Building a Snipe nest.
I have no rights to One Piece. It belongs to the distinguished Mr. Oda Eiichiro, who can draw much better stories than me. Keeping a comic going for that many yrs might have helped to that...I haven't tried drawing the same stuff for so long, yet.
A/N. I'm still a Dane and a great believer of cruelty to the common comma. All thank Dead by manga for Beta-ing the worst gramma mistakes away.
I'm doing this for my own pleasure but still, all authors like reviews :) Even if it's just a small: 'I liked it.' or 'You suck!'
The Usual Animal Note:
Apparently Tashigi means Gallinago gallinago, the Common Snipe.
It is a well camouflaged bird usually shy and conceals itself close to ground vegetation and flushes only when approached closely. Longest-billed of all snipes with a long brown bill, best identified by broad white stripe at base of the under-wing. Upperparts cryptically colored with brown and yellow-brown streaks of many different shades. Underpants white but strongly suffused with orange wash, heavily barred and streaked with dark brown. Breeds extensively across northern Europe and Asia, then winters in parts of Europe, North Africa, and across southern Asia. Nearly always in marshes, wetlands, flooded fields, and moist grasslands.
It is still hunted as a game bird in much of its range.
Compared: Kuina means the Rallus aquaticus, the Water rail. Mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, with black barring on the flanks. The body is flattened to allow easier passage through the reeds. They have long toes, a short tail and a long slim reddish bill. Legs are yellowish.
The Storm
Another wave crushed over her and she swore about wetness and seawater, even though she couldn't really get anymore wet. She stumbled towards the bow grabbing along ropes and onto the rail. Commodore Smoker stood squarely at the foremost point, keeping himself glued to the deck with two firm smoke feet and concentrated on looking in a telescope. When she reached him he gave her the lenses, spit a wet cigar stump in the ocean and said with a grin:
'Ah, Tashigi, We're gaining in on them. And they can't use their damned fancy speed bombs in this weather.'
'Yes Sir...' She started, when a wave bolted them up again.
'Sir, about the weather...' she continued. 'Our navigators and helmsmen are yelling at me, saying that we should ride out this storm instead of keeping pursuit!'
Smoker lit a new cigar with a little difficulty then he glared at her.
'Harrumph. They'd say that, wouldn't they? This is a fine opportunity to catch the Straw Hats! They are caught in the storm too, but we have more manpower! Tell those 'Marines' to follow up and get ready for a fight!' He grunted.
Tashigi nodded weakly but didn't go yet.
'Sir?' She asked weakly. 'What do we do if we catch them?'
'When we catch them, Ensign Tashigi, when we catch them! True Marines don't believe in 'if' or 'maybes'!' Smoker huffed.
'Yes, Sir. But still, Commodore Smoker. What do we do with them?' She looked worried after the ship they were chasing.
He looked at her for a while and smoked slowly. She felt a blush coming and corrected her glasses nervously.
'Sir, I mean I know that since Arabasta and ...and Marineford, everything has seemed a little... blurred on what to do...or who to..' She tried to explain.
'Not to mention your interesting, if somewhat lacking report when I picked you up in Pidgentown, eh?' He interrupted her. 'Ensign. We are Marines and they are Pirates. We know what to do, we do Justice.'
He puffed a few clouds but she couldn't see whether they came from him or his cigar. Then she felt his hand shortly on her arm.
'But, I might have changed my opinion on where justice is found or where I'll bring pirates to justice.' He then added woodenly. 'Now, Tashigi, go and get ready.'
She offered a wet salute and began the heaving climb back over the deck. She got inside and found a tired navigator and shook her head.
'Commodore wants to continue, and everybody's to get ready for the fight.' Tashigi sighed.
The navigator rubbed her eyes but smiled with admiration.
'Aye Ensign...Commodore's crazy. I'll spread the word. There's strong coffee ready in the mess.' The navigator replied and saluted.
Tashigi went to her quarter, a small room shared with another female Ensign, and sat on her rack. She looked shortly at her swords trying to get herself to decide which one to use, even if she knew she'd end up using the Meitou Shigure. But still, it was nice to have a choice.
Then she changed her trousers to some less wet and with more mobility and then got her drenched Marine jacket back on. At last she fastened Shigure and gritted her teeth walking out of the room. She still didn't know how to get ready to a fight with the Straw Hats. People she'd come to think of as honorable people. Well, maybe there was one she'd fight, and she would gladly go after his face! And, she did owe Robin payback from Arabasta... But if she ended up against Chopper or Nami, she knew her heart wouldn't be in it.
She sighed and went for a hurried cub of coffee in the mess.
Ensign Tashigi go a few salutes, mores smiles and plenty 'Commodore's Crazy Awesome' by the coffee stand. She relaxed a little. Smoker was right. They knew their duty and what to do. And she could do it.
She got back on deck and found a place to hold on tight while watching the ship catching in the Thousand Sunny. Smoker still stood at the bow, anticipating.
They gained in faster and faster. The Marine ship had more hands to help in the storm and the Sunny only had one small navigator and a shipwright who new about riding a storm. Luff... The Straw Hat and his crew were of the sea, but not skilled sailors. Tashigi knew that the Marines would catch their prey like any other Seagull in a storm.
At last the Sunny was in clear view and Tashigi could see the Straw Hat crew on the other ship. She looked around on the Marine vessel smiling proudly at the determined and ready Mariners on the deck. The Marine ship was ready to engage but then everybody heard Straw Hat Luffy's happy laughter over the roar of the storm.
'Yo! Smoker!' Luffy called. 'Long time no see! How have you been doing? How is everybody?'
