Here goes my new One Piece fanfic :) One Piece belongs to Eichiroo Oda-sama, remind you! I already wrote two chapters of this story but then I started again because I wasn't really happy about how the beginning felt :( So there will be ZoSan and probably some grammar and spelling mistakes since English is not my native language :) But I try my best! This story is Sanji centric AGAIN and events occur after fishman island AGAIN! This time I have got sort of a Beta reader who reads my texts :) She is pretty good, you know! :D
Sanji thinking
...
Strawhats had arrived to a mysterious mansion of pirates. It was located in a middle of the deserted island with few cliffs and underground caves. It reminded them of Alabasta. They had hoped some normal island with jungle or a village but not a deserted, dry island.
"It's hot~" Luffy complained and panted hard, trying to swallow when his mouth and throat were dry.
"Then why did you want to come with us in the first place, you gomu-bastard?!" Sanji cursed and loosened his tie. This weather was ridiculous so he couldn't possibly choose fashion instead of overheating.
"Yohohoho! Sanji-san is harsh as always!" Brook laughed and wiped his forehead even though there was no sweat to wipe off.
"You are lucky one, Brook..." Nami sighed and tied her hair up to a ponytail.
"Ah, because I am a skeleton?" Brook realised,"Well, I am not really suffering from the heat but my bones are getting lighter because of the sun! That's horrible!"
"You would probably shine nicely in the dark and attrack attention of all the wild night beasts,"Robin chuckled at the thought.
"Well, he has no meat for them to offer so they get nothing from approaching him..." Nami shoved her shoulders slightly.
"But he has got plently of bone! I think there would be at least many dogs willing to chew his bones," their archeologist chuckled again and the skeleton tensed.
"I think I don't like dogs very much..." Brook shivered at the thought.
The building in the middle of the desert was pretty easy to detect: the island was pretty small and it was located in the highest place of the deserted island. Aside from the location and the size of the island, the mansion was pretty colorful and there was a big pirate flag on top of it.
"Are they desert pirates or something? That's pathetic!" Sanji sighed and took a small sip of the water he had with him. He knew how important it was to spare food and clean water but he thought that since they were so close to the ship and so close to the mansion, he didn't need to be so careful. Of course he wouldn't do the same as Luffy, who drank all of his water after ten meters walk.
Nami looked around the desert and saw no clouds around them. She was getting pretty sweaty and thought of using Clima Tact to create rain or wind but she thought it would be such a waste when their destination was not so far away. She felt how their crew's all-the-ladies-man watches her sweaty appearance and almost heard the drool falling on the dry sand but she didn't pay attention to it.
Sanji swallowed hard and thought about the guys who had stayed at the ship. I hope those guys will be alright...Well, even though that Marimo bastard is such an idiot, he can take care of things if needed.
...
Meanwhile on Sunny-Go the sniper of the crew was doing his best to cool down their doctor. It was a shame he couldn't remove his fur and therefore he was sweating a lot and feeling a lot hotter than others.
"Sorry, Usopp," Chopper apologised while drinking cold water with ice cubes in it.
"Don't worry about it, Chopper!" Usopp reassured the small reindeer. He knew Chopper felt pretty useless at the moment but he couldn't help it.
Even Zoro had escaped the heat to the kitchen. He was trying to take a nap at the deck but saw no reason in roasting himself alive voluntarily. Besides, there was sake in the kitchen even though it was not cold sake.
"By the way, where is Franky?" Zoro asked suddenly.
"You are not going to search for him!" Usopp insisted before he answered the guestion. Zoro's ability to get lost was the reason why he was pretty much forced to stay on the ship,"He said he got something to do below the deck so I guess he is working in Weapon's development room."
Just when he finished speaking, Franky stepped into the kitchen. Thin layer of sweat was covering his skin but it was probably because of the metal in his body: metal heated up pretty easily,"It's finally ready!" Franky said.
"What is?" Usopp inquired curiously.
"New SUUPEER cooler, it will cool down the kitchen in no time!" Franky praised his new invention and pulled a mysterious box with mysterious buttons into the kitchen.
