It was night time, the stars reflecting off the calm waters of East Blue. The boat commandeered by Alvida pirates gently bobbed up and down. The crew of three was in various states of rest in the ship gently gliding on the smooth ocean with the gentle breeze the night provided.

Zoro snored softly leaning against the side of the boat; he had let slumber take hold soon after Nami had, who was still on Luffy's lap breathing evenly.

The navigator had a content smile on her face as she snuggled up to the living radiator that was Luffy, who was still up. He had retrieved his hat when she fell asleep, and was petting her head lightly.

Last few days really took a toll on her eh?

His eyes moved off the sleeping woman and onto his… First mate I guess? Nami would fit better as the treasurer or something…

Meh, decisions for later.

He focused on the other man. He was shorter than Luffy by a few centimeters yet he looked just as intimidating, even when walking side by had a muscular body, shoulders wider than his own, even after the nine days of starvation the muscles on him were pronounced, and even thicker than his. Constant muscle training? Luffy mused.

I didn't know hair even came in that color he giggled under his breath at the light green coloration of Zoro's hair, short and wild, much like his own in that aspect.

His eyes slowly gravitated down onto the hair of the girl in his arms.

Then again, her hair isn't the most common either , he thought, his hand continuing to comb through her hair and tussling her orange, chin length locks. He hadn't seen this shade since his days at that bandit hideout.

At first glance Nami could be mistaken as weak, but after taking a few of her hits, and the contact between them as she slept, Luffy could see how wrong that assumption would be.

She had a slender body, true, but she felt like steel beneath the skin. Her legs were over his own, and from what he could feel, they could rival his own in terms of being toned, and the delicate hands holding onto his cardigan were deceptively strong in their grip.

Lean muscle Luffy concluded, not as pronounced as what he and Zoro had, weaker in terms of raw power but couldn't be beat when it came to dexterity and agility. Something a professional cat burglar like her would have gained as the years went by.

"I got a good few for my crew huh?" he mumbled under his breath, looking up at the night sky; he was smiling at the stars as he let himself be lost in thought.

The chilly wind passed again causing Nami to snuggle up to the pirate-king-to-be even further.

Her skin is so soft he thought as her cheek rubbed against his neck.

Her decently sized cleavage pressed against his chest.

...Be still little one.

It was the early hours of morning when Nami slowly woke up, she hadn't had a sleep that good in over ten years. She stretched out like a cat, raising her arms above her head with a silent yawn. Her brain was slowly coming to, remembering where she was.

Or who she was on.

With a shrill 'eep' she stumbled off the sleeping captain, who luckily didn't wake up from the commotion. Zoro, on the other hand was wide awake, his katana already unsheathed and was ready to cut down whoever was the reso-

Oh.

"Good morning to you too," he groggily mumbled to the blushing navigator, rubbing his eyes, and sheathing his katana. "Not used to waking on top of your boyfriend?" he asked teasingly.

She shot him a glare. "He's not my boyfriend," she hissed, her blush fading slightly.

"Whatever floats your boat," Zoro said, voice slightly tinged with sarcasm, not enough to make a newly-woken Nami start a fight over.

"Good, glad we are clear on that," she huffed, looking around at the sea.

"Where are we?" she mumbled, she had no point of reference to even guess where the boat was headed. Just an endless horizon of blue.

"Luffy plotted out the trajectory..." Zoro said, yawning, "said something about 'trusting his instincts' or something."

"Instincts? What the hell does that even mean?" Nami grumbled. A silence fell over the two.

A few minutes passed.

"Hey Zoro," Nami broke the silence as the boat slowly continued to bob in the calm water. "You said you wanted to be the best swordsman in the world, right?"

"Yeah what of it?" he answered back.

"Do you ever regret having it?" Nami asked, looking at the floor of the ship.

Zoro didn't know what to say. He just stretched back, looking at the sky. He thought back the blue haired girl he was beat by oh so many times when he was young. His hand found and gingerly dragged itself across the hilt of Wado.

"…I would lay down my life for my dream." He started. "I cannot break the promise I made to her." His gruff voice was unusually soft at that end. Whoever 'she' was Nami doubted that she was still alive.

She knew how people sounded when talking about dead loved ones.

