#petification

Maybe if you ate enough of what they had you’d be able to gain weight before one of your sisters came to visit. They always brought you some kind of animal to feast on, but that was part of the problem. Your three older sisters were full blooded Sea Naga, they were large and strong and vicious and everything you wished you were. You, however, were only a half blood, half Sea Naga, half human. Your mother had abandoned you after your birth and Maela, Typha, and Tsuna took it upon themselves to raise you. They’d handpicked your island and brought you there when you were a baby. They taught you everything you knew, how to survive, how to hunt, how to strike at enemies. They even taught you some of the human words they knew, including your nickname “Baby.” You knew they loved you very dearly, as you did them. 

But you weren’t a baby anymore. You were a full grown adult, albeit a very tiny one in terms of Sea Naga. You felt stifled by them sometimes, but there wasn’t anything to do. You couldn’t leave the island, you’d be vulnerable to the cold and to other predators. You didn’t have a spear forged from an underwater volcano like they did, and you could barely control the waves. You had potent venom and agility in the water, but that wasn’t enough to make it on your own. So you stayed on the island, happy and lonely in equal parts. The smell wafted past you once more and you became more determined than before to put your hands on that meat. You needed to show your sisters that you could make it on your own, you didn’t need them coddling you anymore.

You surveyed the sky - it was going to be nightfall very soon. Since you were cold blooded, the night was a hard time for you. If you were caught out in the cold for a prolonged period, you’d lose your strength and fall asleep, freezing to death. Your sisters had always warned you about this time of day, about how tempting it was to leave the cave. They warned you it wasn’t worth it, that the risk was greater than the reward. But the smell was so alluring, it was calling to you like a siren song. Decision made, you wrapped yourself in your warmest furs and slithered to the entrance of your cave. Your cave was strategically chosen - the land path to get to it extremely narrow and water on both sides. Aquatic creatures wouldn’t be able to traverse the land and it was too narrow for most walking creatures to cross without falling into the water. Luckily for you, you could do both with ease.

Tongue flicking out, you found the trail and set off. You wanted whatever meat they had, and you were going to get it. Luckily, you had years of stalking animals under your belt, you knew you could watch the humans undetected.

Ace POV

“Someone’s watching us,” Ace said, mouth full of food. A group of Commanders were sitting near him on logs, enjoying a peaceful meal by the fire.

“Yeah, we know,” replied Thatch, not taking his eyes off the meat he was rotating over the fire.

“Well, don’t you want to see who it is?” Ace put his meat down for just a moment, trying to determine exactly where the other person was using his haki.

“No, yoi. There’s only one person and they’re not attacking. It doesn’t matter.” Marco said, indifferent to the situation. But Ace’s curiosity was piqued, he didn’t like unanswered questions.

“But there’s no one else on the island. No houses, no nothing. So who is it?” Ace continued.

“We don’t care,” replied Izou offhandedly, already drinking sake.

“I’m gonna go find out.” Ace declared, grabbing another skewer of meat.

“This is how those people die in the snail films we watch,” Thatch commented. “Someone thinks they hear something and go off into the woods and bam! They’ve been eaten by a Kraken.”

“Or a Sea King.” Added Vista.

“Or a Humandrill,” Izo chimed in. The Moby needed some variety in the snail films they watched, Ace thought to himself. Regardless, he started off to find whoever (or whatever) was watching, bringing his meat along for the ride. He didn’t want to search on an empty stomach, after all. It was a colder night, but Ace didn’t mind. He was literally made of fire, the chilly air wouldn’t bother him in the slightest. Tromping through the brush, he saw a worn path that someone had obviously used many times. Following it, he came to an open field edged by dense underbrush. He felt the gaze coming from behind the shrubs, but they weren’t quite big enough to conceal a person. 

He came closer to the shrubs and heard a soft hiss. Interesting, he thought. Normal snakes, no matter the size, weren’t enough to set off his observation haki. He’d heard there were Sea Naga in the area, which were definitely capable of setting off his haki. But Sea Naga were large, nearly as large as Sea Kings, and wouldn’t be able to hide in such surroundings. Intrigued, he put down one of his skewers near the brush and backed off. If nothing happened, he’d push forward. But he had a feeling that whoever was watching was more interested in his food than him. Not a sure bet, just a hunch. 

Ace backed off and concealed himself behind a dead tree. He watched and waited, used to this type of sting from his days with Luffy. The sky was completely dark, just the moon and stars providing light. Something darted out, grabbed the meat and quickly retreated. Ace pursued, curiosity still unsatisfied. What on the seas could it be? Ace ran but was a step behind whoever it was.

