The ship rocked gently beneath them, a slow familiar sway that settled into Varin's bones like a lullaby he hadn't known he missed. Drum Island was already fading into the white horizon behind them, its snowy cliffs swallowed by distance. But the sakura blossoms carried on the wind like they refused to be left behind, drifting across the deck in soft pink trails all the way out here, painting the cold air with a warmth it shouldn't have had.
The crew decided that meant a feast was in order, and for once Varin had absolutely no objections. The smell of meat and spices, the sound of pots slamming, the thick heat rolling out of the galley whenever Sanji kicked the door open to yell at someone, it all reminded Varin of home. Or maybe this strange, loud, ridiculous ship was his home now. Hard to tell. Felt the same in his chest either way.
He planted his shoulder against the wall beside the kitchen door, arms crossed, breathing in slow and deep as he watched everything unfold. The deck was chaos, proper chaos, the kind that would terrify any normal crew but somehow soothed this one.
Luffy and Zoro were already arguing about something that didn't matter. Something never mattered with those two. Usopp had taken it upon himself to educate Chopper on their past adventures. Which meant he was lying through his teeth and embellishing every detail like he was performing on a stage. Chopper, bless his trusting little heart, was eating up every word with his eyes sparkling.
Sanji kept dashing out with trays of food, kicking Luffy away from them, screaming about manners, then sprinting back in before Luffy could chew off his arm. All normal.
Nami and Vivi were huddled a few feet below Varin on the steps, wrapped in blankets, breath turning white in the air as they tried to keep Karoo alive. The poor duck was still stiff from falling through a frozen lake, his wings trembling as Nami rubbed him with a towel so aggressively it was basically exfoliation.
Vivi had scolded him softly. "Karoo, you can't just jump into a lake in winter!"
The duck gave a warbled quack that sounded like he disagreed on a philosophical level.
Zoro snorted from across the deck. "He jumped in to save me. That's loyalty."
Nami snapped back, "You fell in because you GOT LOST and WALKED OFF A CLIFF."
"Semantics."
Varin couldn't help the smirk that crawled across his face. The warmth of the sakura petals drifting around him mixed with the warmth blooming in his chest, and he felt for the first time in years that he belonged exactly where he was.
Even when faced with one of the most dangerous men on the seas, this chaotic little family hadn't shown a shred of fear. They didn't huddle, didn't whisper, didn't plan a retreat. They just barreled straight ahead, screaming, fighting, arguing, laughing, half-frozen or half-dead, and somehow winning anyway. It was madness. Beautiful madness.
And he thanked Odin for letting this crew pull him off that frozen rock. For dragging him back into the world instead of leaving him to become part of the snow.
Though he cursed the old man too, under his breath, for denying him a proper battle. He had wanted a proper fight, and every time it looked like it might happen. Odin had yanked it away like a parent snatching candy from a child. Typical of the Allfather to help and spite in the same breath. Though considering Loki's words, that would be rectified soon enough. Now he just had to hope he didn't lose his temper this time.
He let his mind drift for a moment, just long enough for the noise to blur into a single warm hum. But beneath it, under his ribs and deeper still, he felt that familiar tug. The beast in him pacing in circles, tapping claws against the inside of his skull. Testing the lock again.
"Ah, fuck it," Varin muttered under his breath.
He pushed off the wall, voice rising over the racket. "Luffy! Zoro! Sanji! Gonna try somethin'. If it goes wrong, feel free to kick my ass."
Three heads snapped toward him.
Luffy blinked first. "Huh? What thing? Is it cool?"
Zoro crossed his arms, one brow pulling up. "Define 'wrong'. Like destroy the ship wrong? Or bleed out wrong?"
Sanji already had a cigarette between his lips, half lit, the flame dead because of the wind but the irritation very alive. "If you so much as damage the ladies' deck, I'll turn you into a stew."
Nami looked like she'd just aged three years. "Varin. Please. Please don't do anything that ends with the ship exploding."
Vivi set her hand on Karoo's head, bracing herself. "He's going to do it anyway."
Chopper peeked around the mast. "What are you trying? Please don't die. Please don't break anything. Please don't die."
Even Usopp leaned over the railing above, already narrating, "I will bravely document your final moments!"
Varin ignored all that, planting one boot on the railing, then swinging himself over. He dropped to the main deck with a heavy thud that rattled the floorboards. The crew flinched in unison.
