The next day Shanks and Buggy were in my room, playing with me. Surprisingly enough, Buggy was starting to warm up to me. It was quite the change from yesterday, I wonder why the change of heart. Shanks started throwing stuff at Buggy to which he'd split his body up like he did in the anime but he called it Chop-Chop magic.
"Hey! Cut that out!" Buggy yelled at him and I started giggling at their antics. They both stopped and looked at me making me giggle more at the looks on their faces. Suddenly a look of realization dawned on Buggy's face. He ran out the door leaving Shanks and I confused. He came running back in with his hands behind his back.
"What've you got there?" Shanks asked with a brow raised. Buggy kneeled down in front of me with a big smile on his face. His closed hands floated from behind his back, up and over his head to stop in front of me. He opened his hands and in his palm was a beautifully carved rattle with pale pink ribbon tied in a bow around it.
I reached out and grabbed it, turning it over in my little hands. 'Guess he is warming up to me.' I marveled at the toy. I shook it and their faces brightened at the fun I was having. 'I am a baby after all.' I thought with a smile.
---
A week had gone by and I was actually getting better at sitting up and even crawling. Not far, but far enough. Which shocked Rayleigh a bit but hey, I'm not a normal baby.
"Come here my girl." My father said, picking me up from the floor. "We're at Dire Wolf Island." He smiled. My heart sank a bit.
"Seriously....I'm a baby…" I mentally sweatdropped at this idiot father of mine. He carried me to the deck after changing me into a long sleeved black onesie with pale pink pants. I've come to realize I'm the only girl on this ship so the men have been spoiling me, with mostly pink stuff. And Shanks and Buggy are the only kids, too.
My father carried me to the top deck and my breath hitched. The island before me was not what I imagined. In fact, it was much better. It might be just because I'm a baby but the pine trees that loomed over the ship were giant. I mean the trunks looked as thick as five masts put together. The sun was shining brightly above but the light never seemed to reach the ground.
But, what caught my attention was the atmosphere. It was like power was rolling off in waves off the forest making the hairs on my arms stand on end.
"Alright, we're going to head out." Rayleigh said. He turned to the others. "The rest of you head up to the town that way and re-supply." He ordered. He walked off the ship with me and I watched part of the crew head off along a dirt path along the coastline over my father's shoulder. He headed straight into the forest and the difference in temperature from in the sun to in the shade of these trees was day and night.
I unconsciously gripped my father's arm tighter as it got darker and darker. 'I'm terrified of the dark.' I whimpered. 'What kind of father drags their baby to this dark of a forest?' There was moss hanging from limbs of trees with sunlight barely peeking through some of the branches. Pine needles littered the ground with white capped mushrooms growing here and there. There was fog wrapping around some of the trees farther away giving the forest an eerie and otherworldly feeling.
"Don't worry Bo Bo, nothing will hurt you." My father assured me. Surprisingly, what he said did calm me. Though I was still wary of the dark I took comfort in him protecting me.
'What're we even doing here?' I shivered slightly from another drop in temperature.
"You're going to meet my familiar, Vilanova." My father said as if answering my thoughts. "You're going to love her." He assured me.
'Familiar?' His revelation stunned me. 'This world keeps surprising me.' I thought as he trekked through the dark woods. After what felt like a half hour I heard a low growl and my father stopped in his tracks.
"They're more protective than usual." He said, tensing a bit. "I'm here to see Vilanova." He called out. The growling stopped but I could still feel the tension in the air. There was finally light up ahead revealing a beautiful clearing of bright green grass and a set of openings in a cliff side that had large roots bursting free from the stone.
'That's amazing.' I thought in awe. Sticks breaking caught my attention and I watched as large, and I mean large, wolves of every color practically materialized from the tree line and some exiting the cave system. My father stopped in the middle of the clearing with a smile on his face.
"Hey fellas." He said and the tension in the air seemed to melt away. An even larger wolf with cream colored fur and dark brown paws, muzzle, ears and tail along with a dark brown fleur-de-li pattern that framed the brightest green-gold eyes I'd ever seen. This wolf had a commanding presence that's for sure. The others even took a few steps back as the large wolf made its way toward us, stopping short of just a few feet.
"Hello Nova." He said smiling brightly up at her, surprising the hell out of me.
'This big ass wolf is his familiar?' I practically screeched in my head. She licked his face making him chuckle.
"This is my daughter, Isabo." He introduced me to her, holding me up just a bit more. Vilanova sniffed me then licked my nose making me giggle. "She is, isn't she?" He said, smiling fondly down at me.
'Is he talking to her?' I looked between the two. 'Must be telepathy.'
"You did?" He hollered in astonishment. She nodded lightly and if a wolf could smile she definitely was. "Show me them." He sounded excited. She sounded like she chuckled then turned back towards the cave entrance. My father followed behind her and once we entered the cave I was surprised by how warm and dry it was in here. I thought it'd be cold, at least, but it was quite the contrast to the cool air outside.
We walked a while in almost complete darkness aside from a few streams of light here and there from roots breaking through the wall of the cave. Ahead there was a soft light and the cave finally opened up into a large cavern that had me in awe.
Light was trickling in and casting a warm glow in the cavern revealing that the ceiling of the cave was held together by large tree roots allowing for grass to grow along the floor. Small yelps caught my attention and my heart almost burst from my chest. On the far side of the cavern were little tufts of fur rolling around together. Nova walked closer to them with us close behind, the anticipation killing me.
Rayleigh made his way around Nova and there were four little puffs of fur rolling around together. One had silk black fur with white paws and ears with an almost perfect heart shaped white spot on her head along with striking green eyes. One was a little smaller but not by much with grey fur and white paws, ears, and tail with a diamond shaped spot on it's head with bright sky blue eyes. One that was similar in size to the black one but had dark brown fur with cream colored paws, ears and muzzle with two lines of cream colored fur from muzzle to behind its ears.
But the one that caught my attention had cream colored fur like it's mother but with light brown paws, muzzle, ears and tail with a light brown three leaf clover on its forehead that framed its green-gold eyes. When our eyes connected I felt a pang in my heart and squirmed to make my father put me down.
"What's wrong, Bo?" My father asked as he tried to keep hold of me. I squirmed even more until he finally put me down as the pup ran towards me. As soon as we were inches apart a circle of light appeared beneath us. It felt warm as tendrils of light wrapped themselves around the pup and I. "That's impossible." I heard my father's voice over my shoulder. He sounded so far away to me.
I could feel a connection in my mind forming as the warmth spread through my whole body. Our eyes stayed connected until finally the connection in my head snapped into place. 'Hello?' I sent the thought down the connection. The pup in front of me blinked a few times.
'Hi!' A young boy's voice spoke back, making my heart leap in my chest.
'You can hear me?' My eyes widened. The pup sat down in front of me.
'Yes, my name is Omen. What's yours?' He asked, his tail wagging. I crawled closer and pulled him into a hug.
'Isabo. My name is Isabo.' I snuggled into his neck.