THE FORGOTTEN STORY
(by Shiva Rajah and Claude Neix)
Good morning/afternoon/evening/whatever everyone! Before anything else I want to say that I don't own either One Piece nor this amazing story. I found this french fanfic and fell in love this it (yeah, a kinda twisted 'love-at-first-sight' ^^') and I had the strange urge to share it with those who can't understand french and who might love it. So I'm translating it into english (since I'm french myself and an amateur, I apologize in advance for the mistakes you might find. I might have wrecked some attack or place name and expression, so please tell me if so).
You'll find a lot of characters from One Piece here, but mainly Arlong (yay!), Buggy (YAY!), Alvida, Robin, Mihawk, Perona, Shanks, Zoro, Sanji, Shirley, Rayleigh, Nami... and a lot more! Happening after the anime (even thought it's not over, I know ^^'). You might discover some pairings you never expected to see too.
Rated M for future torture/sexual themes. And some humor too of course! *w*
Anyway I hope you'll like it! Here we go!
X_x
He painfully regained consciousness, almost unable to see anything in the dark and he could only hear the lapping of the icy water, where his whole semi paralyzed frozen body was bathing.
Salty water mixed with malodorous peat was seeping into his mouth and his nostrils, damaging his already open gills.
He tried to get out of the vegetable trap but his ankylozed arms could barely obey him and it took a while before he finally managed to escape the tangle of roots where the swell had led him.
Once he pierced the surface, he rejected the dirty sea water stuck in his throat by his branchial slits and inhaled a nocturnal gulp of air, but an unbearable pain shot through his chest and he found himself choking with his own blood congesting his lungs.
He coughed, spat a thick red liquid that reminded of ink in the night, and grunted in pain.
Shivering, his body anesthetized by the cold, and breathing painfully, he climbed along the giant roots as best as he could and, when he reached the dry land, he collapsed, moaning, on the spongy grass, emanating stenches of glairy mud, iodine and decomposed moss typical of mangroves from the Shabondy archipelago.
A violent shudder shook his numb body.
'I hope I didn't land on the local headquarter of the Marine …'
If he had, it would be over for him and his distraught flight, and he would be sent back in jail; only this time he would be sent to Impel Down, the nearest prison from here, and he knew he wouldn't survive this time, he knew what they were doing there, after having spent a few months there, after Fisher Tiger's death. He wouldn't survive, not in his state.
'The ferris wheel… find the ferris wheel of the Shabondy Park…'
If he used it as a landmark, he'd be able to know where he was.
Look up. He just needed to look up slightly.
Easier said than done. The pain in his chest was unbearable and because of the innumerable hours he spent in the icy depths of the sea, his body's gone completely numb.
And yet he managed to roll on his side after an herculean effort.
The wheel was right there, right in front of him, amongst the Groves near the ones where he was.
Instinctively, he had swum to the same place where, when he was a child, he, Hachi, Chu and Kuroobi used to come in secret to watch this ferris wheel, dreaming to be able to have a go on it.
If he still had some strength, he would have laughed but he was tired, so tired…
With a plaintive moan, he curled on himself, brought his knees against his chest and closed his eyes.
Heavy, weak, wounded and chilled to the bone, he blacked out without realizing it.
xox
Buggy left his cabin, dragging his feet, and paused on the doorstep.
With a heart-rending sigh, he noticed two huge shadows standing out the moonlight, somewhere aft. The two Marine warships that were escorting the Big Top still didn't have sunk nor been burnt to ashes by the thunder despite all his prayers!
Just by thinking he would reach the Shabondy archipelago with those Marine morons as bodyguards, he had a knot in his stomach!
Bloody arthritic mermaid! How he was dying to give them some cannon blows!
If he wasn't watched closely by the eye of their Den Den Mushi, he would have insulted them, squealing like a stuck pig.
'Why can't they understand that I don't need an escort, dammit! If I'm lucky enough, maybe an enraged sea monster will send them to the bottom before we arrive…'
"Shit, shit and fucking shit!" He grouched loudly, kicking the cabin door.
"Something's wrong, Warlord Buggy?" One of the men of the crew asked.
The said man clenched his knuckles.
"How many times must I repeat it, I don't want to be called this way, bloody smocked mackerel! It's Captain Buggy! Cap-tai-neuh! Well 'boss', I can take it if you want." He gave up with a wry face, speaking lower. "But no FARTLORD! Er… WARLORD, I mean." (he chewed his lip) "Well, it's the same anyway…"
The man joined his hands and his eyes began to spark with adoration.
"Oh, captain! You are so humble!"
"What a model for all of us!" One of his mates agreed.
Buggy stared at them for a short moment, in a daze.
"What's wrong, Buggy?" Alvida investigated as she left the cabin in turn to see him frozen to the spot.
"I think i need to puke…" He answered with a pout and he headed at the stern of the Galleon.
