Neko Pirate

24~ The Dragon

24~ The Dragon

Mira

We were all gathered in a small hut behind the main house watching Bokuden place the last of the pork dumplings in a wicker basket to steam the food prepared for us.

"There," He said as he faced us again. "The preparations are finished. Wait a little while."

"Cool!" Luffy leaned closer.

Usopp took in a deep breath of that heavenly smell of pork. "Smells good!"

"I see... This is the real deal." Sanji walked behind Bokuden to get a closer look. "Old man, how long do we have to wait?"

"Hm? Well..." He thought for a moment. "Maybe four to five hours."

"WHAT?!" Usopp and Luffy cried out in horror.

I shrugged. "It's not that long of a wait."

"Come in side." Bokuden led the way to his home. "This way." We followed after him and claimed spots in the main room. I sat next to Zoro against the wall, and Luffy by the window. The others were scattered about.

"Man..." Luffy complained. "I'm starving..."

"Bokuden-san," Nami faced him. "Why is the Navy after Apis? Do you have any ideas?"

"Apis, do you have an idea?" He asked his granddaughter.

"Not at all!" She replied.

"You said there was a reason, but you didn't want to tell," Nami said.

"Oh that!" She chuckled. "I lied..."

I groaned and hit my head against the wall. "I had a feeling it was like that..." Or she's hiding something...

"Then none at all," Bokuden picked up his glass and sipped from it.

"None at all?!"

"Usopp, sit down... I don't wanna stare at you butt..." I called over to him. He glared at me, but sat.

"Really, there's nothing on this island." His voice took on a more mysterious tone. "Nothing but a legend."

"Legend?" Zoro asked.

"The residents are said to be descendents of Lost Island people," I glanced over at Apis. She seemed bored out of her mind. "Who prospered but sank into the sea tens of thousands of years ago. On Lost Island, there lived dragons called Milennial Dragons. Those bones of the dragons are called Dragonite." Bokuden stood and paced over to the other side of the room. "And it's said to be an exlir of immortality."

"I see..." Sanji let out a puff of smoke. "But a legend like that is no reason for a Navy to get involved." Bokuden put a glass cover over a small flame of a lamp to keep the wind from hitting it.

"Yeah," Usopp agreed. "Why is the Navy doing this in the first place?"

"Maybe because they have nothing else to do?" I suggested. "They want to chase an old legend just to say they're doing something 'productive'." I air-quoted.

"Doesn't this legend hold some sort of clue or something?" Zoro questioned as Bokuden paced back to his seat and sat.

"To begin with," Something tells me this is going to be a long story... "The first king of Lost Island was Iscardunk. Now, King PokePortes had three children. The oldest was BokeHontas, the second eldest was BokeBonBoko, and the third was BokeBokepon. One day, the king said to these three, 'Listen. Go find the tree that grows stars, which is said to be in Dragon's Valley.' So, BokeHontas, BokeBonBoku, and BokeBokepon blah blah blah blah..." I tuned him out near the end of that little speal and closed my eyes.