He straightened slowly. "Relax. I just… wanna test something. Nothing dramatic."
Luffy's eyes lit up like he'd just been handed candy. "Ohhh, is it your wolf thing? Do it! Do it! Do it!"
Zoro frowned deeper. "After nearly dying? You sure that's smart?"
"No," Varin admitted without hesitation. "But it's happening."
Sanji flicked his lighter again. "If you rupture something, I'm not cleaning it up."
Varin cracked a grin wide enough to show every sharpened tooth he owned.
"That's Chopper's job," he said, waving a hand like the idea of medical supervision was purely optional. "Besides, what's a better introduction than showin' the new lad how stupid we are?"
Chopper squeaked. "H-hey! I'm not ready to be responsible for your whole body exploding!"
Varin kept going, voice light, teasing, but loud enough for the swordsman to hear it clean. "And I only nearly died because somebody failed as first mate and let his ass get captured. Someone had to save ya, didn't they?"
Zoro froze mid-step.
A vein twitched on his forehead.
"What did you just say?" he asked, tone calm enough to be dangerous.
Sanji choked on a drag and burst into laughter. "You really wanna pick a fight with him now?"
Usopp clapped both hands over his mouth. "Oh no. Oh no no no he didn't."
Luffy lit up like this was the greatest entertainment he'd seen all week. "ZORO, HE SAID YOU GOT CAUGHT CAUSE YOU SUCK!"
"I didn't say 'cause he sucks'," Varin corrected, lifting both brows. "I said he's shite at his job. Big difference."
Zoro slowly turned, every movement measured like he was deciding between murder and teaching.
"You were unconscious," Zoro said flatly. "You didn't save me."
"Right, I didn't save you," Varin shot back. "Just punched a wax giant in the skull till it melted, headbutted Mister Three's armor, dragged two women out of a candle coffin, held off an explosive maniac, and nearly bled myself dry. All so you could nap a little longer. My mistake."
Chopper's ears flattened, darting nervously between them. "C-come on guys don't fight each other you're supposed to fight other people and also Varin please don't strain your ribs you'll pop the stitches."
Vivi leaned toward Nami whispering, "Should we stop them?"
"No," Nami muttered, massaging her forehead. "Let Zoro take his pride beating. He earned it getting caught in the first place."
Zoro exhaled once, slow, through his nose. "You're feeling bold today."
Varin shrugged with one shoulder. "Bedrest gives me time to think. Dangerous habit, that."
Luffy threw his arms in the air. "Fight! Fight! Fight! But don't kill each other! Just fight a little!"
Zoro tightened his bandana around his arm. "If you can stay standing long enough to finish one punch, I'll consider it."
Varin smirked again, raising his fists despite the ache that lit through his ribs like fire. "Wouldn't worry about me standin'. Worry about you stayin' upright when I put you on your arse."
Sanji lit his cigarette properly this time. "I'll get the mop."
Usopp ducked behind a barrel. "I'll get the gauze!"
Chopper grabbed his medical bag with shaking hooves. "I'll get the emergency… everything!"
Varin took a single challenging step forward.
Zoro mirrored it.
Wind pressed between them, heavy with the promise of impact.
Luffy practically vibrated with excitement, arms flapping like a kid watching fireworks go off in his own backyard. "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!"
"Pretty close to it, captain," Varin called back with that half feral, half joyful grin he wore when he was about to do something incredibly stupid on purpose. He took one slow step back on the deck, planting his heels, rolling his shoulders like he was gearing up for a fight he'd already decided was worth every bruise.
"Thanks for volunteering, Zoro," he added, throwing the swordsman a lazy salute. "Once again, feel free to kick my ass if this goes wrong."
Zoro didn't move. Didn't blink. Just stared with that sharpened stare of his like he was already calculating where to hit if Varin turned into a problem.
Sanji muttered through his cigarette, "This dumbass is out of his mind."
"Welcome to the crew," Usopp whispered to Chopper.
Then Varin let go.
It wasn't dramatic. No big swirl of wind or burst of light that one sees in stories. Just that steady pull deep in his gut snapping taut, dragging everything inside him sideways. Bones cracked like ice splitting on a lake. Muscles rolled under his skin. His breath punched out in a low, rumbling growl that made the whole deck shiver.
Five seconds. Give or take.
