! WHUP! WHUP! The spears imbedded in the ground around them.

CHUNK! Over head a wooden platform swung to the side and dropped a large collection of boulders from overhead. CHEEEEEWWW!

Y/N grabbed Nami and held onto her as he lunged out of the way of the big falling rocks as they came crashing to the ground, BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

WHUMP! A large rock smashed into Luffy's head and squashed him, but it slid off his head and landed beside him, leaving him unharmed. "This guy's really pushing his luck..." Luffy grumbled.

BAM! A loud gunshot rang out from behind Luffy. WOING! The bullet shot Luffy in the back and embedded into him. FWOOM! And was then reflected back the way it had come.

"You alright," Y/N asked as he looked at Nami with concern.

"Of course," Nami answered, trying to put up a brave front. "But uh... thanks for saving me."

"Don't mention it," Y/N replied, then he turned to Luffy, "Luffy, you alright?"

"I'm fine," said Luffy, "but I don't like being shot at."

"WHAT... WHAT ARE YOU!"

"What are you?" Luffy countered. Y/N got back up and held a hand down to Nami, but the girl insisted she was fine and got up on her own. Y/N shrugged and glanced around them.

"Hey, look at that thing," Y/N pointed out as he gestured to a small bush on the outer edge of the clearing. The bush appeared to be planted in a treasure chest and there was a pistol on the ground in front of it.

"Look! There's a pistol on the ground!" Nami observed, having finally recovered enough to think.

"What's this?" Luffy asked as they walked over to the bush to investigate.

"It looks suspicious," Nami commented as Y/N crouched down in front of the bush.

Y/N stared hard at the bush for a moment then a sly grin appeared on his face, "Let's light it on fire."

Suddenly the bush started moving, in fact it was running. Apparently it was afraid of being set on fire. But in its haste to get away, the bush tripped and fell down on its... face?

"Gotcha," said Y/N, his grin faded and his expression returned to the usual indifferent one he usually wore.

"HEY, HELP ME UP!" the bush screamed.

"It's a person!" Nami realized once she, Luffy, and Y/N reached it.

"HELP ME UP!" the bush/person yelled again.

"Hm, he's still making demands," said Y/N, making no move to help him up.

The bush was a person with long green hair and an equally long green beard. It appeared that he hadn't shaved or had a haircut in years. His body was seemingly stuck in the treasure chest with his feet sticking out of the bottom and his hands poking out of the top.

"He looks like a shrub," Luffy commented.

-x-

A little while later Luffy had eventually helped the shrub-man up and explained to him that he was made of rubber, and that was why the bullet hadn't worked on him. Y/N was lying on his back staring up at the clouds through the trees.

"The Gum Gum Fruit? Isn't that one of the Devil Fruit?" questioned Gaimon the bush-man and guardian of the island. He came up to Y/N's chest which meant he was about four feet from the top of his huge green afro-like hair, a large wild-looking beard, dark skin, and a mono-brow. "This is the first time I've ever met someone who's eaten one of those fruit."

"And this is the first time I've met a person stuck in a treasure chest," replied Luffy, "Are you a 'boxer'?" Luffy's little joke caused Y/N to groan.

"Well when I was younger..." Gaimon started answering, "HEY! THAT WAS A STUPID JOKE!"

"I'm stuck and I can't get out," Gaimon continued, "I've been alone on this island for twenty years! You can't imagine how miserable I've been!"

"Twenty years? You've been all alone?" Nami questioned.

"That's right, twenty years, it's been a long time," Gaimon said. "That's why my beard and hair are this long. I used to have TWO eyebrows! I haven't had a conversation with anyone in all that time!"

Luffy suddenly rushed over to Gaimon and started pulling on him in an attempt to yank him out of the box his was trapped in.

"OUCH! WHAT'RE YOU DOING!" Gaimon yelled.

"You're stuck," Luffy stated as he continued in his attempts of freeing Gaimon.

"STOP! YOU'LL BREAK MY NECK!" protested Gaimon causing Luffy to stop pulling. "Don't be reckless! I haven't had any exercise in all these years! By now my body has changed to the shape of this box. I can't get out, and if you break the box, you'll break me with it!"

"But how did you get into it in the first place?" asked Nami.

Gaimon didn't speak for a moment, but eventually he asked, "You said you were a pirate right?"

