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Sneaking onto a submarine was never an easy task. However, sneaking in anywhere you're not supposed to becomes much easier when you've become the size of a rat.
Was it smart to sneak onto a submarine? Probably not, but Bree never claimed to be smart. Which made it a wonder that it had taken until today to finally get caught.
Growing up on Sabaody archipelago had been interesting for sure, most of the time Bree even enjoyed it. It was a wonderful place bustling with people and places to see, constantly having a stream of exciting new faces to meet. But, one too many marine raids, celestial tantrums, or pirate deals gone wrong could sour anyone's perception of the place.
It was the eve of Bree's birthday when they decided they needed to leave. Not that they felt he had much say in the matter.
Some idiots visiting this year had finally done the unthinkable, attacking a Celestial Dragon. Not that they felt bad for the living slime mold, but they didn't particularly feel like sticking around for the aftermath. Luckily everyone else naturally seemed to have the same idea, the hard part would be getting on a ship that wouldn't get blown to bits.
Bree had been hanging around the auction house when it all went down. An unsavory place, but a goldmine for leftovers and spare change, if a little risky.
They had just decided to leave for the day, when that damn fish had crashed into the place. Now it'd be better to wait for some bigger commotion as cover to get away. Not that he wanted to stick around for the marines to stomp on them.
Luckily the wanted distraction would come, in the form of perhaps the most ridiculous, if not capable pirate captains they'd seen come through here in their 21 [almost 22] years of living there.
Maybe one of them would be the ticket out of here… it'd be only fair, it's thanks to these guys that he finally decided to leave anyway. What would be a better birthday gift than a free ride?
It ended up being chance that they followed the surgeon of death of all people, not that they would choose differently now if they could. He had just happened to have taken cover behind the big guy, who happened to be taken in by mr surgeon. It only makes sense to keep using him as cover.
“ No one's gonna notice the little guy when they're focused on the big guy ”
Getting on the sub from there was easy. Even easier to hide once on board. Plenty of nooks and crannies, and little tunnels just his size to sneak through. Though the smaller side of the sub paired with a decent sized crew would make keeping concealed for an extended amount of time difficult.
That was fine, they just needed to make it to the next island anyways.
He didn't make it to the next island.
Stealing food had been almost laughably easy. With crewmembers who already snuck in extra snacks, it was easy to shift the blame. And who would miss a cracker or two anyways? The spaces under the floors and wire channels running all over the place provided ample hiding spaces, provided you were able to get to an opening.
But no matter how good things seem to stack in his favor, something hidden always gets found eventually.
Bree has suspected pretty early on that the captain most likely had observation haki, often picking up on things his crew missed. Though he just seemed perceptive in general. Truly he'd be the hardest to hide from. They also suspected his devil fruit ability aided in such as well.
He had been able to sneak in and watch an operation once. Two guests in critical condition and apparently welcomed on without second thought. He was luckily just outside the range of the “room” but he had a clear view inside of it. The way the captain moved and, quite literally, commanded the space gave the impression he could tell where everything was inside, without actually looking.
It made sense it'd be useful for a doctor, especially a surgeon, but Bree had the sinking feeling they knew it'd be their undoing.
He wasn't exactly wrong.
It'd been a few months since they first snuck on board. The guests, patients? Had been dropped off not too long ago. The sub mildly emptier. With less people to spot them, Bree had dropped his guard, something he would regret. For now at least.
Dinner had just ended, though the captain had yet to show up. It was the perfect time to swipe some food. When the mess hall was mostly empty but there were still plates left out. They just had to dodge the few remaining crew cleaning up, and leave before the bear came in to pick up the captains serving.
Bree had almost been caught by him a few times before, almost being literally sniffed out by the larger mink. Luckily it seemed the rest of the crew was used to him sniffing at random and paid little mind to it.
Bree was feeling bold tonight. They had grown tired of sneaking crumbs and odd bits left out. Tonight they wanted more, and preferably more satisfying.
The item of target sat on the counter, a plate of perfect rice balls. Onigiri were the captain's favorite, sure, but it seemed he rarely ever finished all of them. Surely he wouldn't notice or care if just one went missing, right?
