Hi sweeties! This is chapter 3 as promised. I skipped a day, but oh well it's close enough. The plot changed a lot from my first plan but then again it often happens to me so there's nothing special about it.
Thanks a ton for the readers and reviewers! I love y'all!
Anyway, please enjoy! A small early gift for your new year! :D
Chapter 3
"Shitty brainless swordsman..." The cook cursed while he struggled to make his way through the vast area of muddy soil without soaking more of his pair of expensive shoes in the wet substance of dirt and only God knows what else.
"What was that, crap cook?!" Zoro jerked his head back at the blonde.
"I said, you're a brainless piece of a swordsman who is good at nothing but causing us trouble." He answered.
"Screw you, stupid dart brow! Who told you to follow me anyway?" The green head snapped.
"We're supposed to stick together, asshole! If it's not for Nami-swan I would have leave you and your idiocy!"
"Say that again and you're dead, skirt slave!" The swordsman growled.
"What did you call me?!" The cook's blood started to boil in anger and strangely enough, excitement. It's been a while since his argument with the swordsman hadn't being interrupted by the other blonde and this rare opportunity reminded him that he was kind of missed the old days when he could bicker and fight Zoro whenever he felt like it.
"Uhm guys, please don't fight each other." Chopper piped in from his spot between the cook and the swordsman. "We don't have much time until sun sets."
The two straw hats glared at each other for a moment longer before finally agreeing with the reindeer. Both of them muttered curses under their breaths then reluctantly turning away to continue on their tracks. Fifteen minutes later, they reached the end of the muddy area to the more solid ground where the trees grew slightly denser.
"Hey look, there's a lake over there!" Chopper announced while pointing his little hooves at the direction slightly to their right, not too far away from them.
"Finally. We could probably find some fruits or animals nearby." Said the blonde.
They all increased their paces and soon got to the edge of the lake that was surrounded by the same trees that bore pretty white flowers.
"Whoaa, awesome!!!" The little reindeer's round eyes gleamed with total amusement. Sanji and Zoro smirked. It really was a beautiful sigh to behold. The flawless water surface reflected the trees that grew on its edges and the clear blue sky above. The white flower petals dotted the clean water surface and the warm breeze blew through the trees, bringing the pleasant fragrant of the flowers to the three appreciative audiences currently standing nearby. Unfortunately, they didn't have that much time before dusk to enjoy the view longer so they decided to move on and begin scouring the area for any foods.
"Chopper, you and marimo could begin searching around the left side area of the lake. I'll go to the right side area, okay?" Sanji said. "We should meet up again at this spot around three hours from now. Make sure that idiot over there not straying alone and got himself lost."
"Shut the fuck up, bastard!" Said the swordsman heatedly, making the blonde snickered inwardly. Sometimes he deliberately said or did something more than necessary just to irritate the grumpy swordsman. It was just too tempting.
"Sure, Sanji! You can count on me!" Chopper said seriously.
"Just shut up, Chopper!" Sanji could still hear the green head barked at Chopper who told him to not wander more than three metres radius from him while their little group went toward separate ways. The cook snickered softly at that. Zoro sounded cute sometimes................. Wait, What?!!
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Not long after they started, Zoro and Chopper had found some overgrown wild berries vegetation not far from the lake. They gathered as many fruits as they could then decided to explore the area a little more before going back to the meeting point. Chopper had been thinking to try finding some plants for his medicines as well but later cancelled it since he didn't think they have enough time. The two crew mates then stumbled upon an abandoned cottage which roof had partially collapsed and the door had rotten. The insides of the small building wasn't in better condition than the outside. Clattered kitchenwares and broken furnitures inside were covered with dirt. Some Bushes and weeds had grown from under the rotten floorboards. They searched for any useful journal or notes but the only written thing they found was a slightly tattered pocket-sized cooking book. Most of the pages were still intact and readable. It had some collection of weird looking recipes that was alien to Zoro but he thought the cook might be interested so he took it with him. After that, they headed back to meet Sanji at the edge of the lake.