"…I see," she mumbled still looking at the boards making up the bottom of the ship.

" Someone is coming, " Luffy announced, making Nami jump and Zoro grip his swords.

"WHEN DID YOU EVEN WAKE UP?!" Nami screeched, bonking him in the head to no effect.

"Two- no three people" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and seemingly looking through Nami. She had a front row seat to see his eyes change color and shape as they focused on the tiny dot of a ship in the distance.

"Why does that even matter?" she exclaimed eyebrows twitching in annoyance.

"Their Jolly Roger has a red nose and clown makeup," he said, knowing that would get her attention.

Nami's eyes shone red.

"Buggy!" she growled, looking in the same direction as Luffy.

This crew is something else… Zoro thought as he looked at the antics of the two. At least the captain is strong.

After a few minutes, the pirate ship was visible to both Nami and Zoro too. Luffy looked at the fidgety swordsman, at how hungry he looked for action.

"Zoro, go ahead, just remember," he smirked as the swordsman was already putting his bandana on and prepping to swim to the other ship, "we need at least one alive."

"Aye captain!" Zoro said and jumped into the water, making a beeline for the pirate ship like a shark with a scent for blood.

The three crew members manning the boat didn't stand a chance.

"So, Buggy has taken over Orange town?" Luffy asked the crew of three. …where did I hear that name before?

Nami shivered as she combed through the treasure in the boat; that sounded way too similar to the fate of Cocoyashi.

With the treasure in Buggy's boat she was almost at the mark, ten thousand left to go.

"Hey Nam...i" she jumped at hearing Luffy say her name.

"Yeah Luffy?"

"You were Looking for a map, right?" She nodded. "Guessing you have some navigation skills, you wouldn't happen to know where Orange town is would you?" He leaned in "I don't really trust these bozo's to lead us to the right place."

"Oh sure, I know where that is, I can lead us if you want me to." she smiled, "though you gotta pay me." She stuck her tongue out.

"Eh? Stingy," Luffy grumbled childishly. So under all that intellect he is still a kid huh? Nami thought with a giggle.

"Well, being navigated by the best navigator on east blue is not free," she huffed in a playful way.

Luffy's eyes widened. "The best you say?"

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" she huffed angrily.

Luffy just raised his hands in defense. "Nothing, just surprised," he grinned, "wouldn't guess the best thief would be the best navigator too..."

"GET A ROOM YOU TWO!" Zoro yelled from the newly acquired buggy ship tied to the life raft. His outburst earned him a swift punch to the back of the head courtesy of a blushing Nami.

It was midday by the time they hit land. Leaving the Buggy trio tied up inside the buggy ship Luffy's crew moved out to scout out the town.

"Jesus this place is deserted," Luffy thought out loud. "You gonna scavenge the houses?"

Nami turned to him with slight disgust. "No. I have standards," she simply said, "they are mostly devoid of valuables anyway."

"Thought so but didn't want to assu-" Luffy did a double-take. "WHEN DID YOU EVEN CHECK?" he gaped eliciting a small fit of laughter from Nami.

"Relax, just joking Luffy~"

They suddenly stopped. No groaning about their slightly flirty talk.

"Luffy, where is Zoro?"

"..We were walking on a straight path…." Luffy muttered looking around, eyes shifting trying to see anywhere he might've gotten to, but he found nothing in his range, there was only so much he could see "..did- did he- no. The better question is how did he get lost?"

"Damn Luffy and Nami for getting lost..." Zoro grumbled as he walked down a narrow path, not realizing he wasn't even close to the main street that they were walking down."Probably ducked in a house to make out or some shit, fucking lovebirds." he grumbled again, hitting a pebble across the ground. "God, I need a drink."

He didn't sense the giant peculiarly colored lion or its tamer, lurking in the shadows.

Stalking their prey.

Hunting.

Luffy had given up on finding Zoro, even with his superior eyesight and sense of smell he couldn't track him down. The tracks keep fucking looping on themselves, what the hell .

Truth be told, Zoro could probably avoid a pack of bloodhounds thanks to his weird walking patterns.

"Guess we gotta wait for him to show up or cause some noise," he huffed along with Nami who tiredly sighed .

