Title: Storm
Pairing: NamiVivi
Warnings: Use of weapons.
Summary: Capturing Vivi was Nami's final mission as a bounty hunter. Her client would pay well, and the mission would ultimately save her village from the hands of Arlong. However, somewhere along the way, it seemed as if it was Nami who got captured by Vivi.
Author: Stopless [ladyquintessence Tumblr]
Beta: Atlanis Tumblr
Artist: Hairyfishh [eyerispez Tumblr]
Note: Written for the 2015 opbigbang.
Nami sat alone at a corner of the cantina, nursing her spiced ale while calculating her next move.
Earlier, she had spotted her target within the cantina. The person known as Vivi played games of blackjack with a patron; neither noticing Nami's presence nor intent. Vivi had long, blue hair wrapped up in a ponytail, an outfit adorned with gold trimming, and wore high boots that most likely concealed a few weapons. Beneath the heel of her boot were two knocked out patrons. One of them was a women dressed in bright orange and yellow patterns, while the other was a man in a brown trench coat.
Nami glanced at the other patrons who were also nursing their drinks. The atmosphere was ridden with tension. One wrong move would cause the patrons to jump into action. Such an occurrence would not be a surprise to Nami, however she would rather deal with her business as quickly as possible. After all, after her current bounty was captured, she would be one step closer to reaching the goal of buying her village from the atrocious Arlong who had taken over her planet for as long as she could remember.
Every month, her village's so-called secular 'leader' would charge them taxes, not for the improvement of the village itself, but for the village members' own livelihood. Arlong and his crew of pirates lived off those taxes while the village members starved and continued to live in fear. When Arlong had first taken over their village as a secular leader and enforced the tax laws, he had used Nami's very own mother as an example to show them the consequence of rebellion. Nami never forgot nor forgave such an action, nor the brutal policies that followed it. Just as defiant and determined as her mother, Nami had then joined Arlong's crew of pirates in order to destroy them from within.
It had proven to be much more difficult than she had initially thought, however. While the crew of pirates may be humanoids, they had shark-like features that indicated their superior skills in both fighting and in swimming. The crew saw Nami be be an inferior species, and she had been given rights to mere opinion. What drove Nami to stay in the crew for so many years was the bargain that she had made with Arlong: If she could give Arlong an almost impossible amount of 1 million beli, then he would resign his position as secular leader.
Unfortunately for Nami, the members of her village, including her sister Nojiko, disapproved of her actions. Nami welcomed the disapproval by turning it into fuel for her goal. The villagers needed not to aid her in reaching her goal, even if it was for the benefit of the villagers themselves. Restoring the village to its former peacefulness in the name of her mother was something that could only be done by Nami. Nami also certainly understood the cruel reality of it all. After her mother was used as an example to enforce tax policies, the villagers wanted nothing to do with her; afraid that mere relation would lead to consequence. That was all fine by Nami. Better, even. She did not want any more bloodshed on her mother's beloved village.
Not wanting bloodshed on her bounties was a different matter altogether. It wasn't that Nami particularity cared for her bounties. The fact was that they were an important source of income for her so that she could reach her goal. The person being hunted did not matter.
Her latest client was the leader of a bounty hunter's guild who would reward her generously if she brought the target back to them either dead or alive. What made the deal even more better for Nami was that a successful hunt would lead to membership into the guild. While she knew that joining a guild would act as double edged sword in terms of income and discreteness, it was a risk she was going to take. The gains outshone the loss of discretion. Bounty hunting under the name of the guild would allow her to use the guild's reputation to gain more influence. It was a useful bargaining tool to use as well.
A patron suddenly slammed his heavy fist on a table. His opponent won yet another game of blackjack. Nami watched as Vivi demanded the patron to buy her some victory drinks. The patron glared daggers at Vivi, but agreed to it. Soon, the patron brought the drinks to Vivi's table.
Nami got up from her seat.
"Excuse me," Nami said as she approached Vivi's table.
The patron with the drinks sneered. "What, you wanna join us?"
Nami smiled easily. "Not in the slightest. I'm just not that patient." She put a hand on her hip, and the person saw the threat of a pistol.
"I'm a busy person," Nami continued. "And drugging my client would really slow down things, yeah?"
The patron cursed as he bumped shoulders with Nami before moving away. "Bounty hunter scum."
