My fanfiction debut! Hmm, this actually came sooner than I expected but it all happened because I say marimos on sale at my local pet store and immediately became the idiot laughing to herself in the middle of the aisle. They honestly do kind of look like the back of Zoro's head. Now, I want a marimo for my birthday... Anyway, on with the story!
Nami was very happy to say the least. The Straw Hats had docked at one of the largest shopping centers in the first half of the Grand Line. Normally, being wanted pirates and all, she couldn't get much shopping done at ports but she had the whole crew swear not to cause any trouble until she had shopped to her little money-loving heart's content. She knew the peace was bound to be broken but she had personally made sure that Luffy was to be taken care of the entire time and everyone had at least quasi-decent disguises to buy time.
Despite all her precautions she was still working on borrowed time so she had (after numerous threats and Nami inflicted injuries for a certain misbehaving swordsman) managed to rope both Sanji and Zoro into being her personal pack mules for the day.
Nami had set off in the morning with both slaves and Robin, who decided to help the navigator on her near impossible mission, determined to finish all her shopping by the end of the day and be out of there without incident. So far everything had been going smoothly. There were no riots, no marines, and no sightings of reindeers, cyborgs, skeletons, rubber men, or long-nosed liars. She should have known it wouldn't have lasted though.
It was noon already and after stopping for a quick lunch, it was back to the shops with Nami feeling confident that she could actually achieve her goal. Nami and Robin had been looking at small boutique window when she noticed that the other two had disappeared.
She was not ashamed to say that she nearly started hyperventilating. The two never got along. The only reason there were no physical fights yet was because she had kept them under her surveillance the entire time and now they've disappeared. There was no doubt in Nami's mind that her shopping spree was to soon come to an abrupt end.
Robin saw the redhead's panicked expression and quickly pointed out the two idiots. They were at a stand some distance away fighting about one thing or another. Sanji was laughing loudly while pointing at the items on display and Zoro seemed like he wouldn't have minded cutting up both the stand and Sanji at that moment.
Nami stalked over with her mind set on dragging both back to the shops when she saw just what they were looking at. She would have been a liar if she said she didn't burst out laughing when she saw the display.
The merchant was standing with his back facing them while talking to another customer. He sold an array of small knickknacks and among the many charms was, wait for it, marimos. There were several different sizes all in cute little jars with ribbons and other accessories. Judging from Zoro's irritated look Sanji had been bugging him about this for far too long for his liking.
Robin came up behind Nami and even she cracked a smile when she saw the small moss balls. They really did resemble the back of Zoro's head but she couldn't help but wonder why someone was selling marimos.
Not surprisingly Robin had an answer, "In some places marimos are considered nature's treasure and it's considered good luck if you can raise one well.
"You must be really loved then, marimo," Sanji laughed, picking up one of the jars.
"Shut it, ero-cook," Zoro growled trying to take the offending plant away from Sanji.
"Maybe we should buy you one so you won't be so lonely on the ship," Sanji said holding the item out of Zoro's reach.
"Can you afford it?" Robin asked interrupting him, "These are considered treasures and less have been growing naturally in places that used to house many of them. I believe that they're actually endangered."
"How much are they?" Nami demanded, snatching the jar away from Sanji to search for a price tag. Her eyes bugged out quite comically when she finally saw it.
The four Straw Hats all stood with various levels of shock at how much a single marimo could cost. The first to snap out of it was Nami who immediately grabbed onto Zoro's shirt and promptly dragged him around trying to sell him off as a marimo.
She had almost convinced an old lady with exceptionally bad eyesight to buy Zoro when she heard shouting. More specifically she heard aforementioned reindeer, cyborg, skeleton, rubber man, and long-nosed liar shouting as they ran from the aforementioned marines in the aforementioned riots.
Nami cursed under her breathe as she grabbed the bags she had left on the floor in her hurry of selling Zoro and bolted. All while still yelling at Zoro and Sanji that they'd better not damage her purchases or she'll personally castrate both of them!
Nami collapsed onto her bed surrounded by the many items that she bought today. She was exhausted. After running out of town at top speed she still had to make sure the Sunny made out of port on the correct path and not in the completely wrong direction because according to her captain (and the swordsman) north is up.
Nami sat up with a sigh of irritation and resignation. Even though they lasted a lot longer than she had initially expected, she had only gone through half of the place. She picked up a random bag and began sorting through it. She had to get all of this stuff organized sooner or later so she may as well start now.
As she opened the bag she was surprised at what was sitting at the top of all the other purchases. It was the marimo that she had kept a hold of while unsuccessfully attempting to sell Zoro. She must have just shoved it in there during the chaos of leaving the island.
"Good luck, huh?" Nami thought as she examined the jar. It had small green stones at the bottom with the marimo sitting on top of them. It was sealed off by a cork and had a dark green ribbon fastened around the neck.
Nami contemplated selling it at the next inhabited island as she tried to come up with one good reason why it should cost so much.
Her thoughts were cut short by crashing noises and yelling from the deck. Nami sighed. She could never catch a break on this ship could she? Perhaps the marimo could offer some luck with that. She placed the small jar on her nightstand before stomping out onto the deck to stop whatever had started in her absence. Maybe she will keep the marimo, because who's ever heard of a little extra luck harming a wanted pirate.
Pretty good, I guess. Well, criticism of any kind is highly appreciated. So leave me a review. It'll be much loved!