"That's right, but so far I only have a crew of four," Luffy answered.

"Well I used to be a pirate too," said Gaimon, "Risking my life in the pursuit of treasure! It was great!"

"It's fun, huh?" Luffy questioned as he pulled out the chart of the Grand Line.

"Of course," Y/N commented as he sat up and finally joined the conversation. "That's why I used to be a Treasure Hunter. One of my favorite things in the world is going on adventures and finding strange treasures that no one's ever heard of."

"Do you guys have a treasure map?" Gaimon asked.

"I've got a chart of the Grand Line!" Luffy replied with a smile. "We're going after One Piece!"

"The One Piece?" Gaimon repeated, "You're not seriously thinking of entering the Grand Line!"

"Of course we are," Y/N answered as he laid back on the ground, "Luffy wants to become King of the Pirates. To do that we need to find One Piece, the greatest treasure there is. I'm going to find it for him and we can both accomplish our dreams."

"Where is this Grand Line anyway?" Gaimon asked as he looked over the map with Luffy.

"I don't know, can you tell me where it is Mr. Shrub?" Luffy questioned.

"I can't read charts!" Gaimon answered.

"You can't?" Luffy replied, sounding surprised.

"How can they call themselves pirates?" Nami asked mostly herself. Y/N's only reply was an indifferent shrug. So Nami decided to take matters into her own hands. "Okay look!" snapped Nami, "You know where the Red Line is right?"

"Yeah it's the strip of land that divides the oceans," Gaimon answered.

"That's right," Nami said, "The world has two oceans and the strip of land that divides the two seas called the Red Line, making four different oceans, the East Blue, the North Blue, the South Blue, and the West Blue. There's a sea route that goes through the Red Line and around the world. That's the Grand Line. They say it is the most dangerous sea route. Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, was known for being the only one to conquer it."

"Hmm... if the One Piece is somewhere along that line, then all we have to do is sail around the world," Luffy reasoned.

"DON'T BE DENSE! IT'S NOT SO EASY!" Gaimon snapped, "the Grand Line is called the Pirate's Graveyard. I've seen pirates who've managed to make it back from that voyage... hey're broken men, almost zombies. You can tell just by looking at them...whether pirates or monsters... they've seen horrible things! THE GRAND LINE IS A PLACE OF HORRORS!"

"Only some times," Y/N thought to himself.

"To find One Piece and come back alive is almost impossible," Gaimon continued. "It's hard to tell truth from rumor, it's been twenty some-odd years since the Age of Pirates started, and no one's gotten that legendary treasure yet. Going after the One Piece is a fool's dream!"

"And that's why all those pirates came back empty handed," Y/N suddenly said as he sat up again, he actually sounded passionate about something. "They gave up looking for it, and the terrors of the Grand Line came down on them full force. The One Piece is the Ultimate Treasure and I'm gonna find it or die trying. I spent the majority of the last two years on the Grand Line, I didn't find One Piece, but the pirate crew I was on at the time was the closest anyone other than Gold Roger has ever gotten to it."

"Well, I think we'll find it," Luffy replied confidently.

"Give it up," Nami said as she turned to Y/N, "There are plenty of other treasures to be had, why get ourselves killed?"

"Because the One Piece is the treasure," Y/N explained, "If I can find it, I'll be known as the Ultimate Treasure Hunter. And Luffy will be known as the King of the Pirates. I'm not scared of the Grand Line, and I'm not scared of dying for my dream."

"We'll find it," Luffy assured them, he sounded confident. He wasn't going to let anything stop him from achieving his dream. "I'm very lucky."

"I don't know where your confidence comes from," Nami grumbled.

"Luffy," Y/N said, "Just remember, you'll need all the hope and luck you can get to stay alive in the Grand Line. Anything can happen there, but it isn't over until you've completely given up. You need to keep hope alive and follow your dreams. Then who knows, maybe you'll end up enjoying your time there. I did for the most part."

Suddenly Gaimon spoke up, "I'll tell you why I haven't left this island," said the former pirate, "It's just like One Eye said. Hope. I still have hope."

"What do you have hope about?" Luffy asked.

"Twenty years ago..." Gaimon began, "I was a pirate when I came to this island. We'd heard there was a treasure here..."

Gaimon and the rest of his pirate crew had arrived on the island twenty years ago. They all split up and searched the island but all they managed to find were some strange animals and some empty treasure chests in front of a cliff where the Captain had been standing. They couldn't find the treasure.

