Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

Chapter 8: What Makes a Family?

*A little while earlier*

Not long before the rest of the Straw Hats found the hole, Luffy was sitting up and was looking around in annoyance. One minute he was lying stuck to the ground, and now he was here in the middle of all this darkness. Frowning heavily, he glared around, not having the slightest clue to where he was or how he got here. He didn't like it at all... this dark place... it all felt empty. He hated it.

Jumping up to his feet, he started running off in one random direction—hoping that he could find the way out of this place. His mind felt a little foggy at the moment and he was having trouble trying to remember how he got here.

He was sure that he had some kind of a dream... he dreamt that he'd been stuck to the ground, unable to move, that was when he dreamt that something wrapped around him like rope and was pulling him down. At least that's what he remembered before he opened his eyes in this place.

"Jeez," he said loudly, "Where're the others? Hope they didn't find that treasure they talked about on that door without me. What is this place?"

Of course he didn't have any of the answers as he continued walking, throwing the 'Mystery Rock' up and down in his hand like a ball. The stone was glowing a little in this suffocating darkness, and helped him to see a little bit further—not that it mattered, there wasn't anything down here.

Luffy walked on for a few more minutes, continuing to talk to himself cheerfully. "Man, this cave is so dark," he said, obviously thinking that this place couldn't be anything else even though there wasn't any stone. "I wonder how far it goes. Oooh, maybe that means that the treasure is down here!" He shielded his eyes with his hand, though there was no need to and continued to look around eagerly, as if expecting to see gold or jewels just lying there.

As he peered around, he realized that there was something right in front of him. "That's gotta be where the treasure is!" he said excitedly, "Or better yet... some MEAT!" and he took off running towards it with a laugh.

But as he neared the strange shape, he slowed to a walk and stopped laughing when he realized that there was stone down here. Standing in front of him were two tall, stone pillars standing a few yards apart—both of them stretched high above him, disappearing into the dark. They looked old and worn, covered with black roots as if the stones were covered in nets. Curious, Luffy poked one of the roots with his free hand, and pulled his finger back quickly when the roots moved, almost snake-like.

"Man, was a weird place," he said to himself, walking around to examine the rest of the pillar—only to walk into something hard—his head colliding with something solid.

"OWWW!" he yelled in frustration, rubbing his head as he looked around. "Damn! What's going on here?! I'm rubber, so why'd that hurt?!"

Frowning, he stretched out his hand and felt something there—like a brick wall stretching between the two pillars.

Now frustrated, Luffy continued to throw the 'Mystery Rock' up and down, his head now hurting from all the thinking. There wasn't anything in front of him but dark, so why was there something here? Could it be invisible?

"If it is," Luffy said, his eyes shining, "That'd be so cool! The treasure must be behind this Mystery Wall!"

As he eagerly looked for the way in, the Mystery Rock continued to glow brighter and brighter, until not even Luffy could ignore it. Curious, he looked down at it. "What's it doing now?" he asked before the light suddenly shone so brightly that Luffy had to cover his eyes with his arm to protect his eyes.

"What's going on here?!" he yelled off in the distance, now feeling annoyed. He opened his eyes at once, seeing spots for a second before he noticed that the 'Mystery Rock' had disappeared.