Chapter two is now uploaded. Sorry for the long wait to all those read, reviewed, favorited, and put alerts on this story.
Word Count: 2525 words
Disclaimer: Oda-sensei=One Piece. Me=Arcelia and her plot story
I was completely frustrated. It wasn't with Roronoa's stitching. No, that was going well. It was the three guys constantly asking me questions. Most of them consisting of:
"Are you doing it right?"
"Do you need some help?"
"Have you done this before?"
"Are you sure you don't want me to do it?"
I groaned and saw the bloody needle in my tan fingers snap. Johnny, who was currently helping me by wiping up blood, looked up at me. I huffed silently and looked over my shoulder at Usopp.
"Needle, please?" I held out my slightly, blood-stained hand. Usopp paled.
"We don't have anymore." I blinked in disbelief. Moments ticked by as I closed my eyes.
"You're saying…we don't have anymore needles?" I repeated. Usopp nodded and I pointed to my bag. "I think I have spare ones in my bag."
Yosaku, who was sitting far away from us because of his squeamishness around the slight blood and gore, picked up my bag and looked through it. After a few seconds of hurried searching, Yosaku pulled out a small silver box.
"Is it this?" He asked. I nodded and he tossed the box toward me. I opened the box with one hand and pulled out one of the many needles within.
Setting the thread into the eye, I began to sew up Roronoa's wounds again. Usopp looked over Johnny's shoulder at my work.
"Are you sure you don't need help?" I gritted my teeth together.
'You really had to leave me behind, didn't you Sensei?'
-X-
After another hour or so of sewing Roronoa's wounds, I finally finished and was to set on my arm and side. Dried blood caked over my skin and the still open gashes. I looked at the golden needle and white thread before sighing.
'Better get this done now.'
I poked the needle to my skin and began sewing but a voice broke through.
"Do you need help?" I grimaced and shut my eyes.
'Oh god. Not this again.'
I opened my eyes and saw Roronoa looking at me. I shook my head.
"No, I'll be fine. You just rest, those wounds were very bad." Roronoa, despite my words, got up and walked over to me before settling down on my left side.
"I see as you stitched me up, I should stitch your wounds." I raised an eyebrow at his words as Roronoa took the needle from my hands and continued my sewing.
"So you're only stitching up my wounds to make us even?" I asked. Roronoa didn't look at me but kept his attention on the gash that went from my left arm to my left side.
"I guess you could say that." I sighed as the slight tug of skin in my arm kept me alert.
"You have odd reasoning, Roronoa." The green-haired man frowned.
"Don't call me Roronoa. It's too formal and makes me sound old." I blinked before nodding.
"Okay, Zoro. So can you tell me exactly what's going on? None of the others have told me much about our current situation." Zoro nodded as the sewing continued.
"We're going after our navigator, Nami. She left us with our ship after Krieg came. Johnny and Yosaku say that damn witch is heading for Arlong Park." I closed my eyes in annoyance.
'Not that freak again.'
The idea of seeing the fish-faced freak again put me beyond annoyance. After his last rant, I think I might turn him into a nice meal.
"So basically we have to go to Arlong Park and get Nami, along with the ship, back." I looked at Zoro as he wrapped up my arm and began working on my side.
"Do we have to get this Nami back? Is she that important?" I asked. Zoro nodded.
"Yeah, my captain wants her and only her as our navigator. So we have to get her back by any means." I leaned my head back and stared at the slowly darkening sky, the sun disappearing below the horizon.
As Zoro finished up my side and wrapped it up with what gauze and shredded shirt we had left, I began to go off into thought about the past.
'Maybe if I run far enough, they won't find me. I just have to stay hidden long enough to find it. Yeah, as soon as I get there, I'll be safe.'
At the same time I began to question not trying to follow Sensei and the actions that brought me here.
"Is staying with these people really safe? Maybe I should leave before they get caught up in all this.'
With a sigh, I rolled to the side and faced away from Zoro before falling asleep.
-X-
When I woke up, I saw everything before my eyes was uninteresting.
Then again, I was staring at the wood railing before me.
I sat up, a groggy feeling enveloping me. Turning around, I saw the railing was just as interesting. The two bounty hunters were filing through wanted posters. Usopp was fishing the empty blue waters. And Zoro was napping. I narrowed my eyes at the bright blue sky.
