The lone wolf

Chapter 9

The waves roared above us, descending upon us like hells judgement. A sudden gush and the ship jolted, I flew back against the railing feeling the water spray against my back as the wave landed to the side of us. I need to praise Franky for this coup de vent later. The winds continued to batter us from all sides, there was nothing we could do but hold on for dear life.
This storm lasted forever it seemed, I doubted I'd be able to hold my lunch much longer let alone hold on for my life, just as I accepted this storm would never end the winds died down, the unrelenting downpour slowed to drizzle and the ship rocked gently seeming a bit shaken herself.

I pried my grasp from the railing and with a relieved sigh completely slumped to the floor. I pulled my tail into my lap stroking it as a way to calm me down. Gazing about the ship I could see that everyone else was alright, shaken but alright.

Zoros POV
Chopper clung to me with a vice grip but I pried him off. I looked round the ship to see how everyone was but my eyes settled on Sakura, she was slumped on the deck stroking her tail like her life depended on it. She really has a thing about that tail. I was about to go over to her to check she was ok until Luffy got in the way bouncing around,
"THAT WAS SO AWESOME!! It was the biggest storm EEEEEEEVER!"
Why do I follow such a stupid captain, sigh.
As everyone composed themselves I examined the island we landed at. As far as you could see stretched moorland covered in heather as a light mist rolled in off the sea. A whining sound drifted over, I turned my head to see Sakura stood at the railing, she was making the sound.
Straight away the annoying cook ran towards her,
"Are you alright Sakura-swan? Are you hurt? Don't worry I'm here for you!"
Humph, he was so annoying, she doesn't want a man that smothers her and treats her like a damsel.......wait........WHY DO I CARE WHAT SHE WANTS IN A MAN? I don't, I really don't.
Sakura ignored swirly brow and just continued to stare at the island, whining and she started to shuffle from foot to foot as her tail shook. Robin giggled before she spoke,
"Looks like our wolf wants to run, she is a creature of the earth after all and being on the sea so long is probably making her restless especially after the storm"
Sakura tilted her head to Robin and let out a long whining growl in impatience. Her tail wagged furiously and she shuffled more, it looked like she was about to burst in a hyperactive explosion.
Luffy jumped off the ship on to land and started running around quickly followed by Ussop and Chopper and they all ran round like idiots. Sakura let out an excited, whining howl and she jumped off the ship as well while shifting to wolf form and rolling round in the heather before tackling Luffy and playing chase with the other two, they all ran round like idiots. But Sakura was cute while doing it. I leaned on the railing and gave a small smile at her antics until I heard giggling, Brook and Robin were giving me knowing smirks, a small blush dusted my cheeks as I glared at them and stomped of the ship to explore the island with the crew.

Sakura POV
I ran round with Luffy, Ussop and Chopper just playing about and burning off some of my restless energy, must be a full moon tonight, my wolf always gets restless round a full moon.
My ears twitched to the sound of stomping from behind, I turned to see a very annoyed looking Zoro, more annoyed than usual anyway, coming off the ship and walking towards the rest of us as a giggling Robin and Brook came behind him. Turning to human form I looked at him confused, tilting my head slightly to the side with one ear up and one down, he saw me looking and just blushed then walked towards Luffy and Ussop who had now joined the rest of the group.......that was an odd reaction, didn't think he could blush, only scowl with an occasional smile.

We surveyed the surrounding area but everything looked clear and I couldn't smell much, the air was too damp. We decided to just walk forward over the moorland to see what we could find.........not a lot it would seem.
I continued glancing around and sniffing the air until Nami struck up a conversation with me,

"Hey Sakura, you said before how you have a fiancé but it is an arranged marriage, how come he didn't travel with you?"
This question caught a few crew members interest, especially Sanji and Zoro.

"He was my fiancé and it had been an arranged marriage but it is no longer valid"
I waited for her response but surprisingly it was Zoro who asked

"Why? Aren't arranged marriages supposed to be hard to get out off?"
I gave a sign, looking at the ground as we walked.

"I'll explain the whole thing. His name was Kane and he was a renowned warrior in our pack so it was decided by the alpha that we would be a mated pair hence the arranged marriage. This is how all pairings were done in the pack, no one mated for love but to provide the best pairing and offspring for the good of the pack. Some did fall in love but I knew I could never love Kane even though I was fond of him."
I gave a heavy sigh, everyone was hanging on my every word,

"How did it end?" Luffy questioned.

"There was this one lycan, Cel (pronounced Kel), he was one of our best warriors. He believed we lycans should rule over humans as a dominant race and loathed the fact we stayed hidden on our island but the alpha dismissed this as it was not in the packs best interest.
One night Cel challenged the alpha to a duel for leadership, the alpha was winning but that's when Cel called on his followers. Members of our own pack, some of them even being our top warriors, attacked the leader. They broke our laws! You do not interrupt a duel and you do not betray the alpha! They broke their loyalty and ganged up on him and killed him!
Cel claimed the role of alpha then, the pack didn't want to oppose him due to fear of his followers but I wasn't about to serve a traitor. I confronted him ready for a fight but he set his followers on me, one of which was Kane. Kane tried to convince me to follow Cel but I refused to accept him as alpha so Kane and the others attacked me, he was ready to kill me because I wouldn't serve a traitor.
I ran, I had to so I could live and become stronger so next time we meet I can kill Cel no matter who is in my way."

By the end of my story my eyes were stinging with tears threatening to spill over. Everyone was looking at me, we had stopped walking and I continued looking at the ground. Chopper hugged my leg, tears in his eyes, Franky and Brook were also crying. Luffy placed his hand on my shoulder, I looked up at him to see a brimming smile

"You're a member of our crew and like I said before, we'll be with you till the end and I'll kick this wolf guys ass for you!"
This made me laugh, I looked round at the crew to see the same support in all their eyes. My tail wagged about and I smiled at them all.

"Thank you so much everyone, I'm so happy I've met you all"

We continued to walk over the moorland, chatting away happily as everyone was in higher spirits. Suddenly a piercing noise sounded across the valley making me whinge and flatten my ears. It was a wailing, piercing noise that screeched through you.

"What the hell is that?" Franky shouted

"It sounds like bagpipes" Robin responded

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