“Wait, who are you?” Ace asked while running. “I don’t want to hurt you!” Ace yelled, cupping his hand over his mouth. Marco was right, whoever it was wasn’t attacking, maybe they were just hungry. He could give them more food dammit, they just had to stop running. Er, slithering? As Ace started to gain on the other being, he realized it wasn’t exactly a human. The top half was, he could see the hunk of meat gripped in humanoid arms. But below the torso was the winding body of a Sea Naga. But Sea Naga were enormous, and he’d never heard of a pygmy Sea Naga before. Maybe it was a baby, trying to forage for food in the winter. Ace felt sympathy, he knew what it was like to struggle for food in the harsher months of the year. He ran faster, trying to catch up to the baby, not focusing on where he was going. The baby slithered towards a cave and in the dark of the night, Ace slipped on mud, falling into the cold water to his right.

Your POV

The human chasing you had fallen into the water. You leaned over the pool, watching bubbles rise. He’d chased you for the entire way back to your cave to your annoyance. You were hoping you’d be able to get the food and run, to see if you liked it and would survey for more later. But no, this human decided to chase you, maybe to hunt you. If one of your sisters were here, they’d have told you to fight him in the clearing, not to lead him back to your dwelling. But it was getting colder by the moment and your time was dwindling. You needed to be back in your cave under your furs or risk being frozen to death. You didn’t have the time to fight this human, and quite frankly, weren’t sure you’d win. He looked strong and seemed confident in his abilities. So you took your chances and slithered back to your cave, hoping the human would cease to follow. Which he did now that he’d fallen into the water. 

You thought humans could swim, you’d seen some of them doing it before. Maybe this one just didn’t know how, he was sinking down quickly and not even fighting it. Watching him drown, you bit into the meat in your hand. And, oh stars, you’d never had anything like it. It tasted like the stars above were being born in your mouth, like heaven was showing you its celestial favor. It was juicy, tender, succulent, and from an animal you couldn’t place. You unhinged your jaw and swallowed the rest whole, not wanting another second between you and the immaculate meat in your hand. You licked your fingers with your forked tongue, savoring every droplet of residual flavor before slinking into the pool to get the human. If you saved his life, he would want to get you more meat. Or you’d make him. Anything to get that taste again. 

You easily caught up to his sinking form, you were much faster in the water than on land. His limbs and hair were flowing freely in the water as the last few bubbles escaped his lips. Curling your tail around his midsection, you swam up back to the top, bringing him with you. Breaching the top of the water, you pulled the two of you into your cave. Your cave was small but homey, you’d been working on it for years. Obviously, it had no windows, but you’d smoothed the floor with stones to give a pleasant cool feeling on your scales. You had a few baskets you’d made, furs from animals you or your sisters had hunted, your knife, and various bones your sisters had given you as gifts. You even kept a small remnant from your first molting. You tried to keep your cave somewhere you enjoyed being, since you had to spend so much time in it during the winter.

There were small hydrothermal vents in the water near your cave, meaning the water was warm in some spots. Now that you were out of the water though, you were freezing. You left the human on the ground, you knew they were warm blooded and you’d have more time to help him undrown or whatever they called it. You quickly threw off the now drenched fur you’d been wearing, and gathered every warm skin you had in the cave. Wrapping yourself up, you heard the human coughing up water. Looking at your fully covered form and his naked torso, you sighed, knowing you’d have to give up at least one fur for the human to survive. You slithered over to him, unwrapping the bottom most fur around the paddled tip of your tail. 

You had excellent night vision, you didn’t need the sun to see what he looked like. If you stretched out, you were nearly as long as the human. You hadn’t seen a human up close before, you’d only seen sailors from afar. You’d never actually seen any male up close either, now that you thought about it. Male Sea Naga were half the size of female Naga and rather timid. Your sisters would never allow a male near your island and would kill any who tried. You were pretty sure it was a man, it didn’t have breasts like you and your sisters. You took your time inspecting him. He had markings on his face, chest and upper arms, little dots that reminded you of the sea shore. He had short black hair unlike your own longer blonde locks. His arm had some kind of writing, but your sisters never taught you human letters, only Naga. On his back there were some bones crossed over a face, it looked like some of the flags on the ships. His ears were little and not very sensitive, you decided after putting a claw carefully in one. Overall, he was acceptably good looking. Different and a little alien, but alright. He was breathing evenly, you saw no need to wake him. 

