Dreamless
Luffy realized a little too late that he had no idea where he was.
Rubbing his chin, he sat quietly in the dock as he studied the destroyed town. From the appearance of the upside-down houses and buildings, it didn't seem like he would be able to get any food from this place. His stomach growled in protest as he got out, and tied his boat to the dork, but he ignored it for the time being.
Once he did a little searching, he would find food eventually, and then he could possibly fill himself to the point of bursting after being away from Fuusha Village for so long. Slinging his pack over his shoulder, Luffy walked down the dug up dirt road.
He was pondering over how much food he could salvage from the wreckages when he spotted a figure at the end of the street.
Gurgling, his stomach alerted the other person to his presence. The girl – possibly his age – ran towards him.
She touched his arm, and he stiffened in shock while she said, "Are you all right? You're one of the survivors?" He continued to blink, and she said, "You shouldn't be here anymore. Come on. I'll take you to the shelter."
Shelter? Survivors? Luffy blinked, glancing around before he thought he spotted bloodstains through broken windows of the buildings. The sight of the buildings hadn't peaked his interest at first, but all of it at once – the buildings, the girl with the blue hair, and the blood – made him wonder what exactly had happened. In any case, he was mostly certain that shelter meant some kind of meal, and he wasn't about to pass up something like that, so he followed eagerly.
As it turned out, the shelter was seemingly turning into its own little village for the surviving people. The blue-haired lady served him a plate of food that he ate gladly enough while he sat and watched the happenings of the refuge.
While he watched the other people, he felt eyes on him, and he glanced to the side where a boy was sitting and sniffling. Luffy cocked his head before smiling at the boy who seemed shocked to see a grin.
"Hey," he said. "Why the tears?"
Sniffing up through his nose for a long moment, the boy then said, "My dad just died." He then tilted his head slightly, gazing up at Luffy, "Who're you anyway? I never seen you around Gosa before." Starting to blanch, Luffy eyed the blue-haired woman who suddenly appeared very interested. The boy said, "What are you doing here?"
"Not from Gosa?" She frowned, putting hands on her hips, and scowling at Luffy.
Luffy shoved the rest of the food into his mouth, and her brow quirked. He said, "I got money in my boat for the food – I was just starving! It was really good though. Who made it?"
She blinked, and said, "Boat?"
"Yeah, I just got to this island when you saw me."
Dashing away after grabbing Luffy's arm, she gently roused the despondent adults, "Hurry – we need to collect the littler ones."
Another woman blinked at her, and said, "Nojiko, whatever for?"
The newly named Nojiko said, "This guy's got a boat. We should hurry before the Fish-men spot it."
Hope spawned in mothers' eyes, and a younger woman even clutched at Luffy's hands and thanked him profusely.
That's how he found himself tugged along by the persistent woman back to the wrecked village with her and five young children, including the boy. Nojiko smiled at him, clutching his hand while they hid behind an overturned building. Some of the children seemed confused, and Luffy was as well. By 'littler ones' he thought that Nojiko had meant toddlers or even infants or children just coming into school. All of the children were older than that, however. The boy seemed to be one of the younger children of the lot, and he appeared to be about seven or eight years of age.
They crept along down the road, hiding between buildings before Nojiko abruptly paled, holding a hand up to halt them. Clutching at Luffy's pant leg, the boy frowned at him, Nojiko, and the buildings around them.
Luffy put his hand on the kid's head, studying something that looked like resignation on her face. She said, "Too late. It seems that you're stuck here with us now."
Staring at her with less comprehension than ever, he said, "Too late for what?"
"Your boat's been smashed to pieces," she said.
He scratched his chin, nodding before he said, "All right. That's that then. I'll just stay here until I can get another boat."
Sighing, Nojiko shook her head, "You don't get it. There are no boats here except for what Arlong allows to come through. You're not getting off this island for a long time – if ever." Plopping down beside her, Luffy watched as some of the kids bickered or shed tears they were feverishly wiping away, and then he looked at her. She smiled at bit back at him, and said, "You came to the wrong island, buddy."
He said, "My name's Luffy."
With a little start, she laughed softly, "My pardon then, please, Luffy. I'm Nojiko."
"I'm still pretty hungry," he said.
Rising, Nojiko ushered the children around herself, "Come on, kids. Let's go before the Fish-men see us."
A girl said, "We're not leaving the island anymore?"
Luffy frowned softly while Nojiko took her hand, gently pulling her along while the others followed. She said, "Another day maybe, but not today."
!#&()+
"Well, that was a giant flop." She opened the door, and then stepped to the side to admit Luffy entry. Coming in, he glanced around the little one-room house with its kitchen, the table and the large bed at the corner. After a moment, he sat at the table, setting his satchel on the floor. Nojiko said, "So I take it that you're dirt poor now. The Fish-men took all the money out of your boat."
"Yeah," he said, mostly unconcerned.
Perking up a finely trimmed brow, she said, "You'll need a place to stay until you can get on your feet."
"That's right."
She sat across from him, a little smile playing on her lips, "You can stay here if you want."
Grinning broadly, he said, "All right! That sounds like fun. I haven't shared a bed with anyone since my brother left the village."
Amused, she said, "You think you're going to share the bed with me?"
"Well, yeah, there's only one."