Once the patron was out of the cantina, Nami turned around and looked at the bartender. "Free rum. Pronto. Or your joint will be in flames."
"But I didn't drug them -" the bartender started.
"Really? There are two types of liars, you know. Ones that live long, and ones that don't."
Murmuring went through among the other patrons of the cantina. Being distrusting in the first place and having found out that the catina's conduct was something to doubted didn't bode well for anyone.
"No! He threatened me!"
Nami slipped her pistol out of her holster, walked up to the serving table, and pressed the cold steel of the weapon onto the bartender's face.
"What's to say about others threatening you, then?"
The other patrons had their hands hovering above their weapons. Trouble was common within cantinas, and trouble usually alerted the authorities. The unspoken policy was to get rid of troublesome patrons as soon as possible.
"I-"
Suddenly, Vivi's laughter cut through the tension like a knife.
"Just as expected from my hire," Vivi said. She gestured at the bartender to send the drinks to her table. "Let's forget about cowards and get down to business, shall we?"
Nami threw one last look at the bartender, then took a seat beside Vivi. She propped her chin in hand. "Nami, here," she smiled. "And what's your name?"
"Vivi."
Nami nodded, even though she had already known of the person's name. "Interesting name," Nami said. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"I can ask you the same thing."
Nami chuckled. The earlier display had the purpose of demonstrating to Vivi that she was able to hold her own in a fight; no matter how insignificant the fight. Nami knew all about the unspoken policies within cantinas, of course. However she was curious about how Vivi would hold herself in battle. Would Vivi provide aid to a stranger who saved her from a drugged drinks? Or was Vivi the type of person to call for no relation and simply reap the benefits?
"You should know better than to accept any drink, Vivi."
Vivi crossed her arms. "If it's a drink from you, then I'll gladly accept it."
"I'm flattered. You put so much trust in a stranger like me."
"Why should I not? I'm your client, after all."
"About that," Nami said, lowering her voice. "I'm looking for a partner to complete an assignment with me. The rewards are great, so the assignment is, of course, greater. You'll get a percentage of the reward, of course."
"Why me? I'm simply someone who would accept a drink from a stranger. Is there not naivety in that?"
"I wouldn't lie to you. You'll get a percentage of the cut."
The bartender brought the drinks to the table just as Vivi was about to give a reply.
Vivi took a sip of the drink before focusing her attention back to Nami.
"If you're really naive, then you wouldn't acknowledge your naivety," Nami observed, suddenly even more interested in her target.
And then it hit her: What if Vivi had been luring that patron in on purpose? Pretending to accept the drink with naive enthusiasm and then later taking advantage of her victim? What if Vivi was doing that to Nami right now? Did Vivi even know that Nami was a bounty hunter? Nami had no doubt in mind that Vivi knew about it. Which made the situation difficult, yet all the more intriguing.
"I don't know about that," Vivi said, getting up from her seat after finishing the glass of rum. "But I would like to thank you for helping me out. Order another drink on me."
"Can't I order anything else?" Nami asked, also getting up from her seat.
"Then what are you waiting for?"
Nami began to follow Vivi out of the cantina.
It was then that the patron who had lost to Vivi barged inside. Along with a few of his crew members.
"Here's the bounty hunter scum. Giving us bandits a bad name. A job for beli?!" he laughed. "You and your almost righteous ways. Pisses me off. Stealing beli off of your dead body is far better! "
At those words, the crew members charged at Nami with their knives.
Vivi was onto the bandits before Nami could shoot. Vivi's arms moved in a blurring motion; two thin strings of durasteel seemed to appear from her fingertips as she crossed her arms and pulled tight. The durasteel strings tightened around the necks of two bandits before drawing blood and ultimately making the bandits struggle for breath and crumple to the ground. The ends of her weapon, two small and sharp jewels resembling peacock tail feathers, glistened with fresh blood.
Distracted by the sudden loss of their brethren, the other bandits did not even get the chance for a counter attack. The end of Nami's pistol dealt with them swifty.
The leader of the bandits, now hiding away behind an upturned table in the cantina, inhaled a large breath before shouting. "Get them! They're causing trouble! Get them before Smoker finds out!"
However, nobody moved a muscle. Instead, they went back to their drinks as both Nami and Vivi approached him.
"Let's get rid of this trouble, shall we, Nami?"
Nami only grinned.
It was the start of a delightful storm.