He stood at the railing, staring at the nocturnal horizon and for the umpteenth time he remembered the talk he had with the most influential of the Marine members, wondering once again if the current situation could have been different. What if he had missed his chance to take advantage of it. What if he had known how to find the right arguments.
But, once again, he came to the same conclusion: they didn't let him have a choice. Either he accepted the title of Warlord or being hunted relentlessly by the government.
It wasn't a deal, it was a blackmail.
What Buggy hadn't understood immediately was: why him, when so many others were more powerful and wanted? Just because he had been part of Gol D. Roger pirates?
Well actually yes. Because it became pretty obvious that the Marine wasn't truly interesting in him, but rather in Red-Haired Shanks. They were hoping to come to an arrangement with him thanks to Buggy.
No matter how many times he had explained that he and Shanks weren't friends and that the now Yonko of the New World wouldn't even listen to him, those stupid soldiers didn't want to hear that.
For weeks, he had thought as usual about the most convoluted and improbable scenarios to escape this trap but nothing very convincing.
The only solution more or less acceptable that came to his mind was to go and find Shanks, to explain the situation, to ask him to kick his ass – nothing too painful of course – and to go back to see these Marine morons and say 'See, I told ya he wouldn't listen!'. If he was lucky, they would admit they were wrong and they would leave him alone…
Well, he was hoping so, for now it was all he could do to save his own ass.
"Fucking shit… why me, why does that kind rotten plans always fall on me?"
"Warlord Buggy!" A man from the crow's nest shouted, putting a strain on him. "Shabondy archipelago in sight!"
"Buggy?" Alvida announced. He hadn't heard her coming behind him, with a young marine officer. "You have a guest."
The clown turned around toward the pink haired boy and crossed his arms over his chest, threatening.
"Whaddya want, kid?"
"My apologizes, Warlord Buggy, I'm here to suggest a list of artisans affiliated to the Marine to give the Big Top a coating in order to go to the Fishman Island and then, on the road of…"
"Nevermind, tadpole, I already have someone for that. "
"Ah… however I have to insist because…"
"I told you I have someone, are you deaf? " Buggy spat at the boy's face, who sank his head between his shoulders. "Do you finally intend to clear off and let me do my job or will your two tinned sardines in uniform keep sucking at the stern of my boat in the New World? "
"Er I… No, Warlord Buggy. We… we were just here to protect you in case…"
"Protect me? I was already eating four little rats like you as hors-d'oeuvres while you were still in your father's pants, you insolent midge! Leave me the fuck alone, dammit! If I had to e discreet, the last thing I need is reaching Shabondy with two soap boxes from the Marine stuck to my ass!"
"Yes, I… I understand, of course. I… I'm going to inform the general staff and…"
"Yeah yeah! Let's change tack and so flashy long!"
With this, he rushed back to his cabin fiercely, leaving Coby and Alvida behind at the bow.
"Did he get up on the wrong side of the bed?" The young man asked.
The beautiful pirate wrung her nose.
"Buggy likes to do the things his way."
The very recent colonel sighed and shrugged.
"This is his job, after all. "
xox
Someone touched his shoulder. A soft and shy caress.
A woman? Shirley?
Half asleep, his fingers closed around the thin hand to stop it.
It was small, fragile and cold.
"Are you sleeping?"
The voice of a little boy.
Hody?
"Hey! Old man! You okay?" Another voice asked.
'Old man!' Why not 'grandpa' or 'fossil' while being at it? He was still too young to be a grandfather! Those kids… he was going to teach them to respect their seniors, well really!
More importantly, what were that little clingy tadpole of Hody and his playfellows doing in his cabin? What kind of moron had let them go on board?
He wanted to stretch and almost scream, his muscles were so stiff and painful.
No sheet warmed by his own body was tickling his cheek and he couldn't feel his favorite pillow under his head. Funny…
He opened his eyes.
The darkness was the only witness of his disappointment.
So it wasn't a mere nightmare? He wasn't in his cabin and let alone on his vessel!
He gripped the hand he was still holding and eventually found a thin shoulder.
"Who is…"
He spat a huge amount of blood and the frightened child, whose he could only see the silhouette under the moonlight, stepped back with a scream, near his comrades.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He looks sick! We should bring him to the hospital!"
"I'll tell Hachi and Madam Shakki!
Hachi? So he truly managed to escape.
"Hell of a man…"
No way his childhood friend was going to see him laying on the ground like a worm.
He wanted to straighten a bit and the pain in his chest was so great that he lost consciousness again.
xox
Inside the Sunny kitchen, Robin and Nami were sipping a tea, waiting for the dawn that should come soon.
The whole crew was coming from the navigator natal village, where her sister had just got "flashily"married like Buggy would have said.
The Conomi Islands had considerably changed. Since White Beard's death, a lot of people had decided to run away from Grand Line and its surroundings to settle down in safer areas. The population of the archipelago had doubled and, when summer weather returned, every inn or guest house were full.