But then Gaimon got an idea, he noticed that the Captain had been standing in front of the cliff the whole day, but no one had bothered to check on top of it. Taking matters into his own hands Gaimon started his climb up the cliff, it was hard work but he eventually made it and his hard work appeared to have paid off, on top of the cliff were five treasure chests.

Gaimon was about to open the chests and check to see the treasure, but then he noticed that his crew was leaving. He turned around and attempted to run after them, not wanting to be left alone on the island even though he had found the treasure. But Gaimon wasn't thinking and ran off the edge of the cliff, he fell and ended up landing in one of the empty treasure chests that were at the bottom of the cliff. Gaimon struggled to get out but found that he was stuck, he managed to break a hole through the bottom and got his feet out then ran after his crew, but by the time he made it to the shore they had already sailed off.

Gaimon was stuck in the chest for the next twenty years, his hair grew and his beard crew. Pirates came, but he didn't want any of them finding the treasure at the top of the cliff so he scared them off. In the end, he was stuck on the island for twenty years guarding a treasure that he couldn't reach.

"You see, all that treasure on the cliff," Gaimon concluded, "I can't bring myself to part with it. If only I wasn't stuck in this chest! ALL THIS TIME I'VE BEEN PROTECTING THIS TREASURE! ITS MINE, ALL MINE!"

"You're absolutely right," Luffy agreed, "It's rightfully yours."

"Gaimon, I'll go up there and get that treasure for you," Nami volunteered.

"Really?" Gaimon asked, "That would be great! I'm glad I told you my story."

"But you're a pirate AND a thief," Luffy commented.

"SHUT UP! I'M A THIEF BUT I'M NOT HEARTLESS!"

"Hmph, yeah right," Y/N muttered. Nami glared at him then they followed Gaimon who led them over to the cliff the treasure was on top of.

-x-

Gaimon's Treasure:

-x-

"Here we are, this is it," Gaimon announced to the others once they arrived at the cliff, "I haven't been here in a while."

"Why didn't you tell anybody else you story?" Luffy asked, "Like you told us." If he had, maybe Gaimon wouldn't still be here.

"I've never trusted anybody else," Gaimon explained, "Besides, none of the others really tried to talk to me. THE TREASURE IS SO CLOSE! FINALLY! TODAY IS THE DAY!"

"Luffy do your stuff," Nami instructed.

"You want me to do it?" Luffy asked.

"I can't climb a cliff this steep," Nami said before she pointed to Y/N who was calmly sitting against a tree, "And he's back to being lazy!"

"I'm counting on you Straw-Hat boy!" Gaimon confided in Luffy.

"Okay," Luffy agreed. BREEEN! Luffy stretched his arm upward and grabbed onto the edge of the cliff. "GUM... GUM... ROCKET!" SPROING! Luffy's arm retracted causing him to shoot up into the air and over the top of the cliff, he dropped down and landed lightly on the top of it.

"WOW HE DID IT!" Gaimon exclaimed.

"I see them!" Luffy called down from the top, "Five treasure chests!"

"THROW 'EM DOWN HERE!" Gaimon called up to Luffy in delight, "BUT DON'T DROP THEM ON US!"

"No."

Gaimon looked confused, while Nami on the other hand was angry, "LUFFY, ARE YOU INSANE! STOP JOKING AROUND AND THROW 'EM DOWN HERE!"

"Forget it!" Luffy called down to them, "I don't want to!"

"DARN IT LUFFY!" Nami snapped.

"It's okay," said Gaimon, "He doesn't want to do it."

"How can you say that?" Nami demanded, "It's YOUR treasure!"

Gaimon had tears in his eyes as he spoke, "Straw-Hat boy... you're... you're a good kid."

"What!" Nami questioned.

"I suspected this was the case," Gaimon admitted , "I had my fears... but I didn't want to believe it."

"They're empty," Y/N stated sounding bored.

"Huh!" said a startled Nami.

"Yep," Luffy answered, "They're all empty."

"It happens all the time... with treasure maps..." Gaimon sobbed , "You get your hands on a treasure map and someone's already taken the loot."

