It was Sanji's turn in the Crow's Nest that morning. It was about an hour before Ussop was due to relieve him, so he could get started on preparing lunch, when he thought he saw something. "Nami-chwaaan, I see something to the East. Are there any islands in that direction?" Nami consulted the chart spread on the table in front of her and frowned. "There shouldn't be any islands within a week of here. Are you sure it's land you're seeing?"
Sanji gnawed on his lower lip and looked again. He realised now that it was too small to be an island, and it wasn't the right colours. There was no pale sandy beach, or lush green forest. In fact, it was moving... "Zoro! I think there's somebody in the water!" Zoro had woken when he heard the word 'island' before, so he heard Sanji's shout. He hurried to the Western side of the boat. "I don't see anything!"
Sanji groaned silently. "That's because you're looking in the wrong direction! I can't believe you even get lost on this tiny ship! Try the other side!" Zoro blushed and hurried to the other side. He saw it there, getting closer. Something was floating just below the surface. His face set. The way it was floating, face down, it could only be a corpse. He was wondering what they should do about it when he thought he saw it move.
He rubbed his eyes and decided that the water must have moved it, or his eyes were playing tricks on him. Then an arm came up, and a hand pulled at the surface. Zoro needed no further encouragement; he climbed onto the rail and dove into the waves. He was a strong swimmer, and had soon reached the figure bobbing in the water. He gently tugged on a shoulder and rolled it onto its back.
He frowned at what he saw, but he hooked his arm beneath its chin and started swimming back to the Merry. He climbed up the rope ladder Robin had tossed over the side, carrying the limp form over one shoulder. When he got both his feet on deck, he called Chopper over before laying the body down. Everyone was horrified at what they saw. It was a mermaid, a woman. As they watched, her tail turned into legs.
That wasn't what was horrifying though. She was covered in cuts, bruises, and scratches. A couple of her wounds looked deep. The deck was already stained with her blackish blood. Even more worrying was the fact that she was almost completely naked. The few rags which clung to her had more tears, rips, and holes than fabric, and their colour was no longer discernable. Her skin was whiter than snow, but mer-people often had unusual skin colouring.
The only other mermaid the crew had ever met had been a half-human, so they weren't too surprised that this one didn't look nearly as human as the other had. She had yellow and black stripes on her arms, thighs, and the sides of her stomach, and long, curly, blue-black hair. Her hands and feet were slightly webbed, and her feet were longer than a human's. Small, flowing black fins trailed from her arms.
Much longer ones spread behind her, attached to her back, almost giving her the appearance of a butterfly. She would've been beautiful, if she'd been in better condition, but she was too thin, and covered in injuries. Chopper had Zoro move her to a bed in the girls' cabin for examination, and sent Ussop to get his supply bag.
As soon as he'd laid her down, and Chopper had begun to examine her, and bandage her injuries, Zoro left the room. He felt ill. He could only imagine what that woman had been through, but despite popular belief he was quite imaginative, and the images flowing through his brain made him nauseous. At supper that night Chopper reported to everyone over dinner.
There were plenty of leftovers after that. The mermaid had been starved, viciously beaten on a regular basis, forced to do manual labour, and sexually assaulted on numerous occasions. Her injuries were like a biography to him. For once, even Luffy was quiet as everyone in the kitchen contemplated what they'd heard.