Author's Note: Read, enjoy and review! I'd like to know what you think of the length of the chapters and feel free to throw me any ideas you may like to see in this story 'cos I'll need all the inspiration I can get! Thank you
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu. One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichiro.
Chapter 2: Meet the Navigator
Edward blinked. Standing in front of him was the woman who called herself Nami. She was the one he had seen spinning the blue pole on the beach earlier. His savior, of sorts, you could say. An old man wearing a peculiar hat stood next to her. He was the first to speak.
"'choo… 'choo… what'ya say yer name was again?" he said as he pointed a wrinkled finger at him.
"My name is Ed, Edward Elric." Ed coughed. "Thanks for saving my life out there."
"What were you doing all the way out there in a barrel, anyway? Barrels aren't the most efficient nor safe mode of sea transport in this world, you know?" Nami said.
What should I say? He contemplated. I don't even know where I am. This obviously isn't Amestris. I hardly think that this is Xing either. Maybe another country? What was the Gate thinking, anyway? Throwing me out into a SEA out of all things? Cool. Way cool. He thought sarcastically and snorted. Best that I don't say anything first, and find out where I am. For all I know, I'm in some country where alchemists are public enemies or something. And can I even still perform alchemy here?
"Hey, you. What's so funny, eh?" Nami clucked her tongue twice with an irritated look.
"We save your puny little life, and all you do is snort?" She said, unwittingly triggering a certain SHORT fuse that somebody had.
"HEY WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORTER THAN A PIECE OF MICROSCOPIC BACTERIA!!???" came a sudden unexpected outburst.
"Why you…" He struggled to stand up and fell back down onto the chair again. His automail leg was working fine, but his other leg still had that prickly pins-and-needles sensation from being curled up in that barrel for too long.
A vein popped on Nami's head. "Why, the nerve of this brat! Heh. We didn't say a thing about you being small. Hehhh... sensitive to SHORT comments, are you? Now that you mention it, you're even shorter than that little 10 year-old kid living down a few houses! HA! HA! HA! SHORTIEEEEEE!" she said with a smirk.
A look of great satisfaction settled on her face as she observed that the golden-haired youth appeared to start shaking with rage, more veins popping out on his forehead.
"I AM NOT SHORT. WHY, THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE but IT SURE IS NOT SMALLER THAN THE EGG OF AN ANT THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE." He huffed.
"All right, all right. Little boy, now you calm down and look here. Do you know where 'dis place is?" the old man moved closer, staring the unknowing youth down.
Edward took in his surroundings again. This place was really weird. He had noticed before that the sea was cloudy. What the heck, cloudy!? And the house he was in now was built with some kind of strange material which felt and smelt like mushrooms. All the houses he saw outside before being carried in seemed to be made of this same material, and the other strange thing was that all the houses appeared to have something that looked like a wind vane attached to the top of their roofs. Not to mention all the windmills on the ground.
This place is waayyyy strange. I have to figure out how to get back to Amestris soon. Al must be worried. Maybe these people will know what to do. He mused for a while, then answered, "Where is this, exactly? It's not Amestris, that's for sure."
"Ahm-es-to-ri-su? Where's dat? Another island? Did you run away from your country in a barrel?" the old man paused, scratching his head.
"'dis island is what people call a Sky Island. We're in the sky, boy. This is Weatheria, or Weather Island, and I'm the chief of this village. People call me Ooki-jii." He thought for a while, then continued.
"You 'bin out at sea too long, now? I doon think dat 'dere is a Ahm-es-to-ri-su Island nearby. You need a Log Pose to navigate anyways? Where's yours, and where're you from?" he queried with a look of interest.
Nami stepped forward, interested to hear the young traveler's story. Maybe he knew something about what was going on in the rest of the world now.
Flashback/ Nami's story
It had been 2 weeks since she lost all contact with the rest of the Straw Hat crew. She thought it was the end when that monster of a Shichibukai, Barthomelow Kuma, blasted them off one by one to oblivion with his gigantic hand-paws. Amazingly, though, she regained consciousness after 2 days and found herself on this funny island, in some old man's house. She later found out that said funny island was Weather Island, a Sky Island with the most advanced technology with regards to weather reading and manipulation in the world.