"But you've guarded them for twenty years," Nami sympathized as she glanced at the crying shrub-man, "and they were empty." Nami turned to Y/N who was still leaning against the tree, completely unaffected by the fact that their new friend had been on the island for twenty years protecting a treasure that wasn't there. "Can't you even be a little sympathetic?" she demanded.

"Why?" Y/N asked. "It's just like he said, it happens all the time. That's why I'm going after One Piece. No one's found it yet and if someone did, we'd know because they'd be the new King of the Pirates."

"So you spent twenty years here, guarding a treasure that wasn't there?" Nami questioned.

"Who said it isn't here?" Y/N suddenly asked.

"You did," Nami answered. "You said the chests were empty and then Luffy confirmed it."

"I never said the treasure wasn't here," Y/N pointed out as he slowly stood up and walked over to the side of the cliff.

"What are you talking about?" Gaimon asked.

"Think for a second," Y/N instructed as he stared at the cliff in front of him. "The pirates who hid their treasure here had chests on top of the cliff, and shrub-guy fell off of the cliff and landed in one of the treasure chests that had been found around the cliffs. What if those chests were planted there to keep pirates, thieves, and treasure hunters from finding the real treasure?"

"But if the treasure isn't on top of the cliff, or around it where else could it be?" asked Nami.

A sly grin appeared on Y/N's face as he walked over to a bush that was up against the side of the cliff. SHHHUNK! With one hard yank Y/N pulled the bush out of the ground, revealing an opening in the side of the cliff. "How about inside it?" Y/N suggested.

"That cave?" Gaimon questioned. "I always just assumed it was some creature's home."

"Give me a few minutes and I'll search the cave for you," Y/N offered.

"Why can't you just go in now?" Nami asked.

"Do you want me to get killed?" Rick inquired. Nami looked like she was about to answer but Y/N cut her off. "Don't answer that. I'm not stupid enough to blindly crawl into a dark cave. It could be filled with traps. Give me a few minutes and then I'll be ready to find your treasure."

"Hey, can I come down now?" Luffy asked causing both Nami and Gaimon to sweat-drop.

"Actually Luffy," Y/N called up to him, "bring down two of those empty chests with you. If I find something, we'll need something to put it in." With that, Y/N turned and walked off into the forest.

-x-

Ten minutes later, Luffy, Nami, and Gaimon were sitting around the opening trying to see inside. But it was pitch black inside and they couldn't see anything. Off to the side, were two empty treasure chests that Luffy had brought down from the top of the cliff with him.

"I've got an idea!" Luffy announced as he stretched his arm out and into the opening.

"What are you doing?" Nami questioned.

"I'm reaching into the cave so I can grab the treasure," Luffy answered.

"But what if it's some animal's home and it attacks your arm for intruding on its lair?" Gaimon asked. "Some of the critters on this island can be possessive of their territory."

"That's what I was worried about," came Y/N's voice. Luffy, Nami, and Gaimon all turned and saw Y/N walking over carrying a pair of sticks and a rock and saw that he was being followed by the rooster-dog from before.

"You spent all that time trying to find a pair of sticks and a rock?" Nami demanded.

Y/N just shook his head and walked up to the side of the cliff and smashed the rock against it, sparks were created from the stone-on-stone contact and they fell on the end of one of the sticks that Y/N was holding with his other hand. The sparks caused the end of the stick to catch fire and when the flames were large enough Y/N turned to face the others and held up the flaming stick, "I dipped them in some booze I found back on our ship, now I have a torch and I'll be able to see. Luffy, would you mind getting your hand out of the hole?"

"Okay," Luffy complied. FWUP! Luffy's rubber arm quickly retracted and came out of the cave. "I didn't find anything, it goes very deep. What's with the chicken?"

"Hm... the pirates probably tunneled into the middle of the cliff," Y/N reasoned.

"But what if there's no treasure and just animals?" Gaimon asked.

"That's why I have Chuck here," Y/N replied as he pointed to the rooster-dog, "Chuck, do your stuff."

"CLU-CLUCK!" said the rooster-dog as it approached the opening of the cave and slowly went in. Y/N moved his torch and held it into the opening, giving the rooster-dog some light.

"And now we wait," Y/N prompted as he sat down beside the opening of the cave but kept the light shining into it.

"Who names a creature that's half rooster and half dog 'Chuck'?" Nami questioned.

"It was the first thing I could think of," Y/N answered with a shrug.

