Not Alone Anymore (Luffy x OC)COMPLETED

Chapter #20

"I love you~" Luffy whispered through the wind.

How could I blame him for Reeth's....death, when he sounded so broken and fragile just then. My heart was soaring at the sound of the words I never knew I needed to hear. I involuntarily made a sort of purring sound and Luffy giggled upon hearing it.

I lifted my head at the cracking sound of more trees splitting. I was worried about Luffy, he was pale and shaking. I lowered myself further to the ground and scooped him up in one hand before placing him on my back under the protection of my wings. He curled up and clutched onto the hard scales, muttering my name and the same three word phrase that made my heart race. I lightly heated up my chest, hoping some of the warmth would reach him.

What's wrong with him? Walking around in this storm I thought.

Walking back to the cave was harder than before the storm picked up. At some point a tree flew at me and rammed into my side, almost knocking me off my feet. I crouched lower to the ground to regain my footing from the hit.

I looked up the side of the channel when I reached just under the cave, it seemed a lot higher now that I couldn't use my wings.

With one last check on Luffy, I knelt down and tensed my shoulders and back legs like a predator ready to pounce before jumping a full 8 meters up the wall and hooking my claws in like grappling hooks. I knocked my back feet at the wall a few times until my back claws finally gained purchase in the stone. I carefully climbed the 12 meter up to the cave, being wary of the wind and any flying trees because who knew. I climbed to the side of the cave and a little above it so I could use my tail to move Luffy safely inside.

Once he was safe inside, I pulled one claw out of the wall and did my best to snap it with the dragon hand. Making sure to keep my claws out so I didn't instantly fall back down. As I shrunk back to my human form, my back feet slipped out of the wall, leaving me with only one hand to hold myself up. Luckily for me, no crazy trees suddenly appeared to knock me off and I was able to safely jump back into the cave.

Instantly the harsh rain and wind could no longer reach me and I sighed as a pain I wasn't aware of disappeared. I quickly shook my head like a dog shaking the water from its fur. Running a hand through my hair, I combed the short strands back from my face, causing it to stick up in a tangled mess. I snorted slightly, Reeth always said I looked like an animal when I did that.

I sighed and looked over to Luffy to keep myself from thinking again. He laid on the cold floor looing up at the ceiling with his forearm resting over his eyes and his other arm loosely holding a bundle of brown leather.

I didn't say anything and neither did he. It was maybe a minute of tense silence before I stepped over him and placed a hand on the dead bushes at the back of the cave, heating my hand up, I lit the dry branches on fire, making sure the fire spread to the rest of the bushes before taking m hand away and cooling it back down.

I was mesmerized by the dancing flames as the whispered to each other words of destruction. I could almost imagine the soft flames as feathers, and the different tones of the fire formed into patterns. I had to look away.

The light of the fire now flooded the once dark cave and sent my shadow on the wall, but there was something missing .... a little bird, perched tall on my shoulder. And it wasn't there.

I dragged a palm down my eye and wiped away the rest of the tears. Stepping over Luffy again, I made my way back to the cave entrance and sat back down, one knee propped up and the other outstretched while my arm rested on my knee and I stared out into the storm. Thunder and lightning continued to clash with the sky and angry clouds, the wind looked to be on the verge of forming into a hurricane and the rain was flooding the channel to create a river once again.