Cocoyashi, full of tourists! Who could have guessed three years ago…
But it was true that when Arlong and his fellows had been defeated, the little island had become a paradise on earth.
Thank to the people and the authorities, the Conomi Islands had taken a second breath. Cereals, vegetables and fruits were reaching proportions that no one could have thought possible.
"I must admit I can't imagine your village as you described it when Arlong was there. Everything seemed so prosperous and pretty…"
Nami shivered. Thinking about Arlong was making her boil in rage and coming back to the place where she had to bend before him hadn't been easy, not at all…
She nodded sadly and brushed away a long lock of red hair from her face.
"He was the worst bastard ever. I can't understand how Hachi or Jimbei could have been friends with a stinky fish like him!"
Robin raised an eyebrow but didn't comment her friend's openly racist words. When they were talking about her village or her foster mother, Nami was seeing red.
"What about your sister's proposition?" She asked to change the subject. "What are you panning to do, in the end?"
"I…" She sighed "Actually, I don't know. It represents a colossal amount of money but on the other hand…"
"You feel like you're about to sell of part of your childhood?"
Nami nodded and shrugged.
Considering the incredible explosion in prices of the houses of the village and the surroundings and (considering she was going to start a family now) Nojiko was seeing there the opportunity to sell the little house of their childhood in order to buy a bigger one. At first Nami had found the decision natural and was making sense, but now that she had her back against the wall and that a young couple had offered her sister an astronomic sums of money for the little house, she was doubting she could resolve to accept it, even if Nojiko had assured her that the fields mandarin trees weren't part of the negotiation.
Although Nami knew that, with her bounty, she could never live at Cocoyashi ever again, she wasn't feeling ready to cut the last bond that connected her to the memory of her foster mother. But not only…
"You know, in several months, the prices might increase again" She argued. "Maybe it's worth waiting a little bit. It would be stupid to lose a small fortune by being too hasty."
"You don't have to take a decision right now" Robin said as she suppressed a yawn.
It had been hours that the navigator was unable to fall asleep because of this stupid house business and her friend, who never really cared for material items (excepted if it could be used as a tool to achieve her aim), was truly starting to lose her patience.
"What's the point, Robin? When I think about it, it's stupid! The future of my sister, of her husband and of their children-to-be are more than a small collapsing house. Not to mention that too many bad memories connected to this place… it's on that very doorstep that this cheap shark, whose even a cook wouldn't want to make a shark fin soup, killed Bellemere."
Robin tensed again and took it upon herself once again not to comment but couldn't help the question she'd been dying to ask from the start:
"And why couldn't you offer a new house to your sister, with the booty you've collected those last months? That would solve her problem and you won't have to sell your house."
With some guilty pleasure, she saw Nami turn pale but, fortunately for her, Sanji entered the kitchen at that moment, saving her day.
"Nami swan! Robin chwan!" Sanji shouted as soon as he appeared, with little hearts in his eyes. "Why are you already up, my princesses? It's still pitch black outside."
Nami shrugged and shook her head.
"Sorry, Sanji, I couldn't sleep and Robin was nice enough to stay with me."
As if I had a choice… The said woman thought with a resigned smile.
At about midnight the navigator had burst into the kitchen, where she had been reading in peace, and she never left, spreading venom, existential questions and doubts for the last four hours.
"Oh, my lovely Nami! You should have called me! I would have helped you to…"
"Good night, Sanji" The young girl replied with a deadly look and stifling a yawn. "I'm going to sleep a bit."
"Good night? But… it's almost five o'clock in the morning."
Nami, who'd already left, didn't hear him, and Robin let a fatalist laughter escape.
"Sanji, do you mind if you could make a strong coffee? I think I'm going to need it, to hold on until tonight."
The Chef kissed her hand passionately.
"Right away, my lovely Robin! Your wishes are my commands! And, now that we're alone...?" He added with a little lecherous flame in the eye.
Robin chuckled.
"No Sanji, thank you, you're nice."
Sanji pouted.
"You know I could take this as a offense, my Robin chwan?"
The young woman took his chin and gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek.
"I really need a strong coffee…" She whispered into his ear, making him shiver.
"Right away, my sweet Robin!" The Chef screamed, twirling around toward the furnaces, making the archeologist laugh.
Would Sanji have been an acceptable lover? Of course, without a doubt. Did he love her? Of course, she was absolutely sure about it. But like an incestuous brother or an excessive tender friend and it wasn't what she wanted. No, it wasn't what she wanted… Not anymore, now she was too old for childish oath, kisses on the forehead or short-lived nights of love. From now on, she needed something else…
X_x
To be Continued...
So? Any ideas about the pairings or plots that might take shape? Please review, please? *0*
I'll try to translate as quickly as I could! (15 more chapters before catching up the french version! *Phew* Gogogo!)