Where the nine foot behemoth had stood, wide shouldered and scarred and still half bandaged, now crouched something else entirely. A wolf, hulking and monstrous, shoulders brushing the height of Chopper's antler tips all the way to the deck railings. Five feet tall at the shoulder, twelve feet long from snout to tail tip. Ash grey fur rippled along his frame, catching stray sakura petals still drifting in the breeze.
The same creature that had fought Mister Three and lost.
Except this wasn't the mindless, rage sick version. Its eyes were clear now. Focused. Breathing slow, controlled, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm as it held itself perfectly still. Fully aware.
Luffy dropped to a crouch like he was about to pounce on a new toy. "THIS IS SO COOL."
Chopper's jaw hit the floor. "H-he's so big… and fluffy… and large… a-and terrifying."
Sanji stared. "Well. That's horrifying."
Usopp made a strangled noise, part fear, part awe. "He's like a giant wolf titan thing! Someone tie down the kitchen so he doesn't eat it!"
Zoro finally moved, drawing one sword with a soft metallic whisper, not in aggression but in readiness.
"Alright then," he said, settling into a stance. "If you lose control, I'll put you down before you hurt anyone. You asked for it."
The wolf dipped its head once, slow, deliberate, as if acknowledging the terms.
Nami leaned toward Vivi. "So. This is normal now, I guess."
The tail moved.
Clumsy at first, like he wasn't sure those muscles even belonged to him, but after a few stiff sweeps it settled into a slow, controlled wag. The kind a dog gives when it's excited but still sizing you up. It was weirdly polite for something with fangs longer than Sanji's kitchen knives.
Luffy's eyes went even wider. Somehow.
"I'm gonna pet him," Luffy declared, already taking that big, goofy, rubbery step forward like he'd made up his mind ten lifetimes ago.
"Luffy wait!" Nami snapped, but it was already too late.
Varin's hackles rose with a ripple down his spine and a low growl rolled out of his chest. It wasn't aggressive, more like a warning rumble. A hey maybe don't walk right into my mouth sound.
Luffy didn't stop.
He didn't even slow down.
"I SAID I'M GONNA PET HIM," he said with absolute kinglike confidence, as if the universe would simply rearrange itself to let him do that.
Sanji threw up his hands. "If he dies doing this, I'm not cooking the funeral meal."
Zoro didn't move. Just watched with a deadpan tightness around his eyes like he was preparing to jump in at the exact second things went bad.
But Luffy stepped right up to the massive wolf head, leaned in without hesitation, and buried both hands in the thick ash grey fur behind Varin's ears.
"GOOD BOY!"
Varin's eyes went huge.
For half a second it looked like instinct fighting instinct, like he wasn't sure if he should snap, run, or let his brain reboot entirely. The growl cut off in the middle, choking on itself. His ears flicked back. His huge claws flexed against the deck, scraping wood.
Chopper squeaked behind his hooves, "LUFFY HE IS NOT A PET HE IS A PATIENT STOP TOUCHING HIS SKULL."
But Luffy just kept petting, humming happily, fingers sinking deep into fur. "Wow," Luffy said, grinning like a man who had never once in his life been worried about consequences. "He's soft. LIKE A BIG SCARY PILLOW."
Varin's breath blasted out in a sharp huff, ears pinned flat. For a heartbeat he looked like he might tolerate the petting, maybe even lean into it.
Then he lunged forward just enough to clamp his jaws around Luffy's hand.
Not a full chomp, more like a warning bite, but the size difference made it look a lot worse. His teeth closed around Luffy's knuckles and half his palm, fangs scraping rubber skin.
Everyone froze.
Sanji shrieked first.
"IDIOT WOLF DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH THAT'S OUR CAPTAIN."
Chopper gasped like he was watching a medical emergency happen in slow motion. "NO BITING PATIENT PRIVILEGES REVOKED."
Nami practically leapt behind Vivi. "Oh great, here we go, we're gonna lose the ship because wolf-brain just mouthed the most biteable man on the planet."
Zoro sheathed his sword. Andmuttered, "He asked for it," under his breath.
But Luffy? Luffy just blinked, looked down at Varin's jaws around his hand, and grinned wider. "HEY. YOU BIT ME."
It sounded more impressed than upset.
Varin realized what he'd done a second too late. His eyes shot wide, ears twitching back in panic, and he tried to pull away, but Luffy didn't let him.