"You kids are amazing," Gaimon remarked. "I've been here for twenty years and I've never been this close to finding the treasure. First you check on top of the cliff where I've never been able to reach, and now you're checking inside of it, I can't believe this. It's a dream come true."

"Have you ever thought of what you're going to do with the treasure when you get it?" Nami asked.

"Uh... well... no," Gaimon admitted sheepishly.

"If it's really big, maybe you could buy a life time supply of meat!" Luffy suggested.

"Meat spoils, you idiot!" Nami snapped. "Why would he buy it all at once like that?"

"Hmm... you're right," Luffy commented.

"But come to think of it," Nami said as she turned to Y/N. "Say you do manage to find One Piece, and Luffy becomes King of the Pirates, what would you guys do with it?"

"Its more about the recognition of finding the Ultimate Treasure than using it," Y/N explained. "When I find One Piece, I'll be the only one who's ever managed to find it and since Luffy's the Captain he'll become King of the Pirates."

"AAAH-OOO!" came the crow of the rooster-dog from in the cave, Y/N glanced inside and pushed the light in deeper and eventually Chuck then rooster-dog came back out, seemingly unharmed.

"Find anything?" Y/N asked.

"Cluck," Chuck answered with a shake of its head.

"Chuck says nothing lives there," Y/N told the others, "now it's my turn." Y/N took his torch which was still burning and put the non-lit end in his mouth, then turned and started crawling into the cave.

"Good luck Y/N!" Luffy called after his First Mate. Eventually Y/N's steel-bottomed boots disappeared and so did any light coming out of the cave from Y/N's torch.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I'm bored," Luffy complained.

"I'm just as anxious as you are, maybe even more," said Gaimon. "He could find the treasure that I've been here for so long protecting."

"Come to think of it," Nami commented. "What were you planning on doing if there actually was treasure in the chests up top, but you still couldn't get them? Would you just keep on protecting them until you eventually died here on the island?"

"I don't know," Gaimon admitted, "I guess."

"That sounds kind of selfish," Nami pointed out. "If you couldn't have the treasure, then no one could?"

"You look really confused Mr. Shrub!" Luffy noted. Things quieted down and the three of them, as well as Chuck the rooster-dog all waited by the opening of the cave, listening for any signs from Y/N. "I'm gonna go for a walk," Luffy suddenly announced.

"What? Why?" asked Nami.

"All this sitting around is boring," Luffy answered. "I'm gonna go see if I can find anything to eat."

"You kids need food?" Gaimon questioned.

"Well, it would be nice," Nami commented. "We don't have very much."

"I know where you can get some fruit," said Gaimon. "I'll show you if you want. It's the least I can do for all you kids are doing for me."

"Sounds good," Luffy agreed as he got up.

"But what about Y/N?" Nami asked. "We can't just leave while he's still in the cave. Nothing against Chuck but we need to have someone here when he comes back."

"Good idea," Luffy replied. "Thanks for volunteering Nami, Mr. Shrub and I will go find some food, and you can wait here for Y/N."

"I didn't vol—" Nami started to say but Luffy and Gaimon had already left. Nami glanced beside her and saw she was alone, except for the rooster-dog. "I guess it's just you and me."

"Cluck!"

"I don't understand how he understands you," Nami commented to Chuck.

"Clu-Cluck," said Chuck, he sounded like he agreed with her or something.

"Eyer oo ee," came Y/N's voice from inside the cave beside Nami.

"What did you say?" Nami asked as Y/N came crawling out from the cave, with the torch in his mouth. The flame was dying down a bit, but then Nami remembered the other stick that Y/N had brought with him. Y/N had apparently planned ahead and brought another stick in case he needed to go into the cave multiple times.

Y/N stayed halfway in the cave and took the torch out of his mouth, "I said, 'neither do we'," explained Y/N. "Where did Luffy and the shrub-guy go?"

"They went to find food," Nami informed him. "Did you find anything?"

Y/N paused for a few seconds and pulled himself the rest of the way out of the cave, then grinned slyly at Nami, "Wanna see?"

Nami's face lit up, "You found treasure? Sure!" she replied instantly.

"Do you want to go now, or should we wait for them?" Y/N asked.

"Now's good!"

Y/N nodded then took his torch and extinguished it on the ground then got the rock and other stick and quickly lit up another one. "The cave is pretty narrow, but widens out near the end. The best course of action would be for you to follow me in."