The old man who had taken her in was Ooki-jii, the chief. He said that he had found her lying unconscious in the middle of the village, in a large paw-shaped crater in the ground. She was covered with horrible injuries. At the time, a huge storm was about to brew so he had brought her back to his house first.
When she first awoke, she was very skeptical of the old man, who insisted she stay indoors to avoid the large storm outside. She had attempted to follow him when he exited, only to be blown back by the strong winds. She remembered being absolutely shocked when the old man continued to walk on against the direction of that monstrous wind. She then had no choice but to retreat into the house and demand for explanations later. She was amazed when he showed her the various weather instruments they had on the Island, like the Wind-Knot, which could store differing levels of wind and be released by unknotting.
Upon contemplation, perhaps Barthomelow meant to save the Straw Hat crew instead of eliminating them. Since she was well and alive, probably so were the rest! Chopper, Franky, Robin, Sanji, Zoro, Brooks, Luffy… where were they now? Probably been blasted off to other islands too? Had this perhaps something to do with Barthomelow's question, "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?"
For the past 2 weeks, the people on Weatheria had been extremely busy. A Marine Inspector was scheduled to come soon. His arrival meant two things. First off the list was the official Weatherman Exam, which would allow the young weatherman trainees to obtain their Weatherman License. Said group of young weathermen trainees was therefore busy preparing for it. The other concern involved the whole island, for the official Marine Inspector was also going to assess the weather technologies they possessed. If they weren't up to expected standards, the island could well be threatened by the World Government for slacking off. Such was the tyranny of the World Government that they had to put up with for years. To hell with claims of justice and peace.
Nobody dared to stand up to the World Government. There were rumors that the Marines, the lackeys of the World Government, had the power to wipe countries off the world map if they so wished. These rumors had to possess some truth, for the people of Weather Island knew of a nearby island who seemed to just vanish one day. That island was once known as Ohana.
The island of Ohana used to be one of the islands geographically closer to Weather Island. One day, though, the island and its inhabitants just disappeared, with no trace that there had ever existed such an island.
Having said that, Weather Island possessed the best weather technologies and techniques in the whole world and hence were unlikely to be wiped off the world map any time soon.
Nami could sympathize with the people of Weather Island, as she thought back to the days Arlong and his gang had threatened her village, and the Marines did nothing about it. It was all thanks to Luffy that she managed to get out of that horrible situation and even begin to think about pursuing her dreams. Back in those days, she would never even have dared to believe in anybody. Today, though, she was a changed woman.
The people of Weather Island were shocked to know about her situation. Majority of them sympathized with her, though a small group suggested they throw her out into the sea before the Marines found out they were harboring an international criminal with a bounty of 16, 000, 000 beri. They were quickly shut up by Ooki-jii. They promised to help her find information on the rest of the crew and the going-ons in the outside world if they could. Till she found a way to get back to her crew, she would help out with the preparations they were so busy with, and hide when the Marine Inspector was to come.
End flashback/ Nami's story
The young boy sitting in front of her piqued her curiosity. Not only did this boy have a metal arm and leg, but he was also found, by her, floating in a barrel in the sea out over the horizon. If she hadn't felt that prickling sensation at the back of her neck that she got when she felt watching eyes, she wouldn't even have noticed that there was somebody just floating out there.
He seems to be hiding something. Not intentionally, perhaps. Seems more like it's out of caution. I wonder what happened to him. Usually you wouldn't just grab a barrel, sit in it and row yourself out to sea, would you? Haha. And he's kinda funny to tease. Nami thought as she smiled widely.
"Yup, boy. What's your story? I'd like to know too, ya know? Savior privileges, I believe?" she teased.
Log Pose? What's that? Crap, I really don't know anything about this place at all. Edward looked up and gave a sigh.
These people saved me. They can't be that bad, can they? Life's a gamble, anyway. That woman may have problems with her eyesight, what with her calling me SMALLER THAN A PEA, but she has kind and strong eyes. The old man too. What'd he call himself again? Ooki-jii? Haha kind of ironic that he calls himself Ooki, he's shorter than me! He thought as he stared at the two people in front of him.
I should probably trust my own judgment, right? Maybe I should probably introduce myself properly.
He cleared his throat. "My name is Edward Elric. I'm a State Alchemist from Amestris. People call me the Fullmetal Alchemist. Perhaps you've heard of me?" he stated proudly.