"We can really count on you in times like this, Franky!" Usopp cheered.
...
Inside the pirate mansion, two men and one woman stood at the window, looking at the small group of pirates getting closer.
"So, Strawhat pirates, eh?" One of them spoke up. He had black, curly hair and really light-blue eyes.
"Yes, captain Dess," the woman stepped forward,"Some of them are not in the group over there so we suppose they are taking another way or protecting their ship."
"Have you recognised the members of this group, then?" The black-haired man, apparently captain Dess, asked.
"Yes. First of all, their captain Strawhat Luffy, bounty 400 million," the woman started, "Then there is Humming Brook, bounty 33 million. Blackleg Sanji, bounty 77 million. Devil's child Nico Robin, bounty 80 million and burglar cat Nami, bounty 16 million."
"Oh? That's pretty impressive," captain Dess admitted and thought for a while,"Who are the other members of the crew?"
"There is king of snipers Sokeking, bounty 30 million. Cyborg Franky, bounty 44 million. Pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro, bounty 120 million. And then their crew has a pet, Tony Tony Chopper, bounty 50."
"Quite impressive indeed," captain Dess smirked and fell silent for a while. Nobody of them spoke up for a while before the black-haired man stood up,"Please welcome our guests, Sara," He adviced and took off.
"Are you sure about that, captain Dess?" the woman called Sara asked to make sure but she realised their captain had made up his mind.
"Of course, my dear", he smiled widely but then got serious,"And I trust your power, Sara, if there is any trouble, is that clear?"
"Of course, my captain,"the woman bowed deeply and left the room, closing the door after her and her captain.
The third person in the room stayed there, not sure if he should move or not,"Excuse me, but I was here too..." He tried to shout after his captain but nobody heard him.
...
"It's huge!" Luffy shouted in awe when he stood in front of the pirate mansion. It seemed like he forgot how tired he had felt a while ago.
"Of course it is, it's a shitty pirate mansion!" Sanji sighed and hoped the idiot would not get any crazy ideas.
"I doubt if somebody lives here..." Nami wondered but then she noticed the footprints in the sand: it was windy so any footprint should have disappeared when the wind had blown the sand.
"Hey, is anyone home?!" Luffy shouted when he opened the apparent front door.
"YOU CAN'T INVADE SOMEONE'S HOUSE LIKE THAT, YOU IMPOLITE BASTARD!" Sanji raged and kicked the idiot away from the door. He was about to kick their captain again but was stopped when he saw a glimbse of a very rare beauty.
"Nice to meet you and welcome to our mansion! I am Sara!" the red haired woman introduced herself and then she realised the dumbfounded blond," And who might you be?"
"For you I could be anyone, my dear!" Sanji swooned and took her hand, placing a small kiss on the back of her hand. Sara turned bright red at the sudden action and jerked her hand away.
"Sorry! I didn't mean it!" Sara staggered but her flustered appearance told a clear message: she was pretty embarrased by the chef's action. She took a few deep breaths and calmed down pretty quickly,"Please, come in! Our boss wants to throw a party for you!"
"A PARTY?!" Luffy cheered, sounding extremely happy. Nami sighed but knew they had no other option but to follow their overly-trusting captain.
...
Zoro opened his eyes in the middle of his nap. Even though he was a deep sleeper, he easily woke up when he felt a threat close-by. He looked around and went to the deck.
"Oi joi, Zoro, what are you doing? You should stay in one place! We don't want you getting lost!" Usopp asked but realised something was bothering the swordman.
"Somebody is close ,"he said mysteriously and Usopp's legs started to shake immediately after hearing it.
"An enemy?!" Usopp inquired but Zoro shook his head.
"I don't know if he is an enemy or not but we should watch out," Zoro adviced and was about to go back to the kitchen when a black, curly-haired man with light-blue eyes jumped on the deck.
"He is here!" Usopp shouted with a shaking voice and Zoro put his hand on top of his swords, preparing for a fight but not quite sure if there was going to be a fight or not.
...