39 Chapter 39: Millennial Dragon

Soon the girl Sanji saved woke up and Usopp was tasked with waking up Soren by Nami, and when Soren came out to the deck he saw a small Blonde girl wearing a mustard Yellow dress with the end of the sleeves and bottom of the dress having a Maroon trim with Yellow circles. She wore Maroon colored shoes as well as a pointed White hat with the same Maroon trim with Yellow circles, and her hair was tied together in a braid with a Cyan bow.

[W-What do you want Pirates!... Let me go!]: ???

Luffy was trying to make the girl laugh after seeing how scared she was and began using his fingers to stretch his mouth and stick his tongue out making him seem like a monster, and now the girl thought they were going to eat her. Nami saw this and quickly hit Luffy in the head making him back off while Sanji placed a plate of food before her, then left as he went to go make everyone else some food.

[So what will we do with her Soren?]: nami

[I don't know… I guess we can try to find out some information from her on why she suddenly fell into the sea from that Marine ship as she don't look like a Marine]: soren

Soren continued towards the kitchen to get some food and left the girl to eat her food, but due to thinking it was poisoned the girl didn't eat, and later on that night she snuck into the kitchen to find some food, but Soren was waiting for her as he knew what this girl was going to do.

[Hello little one… Why are you in our kitchen?]: soren

When Soren spoke, the girl was alarmed and quickly got into a defensive stance as Soren then spoke trying to make her relax.

[Calm down… We don't want to hurt you… Sanji saved you from the sea actually… So… Do you want to tell me your name?]: soren

Soren then placed a plate of food before the girl, but she still thought it was poisoned and didn't want to eat, and when Soren saw this he just gave a sigh and took a bite of the food he made for the girl and then placed the food back down next to her.

[Don't worry… It's not poisoned… Why would we waist poison on some little girl]: soren

Just as the girl took the plate and was about to take a bite, Luffy had wandered into the kitchen while mumbling about food before the girl tried to hide behind Soren, and soon the lights came on and Sanji walked in as a snapping sound was heard and Luffy was being held down by a comical sized rat trap Sanji made to keep Luffy from eating all their food.

[Damn it Luffy!... I knew it was you who kept eating all the food]: sanji

[But I was hungry!!!... Now get me outta here!]: luffy

Sanji sighed once more while letting out a cloud of smoke from his cigarette, and then removed Luffy from the trap and then they looked towards Soren who was standing in front of the little girl as she was looking at them while chuckling a bit due to their antics, and deep down was happy she didn't try to break into the fridge or she would have been squashed to death.

[So… Are you ready to open up to us now?]: nami

The girl then looked towards Nami who just walked in the room, and felt it was much easier to open up to another woman than it was to a group of men and began speaking towards Nami, but loud enough for the whole group to hear.

[My name is Apis… Also, sorry for thinking you guys were bad people, but after seeing your pirate ship I got scared]: apis

[So where are you from Apis?]: luffy

[Where am I from?... I'm from an island known as Warship island… We call it that because it looks like a gigantic warship]: apis

[Woah!... A giant Warship!]: luffy

[No… It just looks like that from a distance, but it's just an island]: apis

Luffy looked a bit dejected about the island not being an actual warship, but was soon onto a new topic as Sanji and brought him some food, then Nami began to inquire on the reason as to why Apis was in Marine custody, but she claimed she couldn't tell them to which the conversation was dropped and everyone went back to sleep. The next morning everyone woke up to Apis calling everyone for breakfast thinking Sanji made food for everyone, but when they got to the kitchen Sanji noticed all his cooking utensils were burnt and destroyed and he had to hold in the anger he felt due to seeing Apis come out holding plates of food she made with all her heart.

[Eat up… I tried my very best to make this]: apis

Everyone began looking at the burnt food that was sitting on their plates, if you could call it food, and then everyone looked over to Luffy who was chowing down on the "Food" while enjoying every bite, and when Zoro saw Luffy eat it he thought that it couldn't be that bad, but the second he tried it he almost threw up. Soren also tried a bite and could tell it was bad, but was still good compared to other things, and Soren brought it down to the Devil Fruit destroying the eaters taste buds making it extremely hard to taste something as gross as a Devil fruit making even a pile of dog shit taste like heaven compared to the Devil fruit.

[It can't be that bad… SPICY!!!!!]: apis

[Now now… Apis took the time to make a meal for you all so we won't waste any of it]: sanji

Luffy was glad to eat the food, while Soren continued to eat it as well due to it not bothering him in the slightest unlike those who have never eaten a Devil fruit. Thanks to Luffy's stomach, Nami, Usopp, and Zoro didn't need to eat their food because Luffy was glad to take it from them and eat it instead, while Sanji didn't want to hurt Apis' feelings and ate his plate of food.

[Soren… How were you able to eat that?]: nami

[It's an ability that comes to those who have eaten a Devil fruit… You have never eaten anything as bad as how a Devil fruit tastes, so anything, even a pile of shit will taste better than a Devil fruit… That's why Luffy and I can eat the food with no problem, but as far as calling it good was another statement… Luffy did that because he's an idiot]: soren

[I see… So where are we going now]: nami

[I guess we can drop Apis off at her island and then head towards the Grand Line]: soren

[Sounds good… I'll go get her so she can lead us there]: nami

Apis then came from the main deck and gave Nami the directions to Warship island, but soon a Marine ship came into sight and started pushing the Straw Hats towards the Calm belt, and once the Marines were gone, Nami noticed their current predicament, and Soren came out on deck to see the situation as to why Nami is scream at everyone.