"I just hope he can keep his head down so we can sneak away after stealing the map," she groaned.

They started walking again, ending up in front of a pet store. A small white dog sitting close to it was growling at them.

"What's that dog even doing?" Nami questioned as Luffy crouched down looking at the dog intently. "Luffy don't mess with it, it might bite you," Nami warned, but Luffy seemed to ignore her.

"Not gonna harm your shop buddy," he said to the dog.

Nami just huffed. "He won't understand yo-" She was taken aback by the dog suddenly stopping his growling and sitting down again, giving them the stink eye but nothing more. "...Huh."

"You two," an old voice called out, making both Nami and Luffy look at the old man in a wooden chest-plate walking up to the store. "Don't hurt Shuushuu," he growled. The oldtimer still seemed to have some fight in him.

"Who would hurt a dog?" Luffy grumbled, looking back at the dog, slowly raising his hand and petting it.

It didn't react.

"Buggy's crew," the man responded, with slight awe. Luffy was the first person Shuushuu allowed to pet him.

"Didn't know you were good with animals, Luffy," Nami mused crouching next to the straw-hatted man.

"Eh, he is easy to understand," Luffy answered modestly. "Hey gramps," he looked over to the new arrival, "why is he guarding this pet store?"

"It belonged to his owner, my late friend…" the man trailed off softly reminiscing about the kind man that was Shushuu's late owner.

Nami just pouted sadly. "Is he waiting for him to return?"

"Nah," Luffy answered, shocking the old timer. "He knows his owner isn't returning."

"What makes you say that?" Nami mumbled placing her hands on her hips.

"His eyes," Luffy answered after a moment of consideration, "they are the eyes of somebody guarding their treasure , not someone waiting."

"Treasure? You mean the store?" Nami questioned with a raised eyebrow. Guess he can even read animals.

"Oh sorry," the oldtimer exclaimed remembering that he never truly introduced himself. "I'm Boodle, leader of the village", he sat down at the porch of the store and took out a pipe. "Guess you could call me the chief"

"And yeah," he mumbled with melancholy, "the owner of the store opened it up ten years ago with Shushuu, guess he is trying to protect it and all the memories they had in the store." He took a breath out of the pipe, letting the nicotine soak into his lungs.

Nami smiled. No wonder Luffy understood him so well. Her gaze slowly lifted up to the straw hat on his head.

"What now?" Zoro grumbled as he reached a dead end and heard a loud growl. He turned around to see a man riding a large lion, roughly double his height. He grinned hungrily.

"I was looking for a worthy fight anyway," he hissed clicking his sword out of its sheath just a second before the lion pawed him, sending him through the wall.

"Well done Ritchie," Mohji smirked as he looked into the hole Zoro was sent through.

"But this feels kinda too easy," he mumbled his smirk still on his face, guess he was weaker then what the rumors suggested.

But then again...

"Ritchie, follow him."

"Hey Luffy, mind me asking about your ha-" Nami was cut off by Zoro crashing through a nearby house and skidding to a stop on the street, swords in an x shape as he was blocking something;

"Dammit my footing was off!" He grumbled, seemingly not noticing the proximity of his captain. He was about to jump back through the hole-

"Oh, found him," Luffy said nonchalantly as he rose back up, Nami burying her face in her hands in the background.

"Eh?" Zoro turned around, seeing his two crewmates. "So this is where you guys got lost to."

"YOU WERE THE ONE THAT GOT LOST!" Nami screamed, Luffy just faltered almost falling face first.

The budding argument was halted when a giant lion leaped out of the rubble that used to be a house. Nami and Boodle took a fearful step back.

"Guess you are harder to kill eh, Roronoa Zoro?" the man riding the lion mused, a pompous smirk on his face

"Guess I'll tell you my name, wouldn't want you to die not knowing who killed you-" he shrugged as Richie stared hungrily to the pet store, "I am beast tamer Mo-"

"Zoro where the hell did you find this weirdo with the weird hat?" Luffy asked nonchalantly, sitting down on the ground, not even intimidated by the giant lion.

"THAT'S MY HAIR!" Mohji yelled out, clearly annoyed.

"Now that just makes it weirder." Luffy huffed. White hair growing out like bear ears? That's one unique hairstyle.