In fact, Luffy leaned closer.
"You bit me," he repeated, delighted. "DO IT AGAIN BUT HARDER."
Varin made a strangled wolf noise, something between a bark and a swear word.
Sanji kicked the deck. "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS."
Chopper scrambled forward, waving his hooves. "LET GO LET GO LET GO YOU CAN'T EAT THE CAPTAIN HE'S NOT EVEN CLEAN."
Varin finally pried his jaws open, Luffy's hand popping free with a slick rubbery snap. No damage. Not even a dent.
Varin backed up a full step, tail lashing in annoyance, but Luffy immediately shoved the same hand back toward his face.
"Come on! One more!"
Varin's entire wolf expression twisted into something that clearly meant absolutely not.
Zoro snorted. "Yeah. He's learning. Good instincts."
The rest of the night rolled on without another disaster. Luffy kept poking and prodding at Varin like a kid testing the limits of a new toy, but things smoothed out. The weird tension between Zoro and Varin dropped to something more tolerable. Whether that counted as progress depended entirely on who you asked. Zoro would call it settling in. Varin would call it not being able to fight a swordsman who kept side-eyeing him like he was waiting for the perfect excuse to start a brawl.
By morning, though, nothing had exploded, nobody had fallen overboard, and Varin still hadn't shifted back.
He was surprisingly fine with that.
If anything, he found himself liking the form. Heavy paws, low center of gravity, the way vibrations traveled through the deck straight up his legs. He looked ridiculous curled up on a coil of rope like some oversized guard dog, but he didn't mind.
Getting used to it mattered.
Zoan fruits didn't hand you a manual. You get some instincts, not muscle memory, or any clue how not to trip over yourself the second you stopped being human shaped. Walking on two legs and walking on four were two completely different worlds, and Varin was determined to figure this one out before it figured him out first.
So when dawn broke, he stretched out long across the deck, paws sliding slightly on the planks. His tail swayed as he tested balance, weight, little shifting movements. He lifted one paw, then the next, finding a rhythm that didn't make him look like a newborn deer discovering gravity for the first time.
Chopper watched from the rail, half impressed, half horrified. "You're doing okay," he offered. "I mean… you're still kinda clumsy, but you're not falling on your face anymore, so that's progress."
Varin snorted through his nose, giving him a look that absolutely said I'm trying.
Luffy suddenly poked his head out of the kitchen window, cheeks stuffed with food. "VARIN'S STILL A WOLF. COOL."
Sanji smacked him with a ladle from behind. "Eat at the table you barbarian."
Nami stepped onto the deck after, rubbing her arms against the cold breeze. She eyed Varin, ears flicking, tail swaying lazily, massive wolf towering over the rest of them. "So… you're staying like that for a bit?"
Varin bobbed his head once.
Before Nami could say anything else, another hand settled on the top of his head. Slow. Gentle. Absent.
Vivi had wandered up from below deck with the dazed shuffle of someone who'd slept maybe three hours and none of them well. She didn't look at him, didn't even seem aware of the deck around her. Her eyes were half shut, her hair a mess, and one slipper was missing.
She patted him again. "Good morning, Karoo…" she mumbled, voice thick with sleep.
Nami's jaw dropped.
Varin's ears went straight up.
Zoro sat bolt upright like someone had slapped him awake, staring in utter disbelief.
And Vivi kept petting the giant wolf like this was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Sanji froze in the kitchen doorway mid cigarette. "Princess… that is not your duck."
Vivi blinked hard, finally focusing, and looked down.
Her hand was buried in the fur of a creature three times larger than Karoo, with jaws big enough to bite a sea king.
She stared at her hand.
Then at Varin.
Then at her hand again.
A tiny squeak escaped her.
Varin, for his part, wagged his tail once.
Vivi yanked her hand back so fast she almost fell over. "That is not Karoo!"
"No kidding," Nami said, biting down a laugh.
Vivi pressed a hand to her chest, trying to regular her breathing. "Why was he so soft? Karoo isn't that soft!"
Varin huffed, looking very pleased with himself.
Chopper poked his head out from behind a barrel. "Wolf fur's softer than duck feathers. Scientifically."
Luffy popped up beside him. "Varin's like a giant pillow!"
Varin growled, but it lacked any real teeth.