As you covered him in the fur, you made an incredible discovery. This human was hot . Not warm, not toasty, but hot. Your sisters always told you humans were a little above room temperature when eaten, but not this warm. He was already dry, having burned off the moisture from his body heat. You were pretty sure this wasn’t normal for humans, but you weren’t going to look a Sea King in the mouth. Practically wriggling in excitement, you wrapped yourself around him trying to maximize the amount of your surface area touching him. You wanted to absorb as much of his body heat as you could so you took off all your furs. You didn’t need them being this close to the fire man. Being near this human felt like basking on the most blistering part of a black rock on a scorching day in the middle of summer. You wound yourself around him carefully, making sure not to constrict his breathing. Between the blaze of a man you were wrapped around, the delicious meal you’d had, and your long day, you were practically a puddle. You felt your eyelids drift close, and you snuggled your arms tighter around the human. He smelled very pleasant too, like a fire made from driftwood. You’d decide what to do with him when you woke up. You could always bite and asphyxiate him later if you needed to. 

Ace POV

Blinking his eyes, Ace determined he hadn’t died, which was always positive. The last thing he remembered was the creature watching him drown with a neutral expression. Obviously, the creature had brought him back to the surface and to its cave. He studied the creature now wound around him a little closer.

He had been right, it was a baby Sea Naga. It was extremely thin, skin stretched tight over its ribs. It looked emaciated, like it wouldn’t survive through the winter. It was tenderly wound all the way around his body, probably relishing in his body heat since it was cold blooded. It wasn’t constricting him, it was softly snoring in his arms contentedly. Its little forked tongue was flicking out every so often, and a long ear would twitch when his arm brushed against it. It was…cute. Its top half was humanoid, looking like a sad lost child with long tangled blonde hair. The bottom half was consistent for Sea Naga, a muscled black and white striped tail ending in a paddle-like tip. It was fast on land, but underwater it would be like lightning. It gripped him tighter in the throes of whatever dream it was having. 

Ace felt pity for the creature. It was obviously starving and wasn’t going to survive without intervention. And it had saved his life, for no obvious reason. Ace wanted to find the rest of the crew and see what they thought about adopting the little Naga. He could probably convince them that they could tame it and keep it. Though rare, Sea Naga were extremely powerful and were known to be highly intelligent. Once grown, they could control the waves and were fierce warriors. If they treated it right, it would fight for them in the water once it grew. Decision made, Ace carefully sat up, holding onto the baby with his arms. He rested its head on his shoulder, almost like when he would carry Luffy when he was a kid. It didn’t stir, so Ace picked up the loops of its tail and stood up. Ace frowned at the weight of the creature. The baby was very light, it needed to be fed a nutrient rich diet if they wanted it to live. 

Ace walked to the entrance of the cave and looked around. He couldn’t see the fire anymore, he’d run after the baby for quite a bit. Instead, he chose to use his haki to assist in locating his siblings. Finding where he needed to go, he began the trek back to his brothers, to show them his incredible find and convince them they needed to keep it. 

Your POV

You were on the move. Well, you weren’t, but the human now holding you was. Groggily waking up from one of the best rests you’d ever had, you reared back, preparing to bite the human. But he just patted your head gently and said something in human language to you with a smile. Taken aback by his demeanor, you looked at him quizzically while he continued to talk to you, like you understood him. You didn’t know human, only a few words your sisters had taught you, so you weren’t sure what he was telling you. Looking around, you realized several things very quickly. It was the middle of the night, you were far from your cave, it was cold outside, and you didn’t have your furs. Like it or not, the only way you’d survive the night was if you continued to be held by the fireman. He was still producing heat, enough to make you comfortable in the cold night. You would never ever admit it to your sisters, but you were scared. You had never been at the mercy of someone else before and it wasn’t a feeling that you liked. The man was taking you back to where the other humans were and you weren’t sure you could get away from them all. You tried to think about what your sisters would do, but they would probably laugh and swallow the men whole without a second thought. 

The fireman was talking to you incessantly and rubbing your back. Maybe it was a human thing, but it felt alright. Your sisters weren’t often physically affectionate with you, but that was their way. He carried you towards the men, who perked up at his arrival. They were animatedly talking amongst themselves, probably about you.  You so desperately wanted to leave, to never see these humans again, but if the fireman put you down you wouldn’t be able to get back to your cave before dying. You were stuck. You’d have to wait until daytime when it would be warm enough to escape. You just had to outlast them for the night, that was all. 

One of the men in particular was activating your fight or flight. There wasn’t anything abnormal about him, he looked like the rest of them. But something about him reminded you of a bird of prey, like the stories of harpies your sisters had told you during your childhood. They hadn’t wanted you leaving the island or wandering too far from your cave, so they told you stories of harpies, half human half birds, who preyed on Sea Naga foolish enough to ignore the warnings of their sisters. You believed them when you were a kid, but not anymore. He looked at you and you reared back, hissing. He raised an eyebrow and spoke to the fireman, who held you even tighter when responding.