Grabbing the thing right under the crew's noses had been easy. Few were able to match the tontatta's speed after all. Leaving had been the issue, however. The opening to the tunnel that would safely get Bree to their hiding spot was outside the mess hall. The doorway to the hall outside being a choke point that would be easy to get spotted at. Especially when people were entering.
“ Shit ”
Bree swore under their breath. They had just taken cover again to reassess before exiting, when in walked captain surgeon himself, along with the bear.
Why is he here?? He thought as the man of seemingly perpetual exhaustion stalked up to the counter, trusty sword in his grasp. The bear, frustratingly enough, despite always following his captain like a lost puppy, stayed near the door, looking around almost nervously.
Exit effectively cut off, Bree would have to wait, and hope they weren't spotted before they could leave.
The captain almost never actually came to the mess hall to eat, so what was different about today?
Things grew increasingly odd as the surgeon grabbed his plate, backed away from the counter and sat down at one of the tables.
Bree didn't know he could do that, eat in a public space like a normal person.
It was oddly quiet. No conversation filling the silence between the four [5] people still in the room. There were still two crewmembers in the kitchen area, cleaning up, but they had stopped when the captain entered. They didn't seem surprised, oddly enough, but they weren't exactly carrying on like normal either.
It felt like the room had frozen.
Hesitant to break the silence, one of the crew spoke up.
“So, uh. Captain, how's the food? Up to your standards?”
The doctor tilts his head. Bree couldn't see his face from this angle.
“As good as always, Shachi.”
The lines from the crew felt almost rehearsed, but maybe that was from the nerves obviously rolling off them.
“Heh, yea..good enough to steal?”
Odd choice of words-
“it would seem someone already has”
Bree felt cold as the captain gestured to the empty spot from the missing rice ball he currently clutched between tiny paws.
Shit..
“Oh come on captain! You know none of us would take your food!” The other crew member pipes up. More convincing in sincerity than the other.
“We've been here the whole time and never saw anyone take it”
Maybe Bree was in the clear
“And you didn't see anyone leaving either, did you.” It was a statement, not a question.
Oh fuck.
Before anyone could make a move Bree made a run for it, dashing through the space between the door and the bear. Chaos immediately erupted as they spotted the thieving blur escape.
“CAPTAIN!! IT'S GETTING AWAY!!!”
Shouts echoed down the hallway behind them, followed by the clattering of boots on steel. Three separate sets trying in vain to catch up to the tiny intruder.
Wait, only three?
Bree realized a second too late as blue tinted their vision, the faint echoes of “room” barely heard over the other noise.
“Takt”
Suddenly they were no longer on the floor, limbs thrashing uselessly against nothing but air, floating next to the Onigiri they had tried to drop at the last second. It didn't matter at this point.
It was weird, being so high off the ground while still being so tiny. Still wiggling ineffectively, and somehow upside down at this point, all he could do was watch as the four figures got closer. Those golden amber eyes somehow so cold despite being such a warm color.
When Law had put a plan together to finally catch the rat stealing from his cupboards, he hadn't expected to catch an actual rat. Well, clearly, they weren't an actual rat, but in size, shape, and manners, might as well be. He watched almost dumbfounded as the little thing struggled in the hold of his powers.
“So THIS is what's been snagging our food?” Penguin remarked “no wonder we could never find who did it!”
Bepo was less excited
“I let them through the door, I'm sorry”
“Hey it's alright buddy, I don't think any of us expected them to literally slip through the cracks.” Shachi patted Bepo's shoulder
Law simply kept observing the tiny thief. They looked like they could be of mink origin, but the smallest minks ever got was about the size of a human child. Perhaps the size was due to devil fruit influence? But he couldn't be sure what features were devil fruit or what were natural. Perhaps they were something else entirely.
You could never know what you'd run into on the grandline.
“Guess we lost the bet, it wasn't a ninja after all”
“Oh man, I owe Ikkaku so much money”
Law turned to Bepo “Good job Bepo, you're the one who sniffed them out in the first place”
“I told you guys something smelled different.”