Time stopped for a moment, the two ships were rolling synchronously in the Grand Line storm. Then Smoker first shook his head and then shook his fist against the pirates, but somehow Tashigi knew Smoker would be smiling towards the Straw Hat Crew. He could still smile, even though there wasn't many smiles in their part of the Marine anymore.
Then Commodore Smoker signaled attack and launched a White Snake towards the Sunny and her crew, and the rest of the Marines followed through.
The fight was weird. It was as much a fight against the storm as between the two ships. Tashigi could see that this time the main fighters of the Straw Hats were Luffy, Robin, Usopp and Brook, while Chopper in his Heavy Point and Nami was clinging to the wheel and Sanji and Zo... Roronoa used most of their time helping Franky stabilizing the ship.
Not that two skilled Devil Fruit users, a creative Sniper and a skeletal Swordsman was easy to defeat, but every now and then either Sanji or Roronoa had to let go of whatever rigging or lever they where manhandling and defend the Sunny. And every time that happened the Thousand Sunny started to shake and heave dangerously. But still they held against the Marines, who had just as much trouble fighting on a rolling deck as the pirates.
Many orders and war cries was lost in the bellowing storm and she couldn't see much for the waved rolling over the Marine ships deck. Keeping the ships close enough for fighting but not having them collide was another accomplishment from both of the fighting crews. For a while the fight where mainly projectiles and Devil Fruit attacks. Suddenly she realized that Smoker had created a White Bridge between the ships stabilizing a small gab. She waved frantically to the nearest Marines not event trying to outshout the storm and then got them to jump the small gab Smoker had created to attack the Sunny for real.
She readied her sword grimly, getting ready to attack the only people who still made her smile. Well, except one of them.
All the Mariners ended up in front of Brooke and started fighting the skeletal musician, but soon Sanji materialized next to Brook and kicked four Mariners back to their ship. Tashigi wielded Shigure and turned to Sanji, but he just evaded her and waved happily before concentrating on other Mariners. She yelled angrily after him but then a roll of the Sunny sent her tumbling backwards over the grassy deck. She bumped into a pair of legs by the Sunny's mast.
'Yoh, Sword Chick!' Franky yelled at her while lifting her back up. 'You're doing just SUPER. But don't fall overboard!' Then he went back to fixing something at the mast and punching a few Mariners every now and then.
'Will nobody fight me!' She yelled back while regaining her balance.
'I'm not fighting a Sister, Sword Chick! That would be not very nice. Hey, Look out!' ( Franky pushed her away from an incoming Marine projectile and she stumbled backwards slamming into another body. She looked up and into the frowning face of Roronoa Zoro.
He had a sword in one hand and his mouth but the other arm was busy keeping a rope from the Sunny tightly stretched. She lifted Shigure towards him.
'You fight me!' she hissed.
He glared at her and shook his head once and then leapt over to Franky and handed the Shipwright the rope. Then he ran away from them and towards the thigh melee around Brook.
She gritted her teeth angrily and started running after the Swordsman, but a nearby crate grabbed her arm.
'Leave him.' Robins voice tickled from under Tashigi's ear. 'You can fight me if you're bored, Tashi-chan.'
'Then fight!' Tashigi yelled and slashed towards the arm on the crate. Robins voice laughed from under her ear.
'Seis Fleur Clutch!'
Tashigi felt herself being pulled backwards and swung Shigure frantically at the flowering arms. The next few minutes she was occubied with a rapid exchange of sprouting arms and hands appearing all over her own body. The unwanted hands grabbed after her sword, pulled her nose and tickled her! Tashigi growled at the humiliating fighting style and started chopping at Robin's arms in earnest.
A rubber ball thrown against her from a White Blow from Smoker interrupted her fight with Robin.
The rubber ball grinned at her.
'Hi Tashigi. You can join my crew after I defeat you and Smoky! Won't that be fun? See you. Gumo Gumo Rocket!' And then the Straw hat captain flung himself towards Smoker again with a laughter.
Robin was now engaged in another fight. Tashigi was standing alone by the rail of the Sunny trying to get a grip of the fight and where to set in. The Mariners were outnumbering the Straw Hat pirates and they didn't need to worry about the Marine ship.
Suddenly a loud outcry from Franky stopped the fight for a moment. A giant wave pushed towards the Sunny bringing the two ships dangerously close. Fist Smoker and then Luffy, when Robin yelled at him, jumped to keep the ships apart and avoid a crash. Chopper shouted something to Franky and then the Sunny bucked and the following great wave sloshed over the grassy deck. Tashigi felt her feet slip and the wave pulling at her. She held onto Shigure while grasping after the edge of the rail, but her fingers slipped on the wet wood and she was sucked down between the two towering ships.
'Tashigi!' she heard Robins voice scream and a vine of hands grew towards her.
Tashigi caught a hand but the drag of the ocean pulled her under a large wave and the vine of helping hands weakened and dissolved. She fought her way up to the surface and was met by a white smoke reaching for her. But as she started lifting her arm towards the smoky grip the Marine ship rolled and slammed into her shoulder. She felt her sword's hand loosen and gasped terrified at the inner vision of seeing her beautiful sword falling like a star towards the dark bottom of the sea. The gasp pulled seawater into her mouth and lungs and she spitted and coughed and was dragged down again, but at least it helped her tighten her grip on Shigure.
She fought against the ocean trying to find her way up. But the rolling movement made it difficult finding the real up and down. Her lungs were beginning to strain. She swam and twisted trying to remember everything she new about surviving the sea.
Then the dark shape of a hull plunged towards her. She tried to get away but didn't know how to. Then something grabbed the hair at the back of her head and pulled her away. She surfaced and gulped after air gratefully, but the ships hull still crashed into her.
Everything went black.