"Okay, you're the Treasure Hunter," Nami replied eagerly. "If you think it'll work then that's what we'll do."

"Chuck," Y/N said as he gestured to the rooster-dog and pointed at the cave.

"Cluck," Chuck replied then he turned and entered the cave.

Y/N turned to Nami and shrugged then put the torch in his mouth and crawled into the cave, following after the rooster-dog. Nami waited a second, for him to be completely inside the cave, then dropped down and crawled into the cave after him. The cave was really dark, and all Nami could see were Y/N's feet moving in front of her, but that was due to the torch he was carrying in his mouth. Nami was pretty sure that if they didn't have a torch, it would be pitch black and she wouldn't be able to see anything.

Nami followed after Y/N through the cave for a while, she lost track of the time. She had attempted to ask him what he had found on multiple occasions, but due to the torch in his mouth, she couldn't understand what he was saying. But thanks to the light coming from around Y/N, she eventually noticed that the cave was getting wider. Nami sped up and crawled faster so she was moving beside Y/N, but made sure that she approached on the side where he could actually see her coming due to actually having an eye on that side of his face.

"Are we almost there?" Nami asked.

"Uh huh," Y/N replied with a nod she could barely see. After crawling alongside Y/N for a while longer they eventually came across an opening which appeared to lead into some sort of chamber. Nami watched as Chuck the rooster-dog walked in as if it was nothing, so Nami had no problem following Y/N inside as well. She made it into the chamber and dusted herself off then took note of their surroundings. The chamber was rather small, but there was enough room for her, Y/N, Chuck, and probably another couple people. When she glanced up, she saw that the ceiling of the chamber was just a little above Y/N's head.

Y/N grinned at Nami and offered her the torch, she took it and eagerly shined it into the middle of the chamber and found... a treasure chest. Nami noticed that the lock on the chest had been removed so she knelt down and opened it, then shined the torch inside and found... two dozen bottles of rum.

"That's it?" Nami asked sounding disappointed. She stood up and whirled around to face Y/N. "Are you telling me that these pirates planted fake chests on top of a cliff, at the bottom of a cliff, and then dug a hidden tunnel into a cave, and I just crawled for who knows how long through that cave for TWENTY-FOUR BOTTLES OF BOOZE!"

"Liquor does get better with age," Y/N pointed out, his hands were in his pockets.

Nami stormed over to Y/N and shoved him backwards into wall behind him, not noticing that he dropped down about three inches. He was still taller than her. "You said there was treasure!"

"There is."

"What do I look like, an old drunk!" Nami exclaimed. "Booze isn't my idea of a treasure! Treasure sparkles and you can buy things with it."

"You could trade it."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE BOOZE!" Nami yelled as she glared angrily at Y/N.

"Grrrrrrrrr..." Nami jumped slightly and shined the light down by her legs to see Chuck growling at her. Apparently he didn't like Nami yelling at Y/N.

Nami raised the torch and shined it on Y/N's face, her glare intensified when she saw the sly grin on his face. "You know something."

"Of course, I was just hoping you'd be able to piece everything together."

"I don't want to waste my time piecing anything together! If there's a treasure, show it to me, or I'll castrate you!"

Y/N flinched and Nami smiled seeing that her threat had the desired result. "Fine, you don't have to be a bitch about it." Y/N reached out and took the torch from Nami and stepped out of whatever he was standing in to return to his full height, then went over to the chest followed closely by Nami and Chuck.

Y/N reached into the chest and pulled out one of the rum bottles and had Nami hold the torch while he pulled out the stopper with his teeth. "This is no time for a drink!" Nami snapped, "is there a treasure, or isn't there?"

"There is. But you know, for someone who the treasure doesn't even belong to, you seem awfully excited about it. Was that the point of your question from earlier?"

Nami just glared at him and didn't answer, Y/N shrugged then moved Nami's hand so she was holding the torch over the chest and pulled out another bottle while carefully putting the opened one on the ground. Y/N offered another bottle to Chuck who bit down on the top of the stopper and pulled, removing it from the bottle.

"Good job," Y/N praised as he put that bottle down next to the other one.

"Cluck," Chuck replied after he dropped the stopper on the ground.

