— THERE IT IS! — Gin suddenly yelled from below, his voice echoing down the tunnel. — It's running… THE CHEST IS RUNNING!
— Where?! — I jumped down from the root, leaning over the edge.
THUD! — A dull impact followed instantly.
— It hit a tree, — said Karina, squinting through the foliage. — The chest is stuck between the roots.
We rushed closer. The wooden chest, puffing and stomping its tiny legs, was desperately trying to break free — but the lid flapped like a jaw, and angry shouts came from the gap:
— PICK ME UP, HEY!
— Yeah, yeah, just a second… — I said, holding back laughter as I stepped closer.
Hairy legs thrashed wildly beneath the chest, and a disheveled face with a bushy beard was already peeking from the crack.
— Oh… now we can see the face… — I thought, carefully flipping the chest over.
It landed on the ground with a heavy thump, coughed, and from the now open lid emerged a tousled head with a thick beard and a thoroughly displeased expression.
— A human… — Gin and Karina said in unison, staring at the strange being in amazement.
— Of course I'm human! — he snapped, clearly offended.
He snorted indignantly, slammed the lid like a door, and jerked backward, ready to retreat into the nearby bushes.
— I forgive you today! — he proclaimed grandly as we let him go.
Suddenly he turned and waddled off on his short legs, the chest rattling with each step.
— Hey! Where do you think you're going?! — I shouted, running up and grabbing his handle like a suitcase at the station.
— Don't run off! — added Gin, blocking his path.
— Let me go, you scoundrel! — Gaimon yelled, kicking furiously.
A minute later:
— Don't worry, — said Gin, placing a bandage on the bump from the tree collision.
— Were you born with that chest? — asked Karina, crouching and studying the strange man intently.
— Born?! — Gaimon shrieked. — It's a curse! I was a pirate, just like you! Young, greedy, dreaming of treasure!
— And what happened? — asked Sabo, who had just walked up holding a small animal.
Gaimon sighed heavily.
— I climbed a cliff for a chest… thought it had gold. Slipped. Fell. And… got stuck.
He paused for a moment.
— …My crewmates never came back. Not in a day, not in a year.
— And you stayed here? All this time? — Gin asked skeptically, stepping closer to get a better look.
— Yes, — Gaimon exhaled hoarsely. — Look at me… My hair's grown wild, my eyebrows have merged, my beard's a tangled mess… This is the first time in twenty years I've spoken to anyone…
Sabo leaned in, inspecting the chest:
— And this… what is this? A talking chest?
— A living chest, — Gin muttered, stepping back.
— I'm Gaimon! — he yelled in frustration, kicking his legs. — Not a chest!
Karina, still crouching, pointed to the odd creature hiding behind a bush — something between a fox and a rooster, with feathers on its face and a tail like a bundle of fluffy leaves.
— You used these creatures to scare off pirates?
Gaimon nodded, glancing at the beast.
— I didn't make them, if that's what you're thinking. I found them here… They were born like this. Unique, rare. Someone would have tried to sell them, so I decided to protect them. From people like you.
He shifted inside his chest.
— And who are you, anyway? — he asked suspiciously. — You don't look like regular pirates…
I stepped forward, offering a small smile:
— I'm Bellamy. The man who'll sail the world and become King of the Pirates!
— Ha! — Gaimon snorted, but without malice. — Then you'll have to go to the Grand Line.
— That's exactly where we're headed, — I said calmly, looking him in the eye.
Gaimon's face darkened. He nodded slowly, as if recalling something heavy.
— Don't underestimate that journey. The Grand Line isn't a sea, it's a pirate's grave. I've seen pirates return from there. Not as men, but as empty husks. Pale, trembling, unable to string two words together. Their eyes… as if they'd stared into the abyss itself.
He fell silent, letting his words settle in the air. A moment of silence followed, broken only by the rustling of leaves and twigs underfoot.
I lifted my head, clenching a fist:
— I already died once, so I'd rather take the risk than spend my life in regret.
Karina nodded. Gin grinned. Sabo sighed, but didn't argue.
— Hey, Gaimon… — I said, my tone softening. — Want something to eat?
Gaimon raised his eyebrows — or the place where they used to be — and looked at us with the expression of someone hearing a word they thought long forgotten.
— You want… to share food with me? — he asked, no trace of sarcasm, just simple, sincere disbelief.
— Let's have a feast! — I grinned. — Sabo, Gin, bring out the food!
Sabo stood with a grunt, pulling wrapped parcels from his bag, while Gin rummaged through our supplies, producing dried meat, bread, smoked fish, even bananas. Karina deftly spread her cloak over the moss like a tablecloth.
— Hey… — Gaimon suddenly said, looking at me. — Do you really… want to be King of the Pirates?
I met his gaze and nodded with my usual confidence.
— I do.
Gaimon snorted and fell silent. His face grew stern again, but it wasn't anger — it was something else. Nostalgia, perhaps.