'When does the excitement come?'
Yet the entire day had nothing to keep me from boredom. My usual days with Sensei were no longer here. Everything here was boring.
No rival ships.
No Marines.
No challengers.
No training.
No Grand Line.
Just the East Blue and its boringness. I laid on my back and stared up at the sky. The clouds were unmoving and the sun glared at me with its hot rays.
"When do we reach the Grand Line?" I whined. "I miss it. It was exciting, fun, cool, and..." I wracked my brain for right word but frowned when none good enough for the conversation came to mind. "...unboring." Johnny looked up from the wanted poster to me.
"Sorry the East Blue can't supply all the excitement that's in the Grand Line." He said in a fake apologetic tone. I frowned at him as Usopp looked at me from over his shoulder.
"How far did you go into the Grand Line anyway?" I shrugged, my eyes not leaving the bright blue sky.
"I don't know. There is no map of how far we traveled. No log of the islands we visited. Not even a record of how many islands we visited. We just sailed from island to island. All I know is that we never went into the New World." I closed my eyes, letting the calm ocean waves rock me into relaxation.
"How long were you a student under Mihawk?" I opened my eyes and looked at the no longer asleep Zoro.
"Half a year." I replied simply, wondering why he would ask such a question.
"Interesting..." Zoro muttered. I gave him a curious look but brushed his odd ways off.
'Maybe a nap will help this all go quicker'
Seconds later, I was back asleep and waiting for this whole Arlong situation to end, although the trouble had yet to begin.
-X-
The next two days were full of impatience, naps, and boredom. I watched Johnny and Yosaku sharpen their katanas for at least the fifteenth time this day. Usopp looked out of his telescope before gasping.
"I see the Going Merry!" He yelled happily. I sat up immediately and snatched the telescope from Usopp's grasp. There is was, at least it think it was the Going Merry. It matched the description the others gave me.
'Finally! Maybe after this I can try and catch up to Sensei. I mean he really wouldn't leave me? ...would he?'
I handed the telescope back to Usopp. After seeing the ram-headed caravel, I could now make out the all-too familiar Arlong Park. Johnny gazed carefully at the map in his hands before looking at the Going Merry and nodding.
"She's anchored really close to Cocoyashi." He stated.
"Then we'll go there." Zoro concluded. We nodded in agreement and began to sail toward the ship. Usopp paled to a definite white when three fishmen were spotted on the shore. I glared at them as they watched us.
"Let's go back." Usopp said in a shaky voice. "I'm sure Nami is somewhere far, far, away from here." I rolled my eyes and shook my head at the curly-haired coward.
"We should just storm Arlong Park." Zoro stated, standing up. "I bet we could take those fishmen easily." I nodded in agreement.
"The fishmen talk highly but can barely back it up. Zoro's right." Usopp paled even more, if that was even possible, and looked over his shoulder at the nearing fishmen.
"Come on Usopp, stop being a cowa-"
"Usopp Hammer!" Usopp's hammer and yell cut off Zoro as he hit the older man with a hammer. I frowned at Usopp.
"What the hell was that for? Zoro's still right so let's go and-"
"Usopp Hammer!" I blacked out instantly as the hammer pounded me over the head. From what I could tell before unconsciousness took me over completely, this was not going to end well.
-X-
When I woke up, I immediately reached for my sword.
Which was nowhere in sight.
Before me now stood the Arlong Pirates. I also noticed the three cowards, Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku were no longer around.
Their captain, Arlong smirked at me from his chair.
"Arcelia, so nice seeing you again. Have you finally decided to join us?" I glared at him.
"Guess again, you overgrown tuna." I saw anger flash in Arlong's eyes but he kept his cool.
"We're here for my crew's navigator." Zoro spoke up. I noted both of us were tied. Confusion flooded over me.
'What else happened since I was knocked out?'
Arlong raised an eyebrow at us.
"And who would that be exactly?" He asked in a bored tone.
"Nami." I replied to him. He blinked before turning his head toward me and laughing.
"Hahaha! Looks like she fooled some more pirates." Arlong stopped laughing and grinned at us. "No, no. Nami is one of my crewmates." And with those words, an orange-haired girl made her appearance.