Y/N and Chuck worked together and opened another ten of the rum bottles, ignoring the curious looks that Nami was giving them. But that was probably due to the fact that they couldn't see her. "Okay, what are you doing?" Nami asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Get those for me?" Y/N requested as he picked up eight bottles and moved them to the side of the chamber. Nami watched as Chuck carried another one in his mouth, so she took the final three and placed them next to Y/N, who was crouched down in front of the wall. Nami continued to shine the light as Y/N began pouring out the rum. Upon closer inspection, she realized that he was pouring the rum into a trench at the base of the chamber walls. Nami shined the light while Y/N went all around the chamber and emptied the dozen rum bottles into the trench. The trench went around the entire chamber, with the only exception being the small part in front of the opening in the wall that they had come through.

"So you're pouring the booze into trenches that are on the ground. I still don't get it."

"The rum is here for a reason."

"And why's that?" Nami asked as Y/N reached out and pulled the torch away from her, she briefly saw a sly grin on his face.

"It burns." Y/N dropped the torch into the trench and the lit torch met the rum that was pooled at the bottom of the trench. Bright flames shot up out of the trench and followed the trail of rum all the way around the trench. The fire glowed and lit up the room causing the walls to start to sparkle in different colors.

KA-CHING! Nami's eyes swirled around and resembled a pair of berri signs.

There were countless gems imbedded in the walls of the chamber, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, amethyst crystals, and quartz all sparkled as they reflected the light from the fire. "Gems!" Nami smiled and clapped her hands, amazed at what they – well, Y/N – had found. She managed to tear her attention away from the sparkling cavern walls and noticed Y/N and Chuck standing together behind her, the former had a slightly amused expression on his face and was watching Nami with interest while the latter was making soft clucking sounds while glancing around at the glowing gems in the walls.

"The gems were here and embedded into the walls the whole time, but couldn't be seen since it was so dark in here," explained Y/N as he slowly walked over to Nami. "Most people would be ticked off at only finding booze here that they wouldn't even bother searching the cave properly. I used the rum and the trenches that were obviously provided to shed some light on the situation."

"I would have never figured that out. I bet countless other pirates wouldn't have either. You're amazing." Nami smiled at the pirate with a new found respect, he really was a treasure hunter.

"Like you said, countless other pirates would never have found the treasure here. The pirates who hid it used as many tricks as they could. But they didn't expect 'One Eye' Y/N, Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire to show up."

"That sounds a little cocky."

"It may be. But in case you couldn't tell from the gems sparkling in the walls around you, I can back it up."

"HEY YOU GUYS!" came a loud voice. "Y/N! NAMI! CHICKEN! ARE YOU IN THERE!"

Y/N and Nami turned their attention to the opening of the chamber and saw a rubber hand slowly enter and feel around for something. Y/N walked over and grabbed the hand then gave it two tugs, then held onto it. ...oooooiiiINNNNNGGGG! KRASH! Luffy came flying through the hole in the wall carrying Gaimon and Y/N stepped out of the way, causing the rubber man and the shrub man to go crashing into the floor of the cavern.

"Ow!" Luffy complained as he pulled himself back. "WOW!" The complaining changed to astonishment when Luffy noticed all of the gems embedded in the chamber walls. On the ground next to him, Gaimon was in tears.

"You did it, kid!" Gaimon cried in joy. "You found the treasure!"

Y/N just shrugged and put his hands back in his pockets. "Now all we have to do is dig them out of the walls."

"How are we gonna do that?" Nami asked. "We didn't bring any shovels or picks axes with us."

"Do I have to do everything?"

"I'm stuck in this box," Gaimon pointed out. "I wouldn't be able to reach the walls of the cave without being burned."

"And I'm not stepping in fire to get the gems," Nami stated. "I'm wearing sandals."

"Don't worry, I'll do it Mr. Shrub," Luffy volunteered, he stretched out his arm and grabbed one of the embedded rubies. With a big yank he managed to pull the gem out from the wall.

"Never mind," Y/N grumbled as he got back up to his feet. "That'll take too long. Luffy, let's trade shoes."

"Huh, why?" Luffy asked as he watched Y/N take off his boots and stood barefoot in the cavern.

Y/N held up one of his boots and pointed to the steel on the bottom, "With your strength and this steel, you'll be able to create a bigger impact," Y/N explained. "Use a Gum Gum Stamp on the walls to knock the gems loose, then fish them out of the fire. I'll take your sandals and got back outside and get the chests so we have something to put them in."