Chuckling, Nojiko stood to go to the fridge, and she said, "You're sleeping on the floor, Luffy. The bed is for me and my sister." Pulling out some food from the fridge, she started to prepare a meal, "It's going to take a long time for you to earn enough money to get along if you want to stay alive here. In fact, it's probably best that you stay hidden for a while yet. I can spare some money for a helping hand in my orchard anyway. You work for me, keep out of sight and out of trouble, and I'll keep a roof over your head and feed you. Sound good?"
When she looked back at him, she was surprised to see his head tilted back in sleep, snoring lightly at the ceiling. She laughed softly, shaking her head before turning back to the stove.
!#&()+
When he had awakened, Nojiko had greeted him with a smile and a plate full of flapjacks, and he dug in greedily.
"This tastes great!"
"Sorry, Nojiko, I'm just stopping-" Luffy turned to see a girl with orange hair walk inside. She paused in the doorway at the sight of him at the table, and then raised her eyes to his benefactor. "Nojiko? Who's this?"
"A very hungry young man," she said as Luffy pushed the empty plates back at her.
"Hey! I'm Luffy," he said.
Tilting her head, she said, "Uh huh …" She ignored him then, "Nojiko, I'm only stopping by for a few days."
She smiled, "Is it that time of the month again?"
"Nojiko!"
Luffy threw back his head, and laughed, wiping at his tears while the new girl fumed. When he was done, he looked at her, and said, "Shishi, I don't get it."
"Then why are you laughing!?" Grunting, she rubbed her forehead, "Honestly, I think this new boyfriend of yours is an idiot."
"Ah?" He said, "Boyfriend?"
"Well, he is an idiot" – "Oi, oi." – "but there's no helping it now. He's going to be staying here for a while to save up money." When the other woman stared at Nojiko in confusion, she said, "He landed in Gosa just this morning, and while he was away from it, the Fish-men thrashed his boat, and took all of his money."
Scowling, the orange-haired woman turned on Luffy, and shot a finger under his nose, "It serves you right for leaving it out like that. Don't you have any sense at all?" His eyes crossed to look at the finger, and she sighed harshly, pulling away from him. "If you cause any trouble for my sister, you'll be hearing it from me. Do you understand?" Her frown grew deeper, "Are you even listening?"
"Your hand's cut."
Starting in surprise, she stared at him before cupping her hand with the other, "And?"
"Oh, Nami, not again," Nojiko said. "Come here, and I'll help wrap it." Ushering her to the sink, she held her hand under a spray of water to rinse the cut. She said rather soothingly after a minute, "Got a little careless, did we?"
"No," she glanced back at Luffy, but he just watched them with his head at an angle. "What're you staring at?"
"Nami! What's wrong with you today?" Nami turned away from him. "Listen, you couldn't do anything about Gosa. They'll pull through just like everyone else."
"I know that."
Pinching her cheek, Nojiko said, grinning, "So quit your moping. Smile." The younger woman bared her teeth at her, and Nojiko laughed. She said, "Aah! So you are a fierce lion, huh?"
Luffy's stomach growled, and the two stared at him as if they had forgotten his presence. He said, "Got anything else to eat? Those oranges out there looked tasty."
"Don't you touch that orange grove!"
He pouted, bunching up his cheeks before leaning his head on his hand – elbow on the table, "Man, they looked good too."
Nojiko smiled, and said, "Of course. They're the best mandarin oranges in the whole East Blue. If you're good, and you work hard, you can have one at the end of the day." She winked as Luffy perked up, "As an extra treat."
"Just what are you expecting him to do here anyway?"
"He can help pick the oranges for one thing, and for two, he can fix up this old house. There's a bunch of stuff that I just don't have the time to do when I'm alone here all the time."
Scratching his head, Luffy said, "I'm not really much of a carpenter."
"See?" Nami said. "He's useless."
Nojiko grinned again, and said, "Now, now there. I'll find something he can do to keep him busy."
"I can go out hunting. I really like meat."
They both frowned at him, and he hunched his shoulders in defense. Nojiko said, "You shouldn't go into the forest. There're wild boars in there that would skewer a skinny boy like you in half." When he frowned, she laughed, and said, "Oh, I'm sure you're a strong, young man, but don't wander too deep into the forest."
"Is that why there aren't any kids here?"
She blinked.
Nami said, "What are you talking about?"
"Nojiko called 'em little ones," he scratched his cheek, "but they all looked about ten to me. None of them looked much younger than nine or ten."
"Can't you just keep your nose out of our business?"
Shooting Nami a dirty look, Nojiko said, "It is his business now. He's bound to learn sooner or later." Pulling up a chair, she sat across from him, "Listen. Once you've got enough saved up, you're going to have to start taking care of yourself, you hear?"
He blinked, looking between the two before they landed on Nojiko, "I just want to hear about the kids."
"It costs too much. There aren't a lot of people on this island with enough money to keep a baby," Nojiko said. "Just a tiny baby is worth fifty thousand berries, and that's the kind of money people need during these times."
"There hasn't been a baby born here in almost eight years," Nami said.
!#&()+
Shaddup. I can take any direction I want with this story. Nyaaaa.
AngelMimiru: Haha, indeed.
LuffyxRuby: Doing so.
Sonicmario: Of course. And it feels like I haven't seen you for a while for some reason. Hey.
Fairy Of Anime: Will do.
Mihase: Nope, no pirate Luffy here. And yes, I am so god.
Confession68: Next chapter is up!
!#&()+