Chapter 2 (Zoro's point of view)
I felt someone kick me in my side. I grunted and opened one eye to see who it was. Damn cook.
"Get up, Marimo," he said, breathing in smoke from his cigarette. "We've got trouble."
I got up and yawned again, then followed him to the kitchen where everyone sat around Usopp. I leaned on the wall and waited for them to explain what was going on. When Chopper moved aside, I saw Usopp's face clearly. He'd been crying. Chopper came over to me.
"We received a message this morning," he explained. "It said that Kaya's health was declining. She was Usopp's friend back in his hometown. She'd been sick ever since Usopp had known her, but it had gotten to the point where she could hardly speak."
Luffy looked worried. "Oi, Usopp, do you want us to turn back to your hometown for a while?"
We were far away from East Blue, but I knew Luffy would be willing to do anything for his nakama. I waited for a response.
"How?!" Usopp shouted. "East Blue isn't anywhere near us!"
Everyone kept silent. Luffy seemed confused, not knowing what to do. Robin spoke next.
"Why don't we split in groups and go around the island to see if there's a faster way to get there?" she suggested. The crew looked at one another, and since no one else had any other ideas, they shrugged, agreeing. We split into two groups. Nami and Sanji stayed behind. I ended up with Usopp and Brook.
"Saanjiii! Make us some bentos!" Luffy cried. Our group left before anyone else's. Each group had a denden mushi in case they found anything. Usopp walked ahead of us, mumbling things to himself.
"Poor Usopp-san," Brook said, sighing. "My heart aches for him. Even though…I don't have a heart! Yohohoho!"
This wasn't the time for his damn jokes. Usopp had insisted we leave right away, and we left on empty stomachs. We walked into stores, talked to the owners who instructed us to other shops, and walked out. The routine was repeated a number of times until our denden mushi rang. Brook answered.
"Hello?" he said. I could hear Luffy's voice. He seemed excited.
"MEET US AT THE SUNNY!" he shouted and hung up.
We called Usopp over since he was far ahead of us and we headed back to the Sunny. A humungous bird sat beside our ship. Usopp's face lit up.
"USOPP! LOOK!" Luffy exclaimed, laughing. "We found a place that rented birds like these!"
"WOOAH!" Usopp cried, stroking the birds' feathers. "How much did you pay?"
Franky laughed nervously. "50,000 beli per person riding."
"AHAHAHA! NAMI'S GONNA KILL US!" Luffy said, still laughing. Robin smiled.
"Of course, we can't all go," Robin said. "We can't leave the Sunny here. How about we draw strings?"
Everyone agreed. But other than Usopp, they decided before doing so that Chopper would go with him. His medical knowledge could help Kaya. Franky would stay on the ship. Nami was out of the question. Two more people would go.
Luffy, Sanji, Brook, and Robin and I were left. Usopp held the strings, and each of us pulled. I got one with red on the tip of it, which meant I would go. I looked to see who else got it. Robin.
"AWWWWWWWWH!" Luffy whined. "I WANNA RIDE THE BIRD, TOO!"
"Better take care of our lady, you hear?" Sanji said, flicking his cigarette.
"Tch." Shitty cook. Ordering me around. After packing up and making sure we had a map, we got on the bird. Having Chopper would also help us to communicate with the bird. Luffy was slumping on the side of the ship, moaning.
"I wanna gooooooo!" he said.
"Bye bye, minna!" Chopper waved frantically. "We'll be back as fast as we can!"
"See ya!" Usopp said. "Thanks, everyone!"
Robin was still inside explaining things to Nami. Once she was out, she got on the bird with us. I gave them a slight wave and we were off.
Chopper spoke to the bird, explaining to it the situation. I took out the map and slumped back, looking at it. I nodded a few times and pointed to my right.
"That way," I said.
Everyone stared at me. Robin calmly took the map from me and observed it for a while. She smiled and shook her head.
"It's that way, Zoro," she said, pointing to my left. Usopp chuckled.
"Psh, whatever," I said, closing my eyes.
"Ok, he understands!" Chopper said, taking out a few bentos from his bag. "Wanna eat?"
After eating, I fell into a snooze. A scream woke me up. Everyone became alert. Wait…where was Chopper?
"MINNAAAA!" He yelled. We peered over and saw him hanging from the bird's foot.
"How'd you get there?!" I yelled, starting to make my way down the bird. Robin stopped me.
"I'll handle it," she said, crossing her arms. "Cien…fluer!"
Hands bloomed from the bird's foot, picking up Chopper and dropping him beside me.
"Thank…thank you!" he said, breathing heavily.
"Klutz," Usopp said. Chopper seemed hurt.
"Oi oi," I said, sitting cross-legged. We all knew Chopper was sensitive. And having heard that from one of his closest friends in the crew would surely hurt him. Usopp was acting like a grouch, but I couldn't blame him for it. Robin seemed to sense the tension, so by using her devil fruit power, hands bloomed from Chopper's sides and tickled him. He immediately started to laugh, screaming for her to stop. Usopp glanced to see what was going on, but turned to face front again without showing any interest.
It took us more than eight hours to spot another island. We decided to stop for a while for the bird to rest, and to restock on food and such. I stayed behind with Usopp on the bird while Robin and Chopper went to search for a town.
"Dammit…" Usopp whispered to himself. "Why'd we have to stop?!"
"I get you're mad, but get a grip. Consider everyone else's needs," I said, yawning.
Usopp turned to me angrily. "YOU NEVER HAD THIS HAPPEN TO SOMEONE DEAR TO YOU!"
"Not exactly," I said, thinking of Kuina. Although I dreaded sharing a depressing story like that, I did so anyway to make him understand everyone dealt with shit before. "I had a friend back when I was a kid named Kuina. We made a promise to each other that one of us would become the best swordsman in the world, but soon after that she died. Not to mention everything else that happened with our crewmates. Like Nami or Robin."
Usopp went silent for a while. He sighed and lay back. "Okay. I'm sorry."
After about three to four hours, we spotted Robin and Chopper walking back. We noticed that Robin had Chopper slung over her shoulder while she carried everything. Once she got to where we were, she explained that he couldn't take the heat of the island.
Huh. I took a bottle of water and dumped it on him.
"Awh," Robin said.
Chopper fell off her shoulder, startled. After shaking off the water, he glared at me.
"Oi, Zoro!" he yelled. I chuckled slightly. Chopper showed us everything they'd gotten. Other than food and drinks, he picked up a few party hats.
"Party hats?" I said sarcastically.
"To help with the mood," Robin explained, laughing in amusement. Chopper gave me a yellow one with blue stars. As if I was going to wear it. I set it aside. Usopp wasn't willing to wear it either. Usually he'd join in on these silly things with Luffy and Chopper. Again, Chopper seemed disappointed. While Robin and Chopper wore theirs, it wasn't helping the "mood" since two of us weren't wearing ours.
I groaned and reluctantly put mine on. Immediately Chopper and Robin clasped their hands over their mouths, trying to hide their laughter.
"Geez," I said, looking away. And here I was trying to make the moods-oh wait it worked.
Usopp, apparently giving into the temptation to look over to see me, also ended up trying to hold in his laughter. Nope. I wasn't gonna sit here listening to this. I got up, snatched a hat from Chopper, and forcefully put it on Usopp's head.
"Hey!" he yelled, still laughing.
"My my," Robin said, looking at me. "You've turned soft!"
Whatever. Robin and Chopper climbed back up on the bird. We would stay the night and fly again in the morning. All of us were tired, especially our source of transportation.