— Your dream… — he murmured, staring into the fire that Sabo was now kindling. — It stirred old wounds. I had dreams too, once. When I was young, standing on the deck, gazing at the horizon… I wanted treasure. Glory. I wanted everyone to know the name "Gaimon."
He exhaled slowly.
— But fate had other plans. One step… one fall… and I got stuck. Literally. Trapped in this cursed chest. At first I waited to be found. Then I hoped. Then I got angry. And eventually… I just stopped waiting.
We listened in silence. Even Gin froze with a banana in hand.
— But today… for the first time in years… I saw that a dream isn't just an empty word. It can still live. Even if you're alone on a forgotten island.
He looked up and suddenly smiled. It was crooked, but genuine.
— Maybe you really will become king, Bellamy. Or maybe not. But the way you look at it… the way your eyes shine… — he shook his head. — That's worth fighting for. Worth trying.
— Of course, — I said with a wide grin. — Let's celebrate our meeting!
We laid the cloth right on the soft, breathing moss. Sabo opened his pack first — the smell of smoked meat, dried fish, bread, fruit...
— Hey, careful! — said Gin when the fox-rooster tried to snatch a piece of roast meat. — Gaimon, these really your friends?
— Yup, — he smirked, scratching the inside of the chest. — Just hungry. They always sense a celebration first.
An hour after we started celebrating:
He went quiet for a moment, staring into the fire, as if searching his mind for long-lost words.
— Hey… — he said softly, barely above a whisper, but with weight in his voice. — I haven't told you everything. For twenty years… I haven't just protected these creatures. On this island… there's treasure. Old, forgotten, buried deep. It's mine. I found it… but I couldn't reach it.
Karina raised a brow. Sabo stared at him, setting down his bowl.
— Treasure? — Gin echoed, leaning in.
— You want us to help get it? — I asked, shrugging and taking a bite of an apple. — Sure, no problem.
Gaimon blinked. A few times.
— What… really? Just like that?
— Yeah, — I nodded, pointing the way.
— So we're going back into those weird jungles? — Sabo grunted, draining his flask. — Down that self-twisting trail?
— It's not just a trail, — said Gaimon. — It leads to the Heart of the Island.
We all exchanged looks.
— Well, we've eaten — let's move, — I said, standing up and brushing crumbs from my shirt.
— Didn't expect we'd ride them! — I shouted, bouncing slightly on the back of a massive turtle plodding through the underbrush like it had known this path for centuries.
Sabo rode beside me on a giant goat-bird, Karina clung to the neck of a loafing sloth the size of a boat, and Gin wrestled with a long-eared armadillo that kept trying to roll into a ball.
— Here, — I said as a cliff rose before us. Tall, sheer, like a lightning bolt had split it. It towered above the jungle, wrapped in roots and vines, with a dark crevice at its base.
Gaimon looked up in silence. His face, half-hidden by wood and hair, grew somber.
— I haven't been here in so long, — he whispered. — Twenty years... I used to watch it from afar but never approached. I was afraid it'd be my tomb.
We dismounted our unusual "rides." Gaimon hopped down; his chest clunked against the earth.
— The time has come, — he said, turning to me. His voice was firm, though nervous. — Today is a lucky day. I'm counting on you, Bellamy.
I nodded.
— Ready, Gaimon? Hold on! — I said, grabbing his hand firmly.
— Hey, wait, what are you— — he began, but didn't finish, because I shouted:
— Bane Bane no Mi — Spring Launch!
My legs turned into shimmering coils, springs compressed with a crunch and launched us skyward. Wind slapped our faces, and Gaimon screamed loud enough to scare half the island's wildlife.
— AAAAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
— Taking you to your dream, — I yelled back, laughing.
We soared like a cannonball through wind, leaves, and sunlight. The cliff rushed at us. At the last second, I triggered my springs again, pushing off and landing softly on a ledge. The springs absorbed the impact. Gaimon clung to my back, shaking.
— Never… again… — he gasped, staring at the slope. — You're insane…
— But now you're up here, — I said, setting him beside the crates hidden in the rocks.
He turned his head slowly. Saw them. Real. Still here. His eyes filled with tears.
— I… I can't believe it…
Gaimon stood in silence before the chests. His hands — hairy, trembling — slowly reached forward. He touched the lid of one as if afraid it would vanish if he blinked. The lid creaked, echoing, and opened.
Empty.
He looked in another. Then a third. Each one — only dust, dried leaves, and time. So much time.
— No… — he whispered, — there's nothing here…
He sat down on the ground, and the silence that followed rang like a blow to the chest. He didn't cry. But his eyes were empty, like a star had just burned out inside.
— I… all this time… — he murmured. — I was guarding air.
I sat down next to him.
— You weren't guarding gold. You were guarding your dream. And those beside you. That's worth more than any treasure.
Gaimon slowly lifted his gaze.
— Maybe… you're right. — He gave a faint smile. — Or maybe you're just saying that so I don't cry like some old fool.
— You know… if you'd given up, abandoned the animals, forgotten your dream… then you'd be a fool. But you survived…