Nami and Ooki-jii looked at each other questioningly and shrugged.
"Like we asked, where's this Ah-mes-to-ri-su that you're talking about? It sure ain't anywhere near here, you know? We're above the Blue Sea, in the White Sea. There aren't that many Sky Islands around, so we know most of them if they're close by. I don't think I've heard of your country though. What're you being so cocky about anyway? Ehhhhh??" Nami scrunched her nose as she explained.
"Amestris. Military nation, with State Alchemists as dogs of the military? I'm originally from Resembool though. Re-sem-bool. Heard of that?" Edward struggled to explain, beginning to worry.
"Not a clue. Hm." Nami said. "Ooki-jii, you ever heard of Ah-mes-to-ri-su or Re-sim-bu-ru?"she asked.
Interesting. This could be a new island to map once I know where it is! Nami thought with relish.
"Like I said, I don't know any Ah-mes-to-ri-su around here. Listen, I've been here for the last 65 years of my life an' I've never heard of this place you are talking about, boy." Ooki-jii grunted.
Edward furrowed his brow in worry. It seems Amestris is nowhere near here. Furthermore, this island seems to be surrounded by water, water and more water. With my automail, I can't go anywhere without a ship. He sighed.
"I don't know how I got here. But I need to know how to go back home to Amestris. I'm sure Al's waiting for me."
Unless the Gate has taken him away already. An inner voice interjected.
No way. Shut up, me. We did all the necessary calculations and I even offered my life up to the Gate. Since I'm still alive, the Gate must have something else in mind. Maybe this has something to do with my being here..Hm..but then again...He thought to himself, then continued.
"How could you not have heard of Alchemy? Renkinjutsu. Transmutation?" Edward scratched his head.
He slowly stood up and steadied himself. Spotting a broken cup on the table next to him, he grabbed it and put in on the floor.
"Look." He clapped his hands together in a practised motion and slapped them on the cup. A bright blue flash appeared and the cup looked as good as new.
Thank goodness! I was so worried Alchemy might not work here. My worries were unfounded. Phew. Edward let out a small sigh of relief as he finished.
"What the heck did you just do? Are you a Devil Fruit user!?" Nami exclaimed as she took a step back.
What the heck did he do? I haven't seen any ability like that before! Can this even be classified under Logia, Parmecia or Zoan? What… Nami thought, flabbergasted.
"Explain yourself, Edward Elric, if that's even your real name!" Nami said.
"What? That was Alchemy. Didn't I just say? I'm a State Alchemist." Edward explained.
"It seems that we have encountered a new kind of ability here."Ooki-jii interjected. "It doesn't seem like this kind of power can be classified under any of the Devil Fruit categories, unless it's an unknown category." His voice trailed off as he continued to stare at his broken cup, now fixed.
Why do they seem so surprised? Is Alchemy not practised here? Edward thought. And I wonder what they mean by Devil Fruit. You eat fruits, right? How do you get powers from eating fruits? It doesn't make sense. Back in Amestris they used to try and con me into drinking milk, that dastardly fluid, by saying that it would give you powers and increase your height. Thank goodness I never fell for that. Ha.
"Maybe it's just uncommon in this part of the world? I still need to know how to get back… Sorry to ask this so suddenly, but do you have any information? Maybe just general information about this area and its surroundings, and maybe about what's going on around in the world now?" Edward asked, thinking about the commotion caused back in Central. Surely the country would be a furor right about now, with King Bradley gone. Mustang had better do what he set out to do properly - become the Fuhrer and change the country, eh?
Ooki-jii cleared his throat, breaking Nami out of her trance. "It seems 'dat this boy's problem is the same as yours, Nami-san. You both need information and want to find the people that you care about." He turned to Nami.
He said thoughtfully, "I don't know who or what brought you here, but I believe 'dere's a reason for everything. So perhaps you two have to work together to reach your goals. What say you?"
Thinking for a while, Nami answered, "Why not? I need to find Luffy and the rest soon too."
It wouldn't hurt to have somebody with unknown powers tagging along with me while I do that. Heh. She added in her thoughts.
"All right. But you had better not make any more inappropriate comments, woman." Edward decided.
"Sure thing, shortie." She answered with a smirk.
Following which, a roar lasting several minutes echoed throughout the house made up of mushroom.