33

X_X_X_X

Cain sighed in a martyred occasion; Yukine wasn't lying about the woods being uninhabitable. There were resin trees that looked like Elisha's stakes from how snagged they were. Puddles were not easy to find and when they did manage to find one it was black and opaque.

The sky was beautiful which overcame the snaggedness of this forest. It was like this the whole way trekking to the aforementioned cave. It was a hunk of gypsum with the visage of a wild cat with two sharp fangs. Every inch closer to the entrance was a frigid gust of air on the napes.

"So..." Cain said tring to be stoic but also shivering through his teeth. "Who wants to go in the beasts mouth first?"

Eric was going in headlong, but Elisa stopped him.

"Cain, don't you have a lighter on your purse?"

Cain stared at her all miffed before taking out the aforementioned lighter.

"Yes, but walking in a cave with this is like walking ten miles with a flashlight. Eventually the energy depletes and you're left in the dark."

Yukine thought of an answer to their conundrum while they were having their discussion. He picked up a few sticks scattered on the ground, rubbed it in the dirt, tossed leaves on it and then carried it over to Cain:

"Cain, do your thing."

Cain took out a lighter etched with BOSSES SUCK BUT SO DO LAZY EMPLOYEE'S (NOT ME). He torched the tip of the stick with the lighters' kindle flames causing it to burn aflame. Yukine took the stick before marching inside the scary cave.

And then—the trio of otherislanders moved along behind him.

The path the four encompassed was hemmed-in with gray walls and skeletal arms embedded with a pitch black ceiling and a guttural sound. Anything up there would be too minacious to face; luckily for Yukine and the others they were looking for something that never loped higher or further than a decapitated head. They ventured through stone bridges overheading other bridges, had to cross to another bridge ledge so far away they had to take turns being carried bridal style by Eric with his bat wings unfurled.

Elisa was oddly giddy and yet saddened by the whole experience while the two other males just turned on their backs so they didn't have to see Eric's glowing in the cavern light face or smell his hot breath. Next there was a ledge, a small gap to crawl through on the top of a very large wall with nothing protruding out to hop-foot it up.

Fortunately, eight nocks from Elisa's arm and they had a makeshift ladder or free climbing projectiles to work with.

"Eric, can you and Cain stay behind with our guest? I need to try something...and-it's-safer-if-I-do-it-alone."

Eric didn't understand, but when Elisa needed time alone—or any girl for that matter—it was imperative to just listen to them and leave them alone. Elisa climbed with her hands squeezing her stakes. She made it but had to be a showboat leaning back as if she was going to fall if three toes didn't prong out into the wall and drill inside.

She turned into her hairless, slimy, grotesque monster form in front of Yukine's eyes. Cain thought he would scream or ask questions about her.

Apathetically; "That has to be the most unusual Devil Fruit power I have ever seen."

Elisa slipped her way through the gap. She was gone for twelve minutes—up to one-hundred and thirty point three in Eric's arithmetic mind—and then she returned.

"No Devil Fruit's on the other side, but I did find three other passages to move through. Follow me."

Yukine hated to have to tail behind but he liked to see her go if anyone knew what he meant.

Took them eight minutes to find the three passages she mentioned—eighty-one Eric's arithmetic. What Elisa failed to mention was how one path glowered red, another purple and the final path green which was queer considering their light on the way here was dark and gray.

"I've got an idea on what we need to do." Cain said.

Yukine curled his fingers in fear of what the gruff one was about to do. From his back tucked in his shirt he unsheathed a vial with a baby bottle cap sealing it. He shook it ferociously before spraying a purple mist, After spraying into all three he put a lid on his gizmo and went back to the trio.

And then—a blue scent appeared through the passage with the red lights.

"W-What did you just do?" Eliza asked her nakama.

"I did a little experiment with cohesion and odors. If we are looking for an animal than chances are the animal has some dead skin cells or hair that flaked off of it."