"I guess that makes sense," Luffy reasonedy, he handed over his sandals to Y/N, who quickly slipped them on while Luffy put on Y/N's boots. Due to Luffy's feet being stretchy and rubber and Luffy's sandals being open-toed, the switched footwear fit well enough.

"I'll be back," Y/N told them as he slipped into the tunnel, "don't overdo it."

With Y/N gone, Luffy pulled back his steel encased foot and drove it into the wall of the cavern, "GUM... GUM... STAMP!" SMASH! Luffy's foot smashed the wall with such force and strength that the rock shattered, causing the gems to come loose and drop into the burning trench.

"BE MORE CAREFUL!" Nami scolded, "YOU'LL CAUSE A CAVE IN!"

Luffy shrugged and attempt to fish the gems out of the fire filled trench, "OOOWWW! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!" Luffy threw the gems he'd fished out across the room and waved his hand around.

This continued until Y/N returned with two treasure chests, somehow he had made it back without a torch. Nami, Gaimon, and Chuck quickly busied themselves placing the gems that Luffy had knocked loose into the chests, while fished out the one's Luffy had missed, leaving Luffy to smash the rest of the gems out of the wall. There were a lot of gems, but they were all very small, all of them easily fit in the two chests and while the treasure hadn't taken up as much room as some of them had hoped, it was probably still worth a lot. Y/N guessed seven million berries, and was probably right.

Eventually, Luffy, Y/N, Nami, Gaimon, and Chuck had gotten out of the cave with the two... three chests. They brought the left over rum because Y/N didn't see the point in wasting perfectly good liquor, this earned him a bop on the head from Nami.

"I can't thank you kids enough," Gaimon eventually said as he stared at the three treasure chests. "If you hadn't come along and I hadn't told you about the treasure, I'd have never lived to see it."

"You've got that right Mr. Shrub," Luffy agreed. "Another thirty years and your whole life would've passed you by."

"I know," said Gaimon. "That's why I want you kids to take half of the treasure."

"Huh?" asked Y/N with a raised eyebrow.

"One Eye, you found the treasure for me," Gaimon explained. "You deserve at least part of it."

"Well if you insis—" Nami started but was interrupted by Y/N.

"No. The treasure's yours. You spent twenty years here guarding it. I'm not going to take it from you. I just like finding 'em, I really have nothing to do with it."

"Are you crazy?" Nami demanded, but was ignored.

"I would've never even found the treasure if you guys hadn't come here," Gaimon reminded him.

"I've got an idea," Luffy offered. "Mr. Shrub, you can join our crew. Then the treasure will belong to all of us and we don't have to worry about it."

Gaimon was silent for a moment, considering Luffy's offer. "That sounds great kid, but I can't join your crew. I've been on this island for so long, that I don't think I can leave it. All the strange animals here need me to protect them. Even if I did get the treasure, I still need to be the Guardian of the Forest."

"You're sort of an exotic animal yourself," Luffy pointed out.

"HEY WATCH IT!" Gaimon shouted but then paused and calmed down. "I really don't have anything to do with the treasure, I'll probably end up trading some of it with pirates that come through here. And now at least I can enjoy my life on the island."

"I'll tell you what," Y/N suggested. "You can keep the left over rum, and one of the treasure chests. We'll take the other chest and put three million berries worth of treasure in it."

"That's fair," Gaimon agreed.

Y/N nodded and grinned slightly, "I'm glad we could come to a reasonable compromise."

-x-

After the Straw Hats had stashed Gaimon's treasure somewhere for him, and Luffy and Y/N had traded their shoes back, they loaded their part onto the boat, along with a lot of fruit that Luffy and Gaimon had gathered.

"I can't thank you kids enough," said Gaimon as he and a bunch of strange animals were standing with him to see the Straw Hats off. After saying goodbye to Chuck, Y/N climbed into the boat and sat down next to Zoro, who had slept through the whole adventure. "Go find your crew and find the One Piece," continued Gaimon. "If anyone can do it, you kids can. Make the world your oyster and make your dreams come true."

"Thanks we will," Luffy answered, "See ya!"

Luffy and Nami climbed back into their ships and the Straw Hats sailed off, leaving Gaimon on his island. They had found his treasure and now they could continue their voyage to the Grand Line.

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!