"Hmm, so you really came all this way just for me?" I watched as the girl stopped feet from Arlong. "I mean I knew you were following me. But I really didn't think you'd come this far. And as Arlong said. It's true. I'm part of his crew."
She shifted to the side and showed us a tattoo on her arm.
The same tattoo as the Arlong flag. I gritted my teeth.
'This is slightly problematic. Where do we go from here?'
Arlong laughed in an uproar at our slightly stunned faces.
"This woman would do absolutely anything for money, even brush off her own mother's death. It seems you were very, very unfortunate to cross her path." I glared at the fishman.
"You talk too much." I mumbled. Unluckily for me, one of the nearby fishmen heard me and I received a kick to the chest.
"Don't talk down the captain!" He yelled to me, as my head was bent down and a trail of blood began to follow down my chin.
"I'll talk about him however I want." I received another kick and Arlong yelled at his crew member.
"Hey! Keep the girl alive. I do still want her on my crew." I took a deep breath and glared up at everyone, not really caring anymore. Arlong turned to Nami. "What should we do with them, Nami? You were in their crew after all." Nami waved us off.
"Lock them up in one of the cells. I'll have them taken care of later on." Arlong nodded as Zoro glared at Nami. Yet another fishman came, panting slightly.
"Captain! The other ones escaped but I saw the long-nosed boy heading for Cocoyashi Village." Arlong grinned and rose from his chair.
"That's alright. I needed to visit the town anyway. I'll be sure to take care of the brat while I'm there." I paled slightly. I barely knew Usopp but I cared for his safety. Over the past few days, I had grown to like the boys as great friends. I huffed angrily as I was knocked out yet again and carried into the building that was Arlong Park.
-X-
I woke up to the sounds of struggle and my body colliding with the cold, hard ground. I groaned and tried to sit up but ultimately failed. I glanced up at Zoro, whose eyes were on the dark ceiling.
"This is boring. Last time it was way more cooler." I stated, looking over at the stoic swordsman. He looked down at me, an odd look on his face.
"I'm guessing until we reach the Grand Line or have some big fight, everything will be boring." I nodded.
"Pretty much." I replied with a smile.
'What's up with me? I was never this open with anyone but Sensei. Am I really beginning to trust these people?'
My thoughts didn't falter as the door to the cell opened and light poured inside. Nami stood there in the doorway, merely a silhouette. She walked toward us, dagger in hand.
"I'm only doing this so you'll leave before Arlong gets back." Without anymore words, she quickly cut the ropes that were wrapped tightly around our bodies.
Before she left, she carefully threw in two swords, one with a dark blue sheath and the other with a white. I stood up carefully and grabbed mine. I looked it over for any damage and smiled when I found none. Quickly putting the sword on my waist by terms of a belt loop, I looked at Zoro.
"You ready to go get her back?" I asked. Zoro nodded and I opened the cell door. After minutes of following Zoro and then finally taking the lead, we found our way outside. And face-to-face with the Arlong Pirates welcoming committee.
'Yes! Something exciting.'
My gaze met Zoro's and he sighed.
"Go on." He replied as if I asked his permission. I grinned wickedly and with that I sprang into the throng of fishmen.
'Come and get it, you freaks!'
My sowrd was unsheathed within seconds and I sliced expertly at the fishmen.
I dashed around, having a bit of fun after a long strech of boredom. I laughed lightly as I slashed at the next fishman.
What I didn't notice was the other one set to trip me. I felt a foot kick under mine and I was falling backward, a wide katana headed for my head. Time went slow from that point as I watched Death reach for me yet again.
But in the next second, he was gone and I was on the ground. I also noticed the remaining fishmen were down. Zoro was sheathing his three swords calmly. I looked around catching my breath.
"What happened?" I asked Zoro as he stole a shirt from one of the fishmen. He looked over his shoulder at me.
"You tripped."
-X-
Thank you for reading. Please take a bit of time to review. Though there are few now, they are greatly appreciated. Also take a bit of time to vote on the current poll on my profile. Your votes help me figure out where this story is headed. Sorry if some of you think the chapter is short. I find it slightly difficult to write long chapters after working so much on The 60 Deadly Sins Drabble.
Poll Update: I don't want Ace to die, so when should he join the Straw Hat crew?
Leading Choice: Alabasta Arc
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