[We are in the Calm belt!... So no Luffy, we can't just wait for the wind to start up again as Wind never blows here!]: nami

[So all we need is wind?... That's easy… Wind Style, Great Breakthrough!]: soren

Soren used a weakened version of the wind style attack to create a gust of wind and sent it towards their sail and the Going Merry began to move again and Nami had Usopp start to steer their ship back to the East Blue to escape the Calm belt. Once they were free, Apis led them to her home island and they docked and were met with the whole town who had gathered in hopes of making the pirates who wanted to invade their island leave, but seeing Apis they calmed down and Apis explained how the Straw Hats saved her. Apis then took everyone to her Grandpa's home as he was the village elder, and as thanks for saving her, the Straw Hats planned to stay for dinner, and got stuck listening to an almost never ending story that explained almost every detail of each previous king's life.

[Nami… I'm gonna go use the bathroom]: luffy

Luffy got up and Soren sensed as Luffy fell asleep on his way to find the bathroom and then he watched as Apis took all the food and set a bun on Luffy's mouth before leaving towards the mountain. Soon, Nami went to go find Luffy and Soren had also tagged along secretly, and when Nami saw Luffy asleep as well as one of the buns that were supposed to be cooking on his mouth she freaked out while shaking Luffy awake.

[What are you doing Luffy!... Now what are we supposed to eat!]: nami

[Calm down Nami, look… A trail… Someone stole our food and it wasn't Luffy]: soren

Nami looked back towards Soren and just realized that he followed her, and seeing the trail, Nami, Luffy, and Soren then began to follow it which led them to the cave up in the mountain side that housed one of the Millennial Dragons known to grant Immortality if you can get hold of the Dragonite in their bones, but who knew if it was true or not. Soren, Luffy, and Nami then entered the cave and heard Apis talking to someone or something, and when Luffy ran ahead to find out, he was shocked to see a real dragon while Apis was trying to guard the dragon form Luffy.

[Stay away!... Leave us alone and go back to your ship now]: apis

[Now that's no way to send your saviors away… I'm hurt now *Fake crying*]: soren

Apis saw this and felt her words were a bit harsh and seeing as none of these people were evil or after the dragons, she decided to introduce the Dragon to them.

[This is Grandpa Ryu… He is a Dragon who had been hurt and I have been trying to take him home to the Dragon's nest so he can get better]: apis

[Dragon's nest… You mean this island?]: soren

Soren didn't want to go on the mini adventure as it was pointless and he wanted to head towards the Grand Line instead, and when Apis heard Soren's words she was confused and asked what Soren meant, and even Luffy and Nami were interested.

[I have also eaten a Devil fruit and it has a special ability to sense connections to beings… And this Dragon will die in a few days only to be born anew… There is no helping him get better as he has come to the end of his life, and the place he wants to be is here on this island, in fact, in a few days this Island will expand]: soren

Soren began acting and placed his hand on the ground as if to act like he was sensing the energy flowing between Nature and its inhabitants, but when Apis heard that the Dragon was going to die she didn't want to believe it, but Soren confirmed it to be true as he sent the image of the Dragon's nest rising like how it did in the Anime to his mind while excluding all the parts about the timeline and who was there, only for Apis to look towards the Dragon and start to cry while Luffy was also able to understand the dragon.

[Don't worry Apis… If what Soren said was true, then Grandpa Ryu will indeed be reborn and will come back in the future… But he said it's his time and he needs to go]: luffy

[Y-You can understand Grandpa Ryu?... But how?]: apis

[I don't know… I just can]: luffy

[Luffy, you can hear the Dragon?... then that means you have the ability of "The Voice of All Things" something only the Pirate King Gol D. Roger had… I'm starting to like my choice in following you more and more hehe]: soren

Soren decided to give Luffy some future information early as he felt it would give him incentive as he had what only the Pirate King had meaning he was destined to be the Pirate King in his heart.

[I do!?... Then I am another step closer to my goal hehehe]: luffy

[Thank you for telling me Soren… Grandpa Ryu also says thanks for reminding him]: apis

[No problem… I hope you enjoy the list minutes you have with him here as you might never be able to see him again… Come on Nami, Luffy, lets go get the others]: soren

Nami and Luffy the followed Soren out of the cave and they could heard Apis crying as she spent her last bit of time with the dragon that had become one of her best friends on the whole island, and Soren, Nami, and Luffy picked up Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji and went back towards their ship and started setting sail away from the island. Soon, Soren asked to have the ship stopped and then told them the reason for it being that their ship would have been trapped if they didn't move it, and then they went to sleep. The next morning Soren came on deck to see the Marine ships heading towards the island and quickly used a Ki wave to destroy the ships making them sink into the ocean, and after a few hours it felt the the entire world was shaking as Warship island began to rise from the ground and the the screams of Dragons rang from the sky as they came in flocks towards the island.

[Woah!... Look at all the Dragons!]: luffy

Everyone on the ship were surprised to see this generation of Dragons, and then Nami wondered why they haven't been seen for a thousand years, but after putting 2 and 2 together as well as hearing what Soren said about the island being a place of rebirth for the dragons, she understood that the term Millennial Dragon was used to explain their migration pattern being every thousand years. Soon, the crew left the island and set off towards the Grand Line.

[Hahaha… Grand Line here we come!]: luffy