Growing Heart

Ch 18 - A Surprising Acquirement

"Get out of this mess and then meet me back on the ship," he ordered and then he lifted his hand up once again, "Shambles."

With that he disappeared with the entire platform, leaving only a long, wooden dining table and 3 chairs in its wake. Chaos ensued in the plaza with the citizens fleeing the scene while the guards closed in. The pirates, on the other hand, seemed absolutely thrilled at this turn of events.

"You heard the captain!" Shachi shouted with a punch in the air, "Time to fight!"

"AHHH!" his nakama replied with vigor. Some of them rushed out to clash with the guards head-on while others drew out various weapons from nunchucks to pistols.

"Does Law do this a lot?" Sid asked with a tilt of her head, "Just leave without warning?"

"Captain sometimes leaves us in the dark," Penguin admitted with a grin, "But it always comes out in our favor as long as we follow his instructions. He knows what he's doing."

"Guards! Seize them!" Javier cried as he tried to scramble away but was caught by the collar.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sid asked.

"EEK! Nathaniel!"

"What's a Nathaniel?"

"Me...," said a low growl from behind the warrior. She spun around and saw that it was the chainmail man. He had his palm directed right at her face. "Needle Needle...Hose Spray."

A burst of needles blasted through the holes in the chainmail. Sid had to let go of Javier and she backflipped away from Nathaniel in order to dodge the sharp stream. Her messenger bag swung around her as she did so and the needles punctured through it.

"AH! Boo!" Sid cried out. She flipped open the bag and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that the sky sheep was not there. Instead, in place of it was a small green notebook that she had never seen before. "Wait! Where did Boo go?"

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"Boooo."

The sky sheep was thundering, which should alarm the captain but instead, he found it undeniably adorable. Its cloud was dark and stormy with electricity zapping in between its fluffy mounds. It was hovering in a corner of the fortress dining hall with it's back turned to the humans.

There were no windows and the doors were closed no matter where the sky sheep flew and it changed its plan from escaping to sulking. Law suppressed the urge to chuckle, knowing that it would only perturb the sky sheep even more.

He couldn't blame it for feeling this way. After all, he did take the animal without permission. He had switched the sheep out with a notebook he knew Bepo kept in his pocket.

"Eh...D-Don't be mad," Bepo said as he took a tentative step towards the sky sheep with an unconscious king in his arms, "Sorry, we had to take you. Sorry."

"Boo!"

Kaboom!

A bolt of lightning shot right into the stone floor, scorching its point of impact and reminding Law of a child stamping its foot during a tantrum.

"Boo..." Law said slowly, "The faster you come with us, the faster we can return you to Sid-ya."

"...Boo..." The sky sheep's body started to turn a lighter shade of grey and eventually, it turned to glare it's glistening black eyes at the pirate captain.

"We'll get you back to her. I promise," Law said.

"Don't worry! You can trust the captain!" Bepo said with a fervent nod, "If he says he'll get you back, he'll get you back!"