"That doesn't make any sense." Eric chimed in. "If we are looking for dead cells wouldn't that also mean the other passages would have the same scent as this one?"

"That's very insightful of you. But clearly whatever is through that way doesn't leave—probably didn't think there would be anyone visiting it until our little friend showed up. Now that we settled that let's head in."

"Do you three even know what your walking in against?" Yukine asked.

"All I know is we are getting that fruit and your pay is with food and supplies." Elisa said. "So let's get to finding this fruit."

They walked, veered and encompassed passages they were too big to move through until they finally backed up. Their path finally took them to the den of the beast. At first it could be mistook for a bear with gray talons but it also had a scorpion tail and the face of a horse as an appendage behind its back. Yukine noticed something under its paws, a fruit.

"It has a Devil Fruit in its paws. Why does it swat it like a cat playing with a toy?" Eric asked.

"Beats me," said Cain.

"Something recorded in a zoologist's book in some bookshelf. We should check on when we get out." said Elisa. "Until then," she raised her hand; hold opened. "Let's not let it hold onto it any longer."

She nocked a shot directly towards its backside of its head. She was smart with how fast she did it, but the beast figured out her head—knew she was there better than she spotted it—and it evaded her shot rolling to its left side.

Elisa fired again...it smashed a rock abashingly, a pebble flung into the stake. Before Elisa could attempt to make a ebb most rocks were before Eric threw a punch, something his rapier at the last second to stab the beast right through the heart...and it was met with an ineffective blow glancing off.

He was sure he made a dent in the beast yet instead of it tumbling down and dying he was met with a slash of its sharp gray talons or at least it would have hurt him if Cain didn't yeet his frying pan at the claw as it ricocheted back to him.

Cain was charging before gout of flames came and a jagged fireball launched towards the beast.

"Strong Fist Burning Furtive Bob!"

He punched the beast, pulls off smoke rising out as it left a little char on its cheek. However, he was caught off-guard by a unexpected hug: Cain's bones were locked in a vicegrip, he wriggled his bones to try breaking out but the beast constricted his movements, and Eric tried his best to pry just one hand of his fists out because it only took a little struggling for a caged human to be freed.

Elisa also helped cowering in a spot where she could aim at the roof that ricocheted off hitting the backside of its arm the first shot and the other on its right. While this volley was going on, Yukine had an epiphany...two in fact.

'That cook sure has some resilience, but even he's going to be more broken than a shattered glass cup if I don't help his stupid ass.'

Yukine dashed over to where Elisa was hiding, tapped her on her shoulder.

"Can you get a stake out longer than those nettles you keep firing?"

Elisa acted surprised to hear that.

"Yes but I wouldn't be able to fire it out; it would prolong and then just pop out like a newborn baby."

"That is perfectly fine. I've always wanted a javelin."

Elisa didn't know why but while she was listening to this idea...prodded the tip of her stake out then a five foot stake just as agonizing as if she just had childbirth.

The moment it popped it was seized by Yukine who hotfooted downward and turned right. Once he was parallel to the beast he ran towards it, then pulled it back and shoved it right in its butthole.

The creature roared while Elisa winched. Yukine pinched two fingers together while sliding the stake deeper inside. It soon let go of Cain and toppled to the ground. While it was down, Yukine picked up the fruit it was playing with before shaking it in front of its face.

"I'm taking this away so I can eat it and gain the powers that bedevil's even Admirals. No hard feelings."

There was a roar from the beast hearing this but that was more fear then vendetta.

"Well, time to do what every man or woman does when they can't afford a cart and go bac-"

"No," said Eric.

Yukine was surprised he said that.

"What do you mean no?"

Eric pointed to the other side of the cave, a passage in the walls, a stream of light that came out of it.

Eric sulked to the black coffin beaming in the wall, but was stopped by an avidly enraged Yukine.

"Like Hell we'll do the risky idea and just walk into some tunnel. We don't even know it leads anywhere that isn't essentially our own deaths!"