One of the men came towards you with a curious but open expression on his face and something in his closed hand. He smelled the best out of all of them, like the meat you had in your belly. He opened his hand to reveal more of the meat and held it out to you expectantly. You waited a moment to see what was going to happen, but he didn’t move. You tentatively reached out to take it, and he cooed at you to continue. You swiped the meat quickly and shoved it all in your mouth, swallowing it whole. You flicked your tongue to his outstretched hand, trying to find more, but you’d eaten it all. Fireman patted your head, which was getting irritating. Your sisters had done that a few times when you were young, but not constantly. The meatman reached for you again, but this time without food. You weren’t expecting it, and instinct kicked in. You bit him.

Ace POV

“Ow! Goddammit!” Thatch yelled, yanking his hand back. He was shaking it as blood trickled out of two puncture wounds. 

“It’s not her fault, you startled her!” Ace yelled back, gripping the baby tighter. He was pretty sure Baby was a girl but it was hard to tell. Most Sea Naga were female, but not much was known about them. Not many people encountered them and lived to tell the tale. 

“I’m not saying it's her fault, I’m just saying it hurt. Actually, it doesn’t anymore. My hand is completely numb. And it's spreading.” Thatch was pinching his forearm with his other hand, trying to determine where the sensation ended. Marco leaned forward, now interested. The first Commander had been the biggest opponent to bringing her on the ship. Marco said that it was a bad idea, that pets were a lot of work, that Ace was already busy, and lots of other things Ace didn’t really listen to him. Ace knew in his heart he needed to save Baby and he was going to do it. 

“Really, that quickly yoi?” Marco asked, moving towards Thatch. The baby curled tighter around Ace, hiding her face in Ace’s neck. Ace cradled her head with a hand, soothing her.

“Yeah, check it out, almost my whole arm is numb now.” Without warning, Marco used a talon to slice open Thatch’s arm, blood pouring out of the wound. Before Thatch reacted, Marco healed it just as quickly. 

“Oi! What if I wasn’t numb? Coulda used a heads up,” grumbled Thatch. The little baby was shaking, wound so tight she was almost cutting off Ace’s circulation. Poor thing.

“Can you feel your arm now yoi? Now that I’ve healed you?” Marco asked, still prodding Thatch’s arm. He ignored Thatch’s question completely. 

“Nope, still numb, and I can’t move it.” Thatch said, swinging his numb arm.

Marco whistled.  “I’ve changed my mind yoi. Bring her on the ship. I want to extract some of that venom. It’s a powerful anesthetic.” 

Ace grinned. “See? She’s already useful. And this is only her baby form, imagine how powerful her venom will be when she gets older. Besides, we can’t leave her, right Thatch? Look how hungry she is, she’s practically bones. She’s gonna need someone to feed her back to health.” Ace knew he was manipulating the chef, but Thatch didn’t need much convincing. 

“How could we leave this tiny little baby behind? To starve and freeze to death on this wasteland of an island? Of course she’s coming with us,” said Thatch, almost offended at the thought of leaving her. Ace smiled and rubbed his face on the top of the baby’s head.

“Alright, I’ll take her back to the Moby now. She’s coldblooded and it’s cold yoi,” said Marco, turning to Ace.

Baby POV

You regretted ever ignoring your sisters. You regretted every time you told them they were overprotective, that they were overbearing, that you were independent. You wished you had listened to their advice and had stayed in your cave during the evening. Because they were right. Harpies were real. 

The man who set your fangs on edge transformed into a Harpy straight from your nightmares as a child. Now you understood why the fireman brought you back. This was all a trap and you were too stupid to see it. They were going to feed you to the Harpy. Small Sea Naga were a favored treat for Harpies, according to your sisters. Even though it meant your death, you quickly unfurled from the fireman and tried to slither away as fast as you could. Which unfortunately wasn’t very fast due to the cold. But you weren’t going to stay and become Harpy food and meet a humiliating death. You tried to run but the Fireman caught you by the end of your tail. He was talking to you, looking confused as you thrashed, trying to get away. You tried constricting as well but it was to no avail. The more you fought, the more tired you became until you barely had any fight left in you. The fireman frowned at you and patted your head once more. You would have bit him if you could have mustered the energy. 

The Harpy transformed into its full bird form, frightening you into a final burst of energy to make an escape. Unfortunately it caught you in a talon immediately, gripping you by the end of your tail, leaving you to dangle pathetically as it took flight. The fireman was in the other talon, watching you with interest. You had to hand it to them, they got you. You just hoped your sisters found them and killed them, their crew, and sunk their ship in your honor. 

The Harpy climbed higher into the sky and it was too cold for you to bear. You’d never been this frozen in your life. The air itself was chilled but you were now being whipped by winds as you were flown to the Harpy’s nest. You knew you’d pass out soon, you weren’t meant for these temperatures. You let out one loud sad hiss as you lost consciousness. At least they’d given you a tasty last meal.

Aces POV