Zoro crossed his arms again and muttered, "Shouldn't've wagged your tail. Makes it worse."
And the morning settled back into motion, Vivi red-faced, Nami smirking, and Varin trying very hard to look dignified even as his tail betrayed him with another slow wag behind him.
It didn't last very long.
By breakfast, the crew had gathered around the table in the usual clatter of bowls, plates, and Luffy yelling about meat. Varin padded over, tail sweeping low, and without a word wedged his massive wolf head right between Nami and Vivi's hands.
Just shoved it there.
Both girls blinked down at him.
Then, almost automatically, their hands landed on his fur from either side.
A long exhale left Varin's nose, smug as a king claiming his throne.
Sanji froze mid-serve, eyes twitching. The glare he shot Varin could have melted steel. Varin met it with one just as sharp, ears pricked forward like daggers.
A silent conversation.
Pure hostility.
No words needed.
Luffy, meanwhile, stared across the table with the most wounded expression any living creature had ever produced. His bottom lip trembled.
"Varin…" he whispered, betrayed. "You let THEM pet you?"
Varin didn't even look at him. Just leaned harder into the girls' hands out of pure spite.
Chopper gasped dramatically. "You're doing it to make him mad!"
Zoro snorted into his rice. "That's exactly what he's doing."
Luffy slammed both hands on the table. "I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS."
Varin flicked an ear in Luffy's direction but otherwise stayed firmly planted between Nami and Vivi, enjoying the attention like he'd earned it in blood and fire. Which, honestly, he kind of had.
Nami laughed under her breath. "Wow. He's petty."
Vivi nodded, still petting him softly. "Very."
Sanji's eyebrow twitched so hard it looked like it might snap off.
And Luffy leaned across the table, dramatic tears streaming down his cheeks. "VARIN WHYYYY."
Varin cracked one eye open, gave Luffy the wolf equivalent of a smirk, and closed it again as if to say: Because I can.
The aftermath of breakfast looked exactly like what everyone expected from four bottomless stomachs: an apocalyptic crime scene of empty plates, crumbs, a single lonely carrot stick, and Chopper trying to hide behind Karoo while Ussop tried to pin the blame on "a ghost."
Luffy, of course, insisted he hadn't eaten everything, even though his mouth was still full when he said it.
Once Sanji finished screaming at them and the mess was mostly contained, the ship finally settled into something close to peace.
Varin padded up to the second deck, the boards creaking under his weight. He sank down just outside the kitchen, tail curled around his legs, the cold wood steady under him. Vivi stayed beside him, her back against the railing, fingers absently sinking into the thick ash gray fur at his neck.
He pretended it didn't feel good.
Or at least, he tried.
Truth was, there was something bone-deep comforting about it. Instinct, maybe. Wolf brain stuff. The same part of him that liked sleeping in a warm pile of blankets or guarding doorways on long nights. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but the absent, gentle strokes down his shoulder were… nice.
Not that he'd ever say that out loud.
Vivi hummed softly, gaze drifting out over the water. "Your fur's softer than it looks," she said in a quiet voice.
Varin's ear flicked, betraying him.
"I mean it. I thought it would feel like… uh… rougher? More wild. But it's actually really warm."
He gave a low grunt that could have meant anything. Agreement. Embarrassment. Threat. Hard to tell.
Vivi smiled anyway and kept petting, fingers tracing the darker streak running down his spine.
From inside the kitchen, Nami's voice drifted out in muffled grumbling about currents and idiots and the fact that she "didn't sign up to babysit an entire zoo."
Varin's tail thumped once at that.
Vivi laughed quietly. "She's not wrong."
He leaned a little closer without realizing it, and Vivi's hand shifted automatically to scratch behind his jaw. A soft, involuntary rumble escaped him, deep and low.
Vivi paused, blinking down at him with the faintest smile.
"You really are just a big softie like this, huh?"
His eyes snapped open, indignant. He let out a long huff through his nose, turning his head away as if deeply offended.
Vivi giggled, nudging his shoulder. "Relax. Your secret's safe."
Varin settled again, unable to stop the warmth pooling under his ribs. Chopper was fitting in. The ship felt alive. Safe. Loud, yes, but safe.
He liked that the kid fit so well. Didn't like that the troublemakers that are Luffy and Usopp were teaching him.
Now all he had to do was figure out being a wolf before he kicked Crocodiles ass.