He breathed in three gasps of hot air. Once his demeanor was back to his original stride, he reintegrated.

"If it's all the same with you three I would like to leave before our furry friend gets up and tramples us."

Elisa and Cain looked at each other the same way siblings do when they want to come to an understanding.

They nodded.

Next thing Eric knew Elisa was pulling him back to the cave while Cain power-walked ahead of them. They left before Yukine and it was good for him—he got to eat the fruit alone in silence.

The taste of bugs and silt exploded in his taste buds so foul he almost puked on the fur laden ground. Yet, he managed to sop himself from doing that, just thought of regal music.

He took another bite just to make sure his theory that if someone ate a Devil Fruit would they gain more powers eating it whole than just eating one bite.

Everyone told him a bite from a Devil Fruit would taste gross, but nobody talked about how the grossness dispitated after the second bite. Soon he ate every chunk of the fruit before sliding the stem in like a wrapped towel.

Now that he consumed all of the Devil Fruit he made his way out. He managed to walk in the passage without a torch thanks to the blue wisp still lingering in the passage. He didn't expect to walk in on any of the three waiting patiently for him.

He just reached the three tunnels that would take him back from to his forest—not really land he could gloat about but the most repulsive trash was another persons' treasure.

Catching him completely unaware and unguarded a stake was fired straight at him. The projectile skewered his left shoulder—and he already howled despite not feeling any actual pain. Maybe it missed his shoulder.

No.

The stake skewered right through his shoulder with blood coagulating all over his sleeves.

In the dark as pitch corner of the room emerged Elisa holding her arm between his eyes.

"Could you perhaps hold that thing heavenward." Yukine spoke calmly. "It's just so tremendously daunting."

"Sure," she said, "right after you show us your Devil Fruit Powers."

Yukine was upset to hear that."

"You shot me just to know that? Point your hand heavenward first."

Elisa didn't listen to him, moved her hand to a lower spot—hard to know with her palm being the weapon, but Yukine had an idea what it might be; his groin.

The red lushes in her eyes told him she wouldn't hesitate to shot him. But there were two others in the room and they weren't as brutal as she was. Eric held his fingers over her palm.

"There's no need to let your flames coil us in it's smoke, El. Yukine, please just show us what your Devil Fruit can do."

Yukine was taken aback by the sweetness in Eric's voice. He thought he was a standoffish dolt but when it came to commanding he was really good. Yukine eventually closed his eyes and took deep breaths like puffing smoke from a cigarette, and then just let them all see he ate a Zoan fruit.

He shrunk down to the size of an adult coati, his hair was replaced with a buzz cut of fur, he was matted from his forehead to his toes with blond-brown fur and his eyes were dark blue. He looked heavenward at the faces of the trio of pirates. They looked disappointed except Elisa who put her wrists to her mouth trying to hide her reaction.

"You've been given the power to turn yourself into a monkey. That's so...that's so...CUTE!"

Elisa screeched loudly and giddily. Eric and Cain looked at her. There were stars in her eyes and she cusped her hands together. She was by all accounts excited.

Eric walked up to the monkey and picked it up.

"What can you do transforming into a monkey?"

In Eric's arms he turned back, Eric not feeling much of a difference in his weight.

"So I can speak to the copious amounts of animals. I want to help them with their survival and then ask for their assistance in replenishing and revitalizing this island. My dream is to bring happy memories back to the people in this island."

Eric was a little excited—a man with a dream. Eric had a dream too and it came from abject history.

Yukine turned into his monkey form hopping into Cain's arms and then he jumped towards Elisa. He jumped on her face instead of her arms.

"AAAAHHHH!"

Elisa thrashed her arms around nearly destroying Yukine's equilibrium with her pitch-high screaming.

Eventually, she had him grasped by his back and tossed him off. Yukine fell on his face and Elisa ran as fast as she could towards the exit. Yukine got up, a predominate streak of dirt on his face.

