Chapter Text
The Child
Breathing in the fresh air, Law let it out in a contented, relaxed sigh as he stood on the deck of his ship, near the railing. It'd been about a month or so since they surfaced. He knew that Bepo was happy. The polar bear was sitting to the side. The guy looked relieved too as he hung his feet off the side without his shoes on.
"Captain, do you see that in the distance?" Penguin asked as he walked up to him. Law turned to give his attention from the ocean to one of his close friends.
"What?" He was confused as to what he was talking about. Penguin was pointing into the distance behind him.
"That. Over there." Law followed his hand to where he was pointing. What he saw was a very oddly shaped island. It made him furrow his eyebrows at it. That's not supposed to be there, right? It wasn't there before. Was it? I don't remember seeing it.
"Bepo?" he called to his best friend and navigator. Law needed some answers about what they were looking at. The island was in the shape of what looked to be some kind of creature. But he couldn't figure out what kind of creature it could be. It wasn't one that he knew.
"Huh?" The only Mink member of his crew looked over at him. "What is it, Captain?"
"On the map you've been looking at this whole time, are there supposed to be any islands in this area?" It was an island he'd never seen before. It was just... different... from everything he'd known about islands. It was very strange. Plus, he wanted to know if it was supposed to be there or not.
He turned and watched him pull out the map he had of where they were. Bepo checked it before turning to give him a very confused and worried look. "No. There shouldn't be any islands anywhere near here." Law walked over and crouched down to look at the map himself. "From my calculations, Captain, we're here," he said, pointing to a spot in the middle of the ocean. There was nothing around. "The log pose is pointing in that direction." Bepo pointed to the left of where the island was. That's when he noticed the island. "What is that?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Law answered. He stared at the island in the distance for a bit as he stood back up. "I'm gonna get Jean to go over to it. I want to see what this island's about. Why is it here?" The two on the deck with him didn't argue about it with him as he went back inside.
Passing by some other crew members, he greeted them, and they did the same back. But none of them stopped him from what he was doing, Law had to figure out what that island was about. Something was very different and off about it.
Once he got down there, he asked Jean to go over to the island. Without arguing, he agreed. Law thanked him before leaving to go watch them get closer to the island. He felt the ship start to move after a second. He was very interested in what was going on.
As soon as they were close enough to be able to go onto it, Law asked his crew who wanted to go onto it with him. A few offered to accompany him. Bepo was one of them that decided to join him in exploring the island. He seemed just as confused as Law was about it.
On the island, he noticed that there was fog everywhere. It looked like a veil over the whole place. That made it creepy. Something didn't feel right and that made him uncomfortable. Being careful of where he stepped, Law made sure that the ones that came along with him were as cautious as him. He didn't want anything to happen if they stepped in a bad spot or something like that.
They agreed and only stepped where he did. That reassured him a lot. Law was alert in case something did come out and decided to attack them. He kept his nodachi close. On islands like this, you could never be sure what could happen nor what could come bursting out of nowhere.
Another thing that added to the eerie factor of the place was that there wasn't really any sound. It was almost as if nothing was alive on the island. Or... the animals were too scared to make noise there. Both of those reasons were terrifying to think about.
As they got further into the jungle, he noticed a sweet smell in the air. "Captain, that's a really strong smell," Bepo voiced from behind him. Law nodded in agreement. He knew it was. Especially for his friend.
"Can you tell what direction it's coming from?" Law wanted to see what it was. Yes, he was curious. You could say he was as curious as a child, but it was normal for him. It was just something he grew up with. He'd always been a very curious person. That's why he liked to wander around.
"It's coming from the right." Nodding, Law turned their direction to the right. He still made sure to guide the group. Now, he was worried about what that smell could be. It was so sweet that you could almost taste it. It smelled like cake frosting or ice cream. That was an odd scent in the middle of a jungle.
The further they went, the stronger the scent was getting. Some of his crew members said that it was almost nauseating. He had to agree with them. The aroma was very, very strong and sweet. It was starting to give him a headache as well. What the hell is making that fucking smell? It's not something I'm used to. It might not be good to be breathing it in.
Soon enough, they got to a clearing with a dead animal in the middle of it. Law walked over to it and found that the scent was coming off of it. "What's going on here?" he whispered as he held his nose closed. It was to the point of making him almost pass out. Looking closer now that he couldn't really smell it, he saw bite marks along the side that was facing him.
Furrowing his eyebrows, one of his crew members gasped before he felt a soft weight land on his hat. That made him freeze up before turning to face his crew. They were staring at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws. He knew that it was because of whatever was on his head.
Lifting a hand up to see if he could feel what it was, he was shocked at feeling something kind of like air and something else he couldn't place on his hat. "You guys, what's on my head?" he inquired. He wanted their opinions before he, actually, knew what it was.
"Um..." Uni started. He looked just as bewildered as the rest of them. "It's... It's a... b-bird..." Law was now even more perplexed. If it was only a bird, why would they be acting that way? That wouldn't explain what he had felt.
"Okay..." He tossed Kikoku to Bepo who caught it. Then, he reached up and picked up the bird on his head. Removing it from his head, he brought it down to get a better look. What he saw almost made his brain short circuit.