" He found me, captain," Zoro sheathed one of his swords, his hand reaching for Wado instead. "Mind if I cut him down?" He slowly unsheathed the white-hilted sword.

"Eh, don't hurt the lion too much, and keep 'em alive." Luffy muttered looking up to the sky bored out of his head.

"Aye-aye captain." Zoro placed the white hilt to his mouth and drew out the last sword again, dropping into his fighting stance.

"Ritchie," Mohji hissed, he was seeing red. These cocky bastards. " Lunch time. "

Boodle ran for cover and Nami rushed to where she thought would be the safest, next to Luffy, drawing out an arched eyebrow from the captain. As Richie pounced on Zoro, claws were clashing against steel.

"You fool, you can't beat Richie in a battle of raw strength, he is a 5 ton-" Mohji stopped when he felt Richie being lifted up under him. Zoro, in an amazing show of strength, was pushing the large cat back with gritted teeth.

With a grunt, Zoro pushed Richie fully making him stand on his hind feet, causing him to lose his balance. "Tiger-" he called out, "hunt."

For a second he was a gust of wind, cutting against anything it touched. Then the second passed and he took a step forward, looking back at his handiwork over his shoulder. The mane of the lion was cut off completely and its claws clipped. "…not even worth the effort," he grunted, teeth still around Wado.

Richie fell onto his back, scared unconscious and crushing Mohji underneath his weight in the process.

"Thought a giant lion would be way stronger…" Zoro grunted with some disappointment laced in his voice as he pulled Wado out of his mouth. He really needed a good challenge after what happened with Morgan.

Luffy whistled. "Good job, Zoro."

Nami was just frozen. What kind of monsters am I in league with?

She gulped. Well working with monsters isn't anything new for me, is it? she thought somberly . She could have sworn she was hearing a 'sha sha sha' coming from somewhere.

"It was nothing captain, these guys are barely small fry," Zoro said sheathing his swords.

"Hmmm" Luffy mused. It would take some work but he could make a man out of this Mohji fellow. A beast tamer in the crew would be useful… maybe.

"Welp, guys" He smirked. "wanna save this town while we're at it?"

Ritchie was hogtied using Luffy's webbing, Boodle was locked inside a home too; he would have just gotten himself hurt. The crew of three plus a hostage made their way up to the settlement Buggy had set up.

"A circus tent?" Zoro said, looking at the giant tent in the distance. He hadn't managed to get lost. Yet.

"He is called Buggy the clown." Nami mused.

"Honestly surprised he is that invested in the theme," Luffy mused guiding Mohji along.

"So the clown is this way, eh beast-men?" He asked the unwilling guide.

"Yes sir," Mohji mumbled, fear in his voice. "Captain Buggy is there."

"Does anyone else feel like this is too easy?" Zoro grumbled.

That earned him a gentle punch on the back of the head by Nami. "Don't jinx it."

Luffy stiffened. He suddenly turned around. "GET BEHIND ME"

"Wait wha-"

"Iron-"

Neither sentence was finished as the natural disaster that was the Buggy Ball hit the crew.

The street that Nami was standing in had been scorched, the paving upheaved and scattered everywhere. Houses had lost their windows just because of the shockwave the massive explosion created.

It looked like a war zone.

The only reason she was standing, alive even, was standing in front of her; Mohji by his feet, the tall form Monkey D. Luffy was covered in thick, white chitin plating.

She looked at him in awe for what felt like an eternity, stepping over a catatonic Mohji, before he stumbled onto his knees, coughing slightly.

"Fuckin hell, that thing packs a punch," he coughed up, his transformation wearing out.

"LUFFY!" she hunched over him trying to see if he was hurt, panicking slightly.

"I'm fine," he hissed. "The cannonball got me before everything was transformed, but it couldn't pierce through the incomplete shell," he laughed tiredly. "The clown can't even-" his smart-ass comment died in his mouth Nami hugged him tightly.

"Don't do that ever again-"

"I will, Nami, I would rather take a cannon like that fifty more times before I see the two of-" he stopped, Nami looked back angrily at him.

The anger in her eyes slowly shifted into shock.

"Zoro!"