"I probably should've warned you," Eric tried comforting him. "Elisa doesn't like things covering her eyes."

"Seems to be trauma she suffered when she was young," Cain added. "Ergo, if you don't want to get hurt please don't put a bag over her or blindfold her."

Yukine was dealing with throbbing pain in his head while trying to rub the dirt off his face with a hand covered in saliva.

"Thanks for the heads up."

X_X_X_X

Yukine fulfilled his promise of getting the trio rations and supplies for their long journey. They were on their way out when he asked a question not many pirates were asked.

"Can I go along with you three? I can offer you intelligence and communication with animals."

Eric, Elisa and Cain looked at him with different faces. Eric looking concerned did the speaking first.

"You're more than qualified to join our crew. The problem is if your one hundred percent sure that's what you want. We are not infamous pirates like Red-Haired Shanks or Arlong, but we still are wanted to the Marines. If they spot you with us they'll tie you up and flay you until all your secrets are exposed."

"And even if we don't face the Marine's there are vile people and monsters we'll be encountering on those copious amount of water low on manpower and armament." Cain chimed in.

"But...But you'll be around people who from my eyes are caring, generous, maybe dumb and loud at times, but also have ambitions much like your dream of making this turmoil of an island habitable again."

Yukine looked at them a little disquiet before he smiled.

"I think out of the three of you it was Eric that convinced me. Yes, I am one hundred percent certain I want to be—avidly—your fourth member of your antic-filled boat you call a crew. Just let me go somewhere one last time to meet with the only people who are close to me and say my goodbyes."

Yukine didn't tell them the place he was going to was the burial site of his parents. He didn't need nor did he want to hear any of their condolences; real or fake.

He made it to the graves, two small holes full of nothing but little boxes of disjointed bones. People on here weren't saints and the main reason why: they were mostly cannibals. They just didn't need to kill other humans—wait out until they died—but only six people got to eat at a restaurant per day with how low rations were.

Yukine wanted to cry. He wanted to show his parents in heaven to drink his sorrow or if they were in Hell (more his dad than his mom) there was some tears to sprinkle them of the burning.

Unable to cry, he still cupped his hands together and tried speaking to them in the afterlife, even though he mocked those who were religious.

"Hi Mommy. Hi Dad. Life here is still just as crappy as it always has been since daddy lost you. Good news for you though, Dad. I managed to teach that Honey-Horse-ger why it shouldn't attack everyone who steps in its cave. Shoved a stake in a place I don't want to say in front of Mommy. I ate the Saru Saru Fruit. I'll try, really I'll try to use it until the culmination of my brains and the relationships I keep help me bring back the island. It won't bring back your hugs and your kisses...even your fighting I wasn't a big fan of but miss the piercing headaches."

That right there culminated into feelings Yukine thought were dead. A trickle than a stream came out which rolled down his cheeks.

"I might not be with you but I'll always love you—both of you. Now take care. I'm going to help some nice people with their dreams so they can help me with mine. Take care."

Yukine move with a weird feeling in the bottom of his feet that made him just want to run forever. He ran downhill at a speed that would be dangerously lethal if he didn't know where every tree was positioned. He reached the bottom and leaped in the air turning mid-flight becoming a small monkey that clung to the branch of that tree.

He could see the roiling backwards gray clouds, the copious water of brown waves over a multitude of painful pebbles, lastly he saw the three people he made an acquaintance with lugging the supplies on that raft-rock; didn't concern him how they can travel around on a rock.

He climbed down before turning back to his real skin and rushing towards the beach.

"Hey! I'm here!"

They looked at him with his face excited and his sinews bulging in his arms. Eric didn't know why but he was glad he cared about his crew.

The four didn't know that waiting for them in the sea was a flotilla of five Marine ships.

Flashback End:

Yukine climbed up a wall in his hybrid form. He had to work his muscles just to lie down on the flat surface.

Suddenly, hands reached upheaval to get ahold of Yukine's body.