In his hands was, indeed, a bird. But not just any kind of bird. It was a small, purple phoenix. It looked up at him. The eyes were pink. A very bright, vibrant pink. The purple of its body was a dark, making its eyes stand out even more. It looked like Marco when he was in his phoenix form except that it was purple, the markings around its eyes were a much darker purple, the top, where hair would be, was black, and the tail was bright blue. The creature was amazing to behold.
Something told him that it was what ate the dead animal. But he didn't voice his thoughts at the time. Squatting down, he set it on the ground. Law didn't know why it had landed on him in the first place, but he wasn't going to take it back to the ship. It'd, probably, upset some of the others.
When he stood back up, his crew was muttering to each other. He raised an eyebrow before he felt the weight on his head again. That wasn't something he wanted. Law reached up and grabbed the creature again.
He walked over to his crew before going to a tree. "I can't take you with me," he said to it. The phoenix just stared at him. Almost as if it was sad to see him go. "Stay here. Don't follow us." The bird cocked its head while just sitting there. Law nodded before going back the way they came. "We're going back. I don't think this island's good to stay on for too long."
"Aye, Captain!" all five of them cheered as they followed. Law didn't think that phoenix would listen to him, but he didn't feel it land on him again. That was fine. He didn't need anything else to stress him out.
Law was happy to get back to his ship. The others that were left behind were happy to see him but looked a little nervous. That wasn't normal for them, so he was, naturally, concerned. When he asked what was wrong, Shachi looked at the door to inside.
"What did you bring inside?" Law asked. Shachi scratched the back of his neck. "Well?"
"We... We didn't bring anything inside. We think something got in a bit ago. Some of us saw... something... moving around." Law didn't like the sound of that. "After a bit, nothing happened. So, we think it left. We're... We're not really sure."
"Has everyone checked everywhere on the ship?" He wanted to know if they made sure it wasn't there anymore. Whatever it could've been probably wasn't good. Law's be damned if one of his crewmates got hurt by something that had found its way onto his submarine.
"Yes. We've checked all over the ship. Inside and out. We haven't found anything. We... We even checked your room just to make sure." Law felt better that it got out.
"Alright. We're about to leave. I don't like this island. Something's not right about it." The rest of them agreed before going inside with him. If he wanted to leave, they weren't bothered. Plus, they'd gotten enough fresh air for the time being. Law didn't care when they surfaced but chose to do it when nothing was around so they wouldn't get attacked.
Back inside, he went to his room. He was tired and that scent had given him a horrible headache. Law just wanted to sleep it off. He felt the submarine go under and start to move. That was normal and he didn't mind.
Getting to his room, his jaw dropped at seeing what was curled up on his bed. "How...? When...?" The creature raised its head and gave him a loving, happy look. He couldn't believe that it was able to get past and hide from the rest of his crew.
The phoenix from before was sitting on his bed, as if it was meant to be there. What he didn't understand was how it wound up on his bed. Getting out of his stupor, for the time being, Law walked over and picked it up.
"Why are you following me?" he questioned, not expecting an answer. And he didn't get one. Law sighed as he sat on the bed, placing the bird in his lap before laying down. "I guess you can stay for now. But I don't know what you eat nor what the hell to do with you." The phoenix just moved up and snuggled up to his chest, seeming to go to sleep after a moment or so. "It's cute, but I have no idea what I should do with it right now."
Sighing again, he closed his eyes to sleep. I think about something to do when I wake up and my headache's gone. I don't need to think about this without a clear mind. This is going to be a problem for the others. I hope it doesn't scare them. With that, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
...
Soft, quiet whining and light tugging on his shirt awoke Law from his sleep. At first, he was confused about what could be happening. The whining continued but a little louder this time. It sounded upset and a little worried.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to wake up more. The tugging continued. Looking down to his chest, Law almost freaked out. He did, however, sit up almost immediately and backed up to the head of his bed. The being on his chest fell down to be upside-down in his lap.
"What the...?" Law was at a loss for words. It was a little girl. She had black hair, pale skin, and those pink eyes that the phoenix had. There was a problem, though. She was completely naked.
Not knowing what to do for the moment, Law just stared at her as she sat up and smiled at him. Her smile was sweet and innocent. That was something he thought was adorable. But he was still flabbergasted at what he woke up to. What the absolute fuck do I do?!
This story idea just happened to pop into my mind. I'm still trying to figure out if I want Luffy or Kid to be together with Law. If more people go for one or the other, I'll pick that one. Have a wonderful day and I love you all very, very much. Tatty-bye!
Fun Facts:
1. Originally, cigarette filters were made out of cork, the look of which was incorporated into today's pattern.
2. In the early 1900s, there was a pod of killer whales who helped humans hunt down other whales in Australia. They would do this for the fins and tongues of the captured whales as rewards and this agreement was known as "The Law of Tongue".
3. During 9/11, some fighters took off without live ammo, knowing that to stop the hijackers; the pilots might have to crash their fighters into the planes.
4. In Halden prison in Norway, guards are encouraged to interact, play sports, and eat with the inmates. This is to prevent aggression and create a sense of family.