The unwanted guest was still struggling but seemed to be slowing down. They had yet to make any noise other than grunts of effort and the tiniest of growls. The onigiri had drifted farther away from the offending presence so Law grabbed it, it was his after all.
That got the loudest reaction from the little thing, a displeased hiss but they made no attempt to grab the item themselves.
Law simply raised a brow as he ate his dinner.
Law tapped Kikoku against his shoulder, thinking about how he should deal with the intruder. He had been expecting a much more human sized offender, not a handful of fur.
Shachi and Penguin had started circling the little thing, trying to get a better look. The little rat was clearly displeased with this
“Oh man it's tail is so fluffy, it's like the size of its whole body!”
“No wonder we never found them, there's plenty of little spaces they could get into easily that we can't even reach”
“Eugh, think of all the dust and junk they've found. Little guy could probably use a bath”
Said “little guy” immediately bristled at the idea, fur standing on end.
“Oh my god it's even fluffier now! I need to see how soft it is” an idea that was not thought through, clearly. As any approaching fingers or hands quickly met tiny claws and teeth.
“Shit, ow. That stings”
“LITTLE FUCKER BIT ME!!” Shachi shouts, shaking his hand where the little thing was still attached to his pointer finger.
“Calm down dumbass, you're up to date on your rabies vaccine” Law said, disappointment clear in his voice. “Bepo, remove them from Shachi would you?”
“Ai ai Captain!” The tiny terror was quickly engulfed in Bepo's paws, no longer putting pinholes into Shachi's finger. Only their head and tail stuck out, but it was clear they couldn't move. Law released his Room.
Law sighed
“Penguin, Shachi, go patch yourselves up. Bepo and I will deal with our unwanted guest”
The two saluted before rushing off to the medbay.
Law pinched the bridge of his nose. Why had he chosen those two idiots to enact his plan? He supposed it didn't really matter who helped as long as they did their part. But he doubted any of the others would have managed to get injured.
Law headed for his office, planning on interrogating the stowaway before he did anything to them. Bepo followed close behind, mumbling out apologies as the little thing squirmed in his grasp.
Comfortably sat at his office desk, Bepo sitting across from him with the tiny terror still in his grasp, Law sets the half eaten onigiri aside and pulls close a blank sheet of notepaper. Jotting down a few immediate observations before speaking.
“Alright, since you’re not going anywhere anytime soon, I’d like to ask you a few questions. I suggest you answer them truthfully, I don’t take kindly to stowaways and thieves, even if you’re the first to manage to do so.”
Law leveled the tiny thing with a look. Minorly impressed as he was that the thing had managed to avoid him for so long in the first place, he was much more interested in making sure it wasn’t a threat, or a nuisance. There was a barely audible huff that he decided to interpret as a yes.
“Alright, question one: What’s your blood type?”
“....”
“....”
“...what?”
Law’s eyes widened fractionally in surprise, the answering voice was not as squeaky as expected. Granted it was still rather high pitched, as to be expected from such a small creature, but it was surprisingly gravelly and rough. Perhaps from lack of use or dehydration..? He made a mental note for later.
“Your blood type, you may be an intruder, but I am a Doctor, so I would like to know”
“I….. I’m not sure”
He jots that down “Any Allergies?”
“Not that I know of”
“Age?”
“Twenty two”
“Vaccination status?”
“Don’t know what that is”
“Height and weight?”
“Depends, and changes”
“Hmmm…devil fruit?”
“Yes”
“What type?”
“Don’t know”
Law pinched his nose, staring down at the frustratingly empty page. How did someone know absolutely nothing about their health? Not even able to guess what their devil fruit is? Or maybe they were just being difficult on purpose. Law sighed and leaned back into his chair, looks like he’d have to do most of this the hard way. It felt like a miracle the intruder even knew their age.
“Ok, nezumi-ya, one last question. What’s your name?”
“Bree”
“What?”
“Bree, it’s my name.”
That’s it, Law was officially done.