"Zoro! Chopper!" A happy voice that couldn't be mistakenly belonged to a certain captain called from above them.
"Luffy? What are you doing here?" The little doctor tilted his head up towards a tree nearby where Luffy was perching on a rather unstable branch.
"Looking for adventure!" Came the answer. The boy looked back at his two crew members as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Luffy, you idiot! How many time have I told you to wait up?!" Nami's angry yell was heard not a minute after.
"Chopper and Zoro? Why are you here?" Nami appeared from under a thick bush, looking like she was just being chased by a herd of elephant. "Let me guess, your group went way off course because of Zoro." She sighed tiredly.
"What the hell are you talking about, witch? We're in the right direction." The swordsman started.
"No Zoro, you're supposed to explore east, not west. But why should I waste my time explaining this to an idiot who think up is north? Chopper, why did you and Sanji let this happened?" She already turned to Chopper before Zoro could snap back. The reindeer fidgeted and muttered an apology while struggling to put the complicated situation he and Sanji were experiencing into words to the hot-tempered girl.
"Stop bullying him, witch. If you want someone to blame go bitchin' on the damn cook." Said Zoro.
"Shut up, Zoro! We're wasting precious time because of you. I'm adding two thousands belis to your debt."
"What??!!"
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Sanji have been exploring a bit too far from his original intention but since he hadn't been able to find anything, he supposed it was okay. He decided to go further on his track, determined to find something for his Nami-swan when he came back to the ship. The area wasn't grown with as much trees as before and it had turned much quieter since no birds seemed to fly around there and the wind didn't have a lot of leaves to blow through. Suddenly he sensed something was off and decided to stop and listen more carefully. There were ruffling sounds of dry leaves and the cracking sound of dead branch behind him and instantly he knew he was being followed. The blonde smirked. He supposed he was quite lucky. He didn't have to find any animals to hunt, they found him. From the sound of it, the animal probably was a medium sized predator so it would be very easy for him to kill. The sounds got closer and the blonde turned sharply and prepared himself to face anything that was going to come out from behind a bush where the sounds were coming from. Something was coming out of the thick bush and the cook prepared to dodge an attack when blurs of a very familiar blonde appeared before him.
"It's you?! Why the hell are you following me?!!" Sanji barked at the other blonde who was still busy dusting some leaves off of his green shirt with flower pattern on it.
"What are you talking about? I'm here first!" He said.
"You're the worst liar I've ever known! Just admit it. You followed me!" Accused Sanji.
"No, I'm not! Just so you know, you're the last person I'd want to follow. Where are Zoro and Chopper?"
"They're not here. We split up to save some time to gather anything useful we could find. They're exploring the left area from the lake and hopefully your dearest marimo wouldn't get in Chopper's way or get lost again."
"Don't call Zoro-kun that, stupid cook!"
"or what, pansy shirt?" Sanji taunted.
"or you'll be very sorry later."
"Baka cook, are you threatening me?!"
"No, I'm giving you an advice."
"You think I'm crazy? Why would I take any advice from you of all people?"Sanji scoffed mockingly.
"Because I'm right." Sunny said, "And by the way, yes, I think you're crazy and stupid."
"Ok, that's it! We'll see if your kick is as fierce as your filthy mouth, lake boy!" Sanji snarled and got into a fighting stance which was mirrored by the other blonde.
"Gentlemen, I thought I heard your voices nearby." Robin's calm voice interrupted the two blondes.
"Robin" said Sunny.
"Robin-chwaaann!!" Sanji instantly beamed at the approaching Archaeologist who smiled slightly at him.
"I didn't expect to meet you here, Sanji-kun but I suppose it's not surprising as well." She said knowingly. But then again you don't have to be a genius to guess how or to be exact, who had caused the other group to be lost and ended up on the completely opposite direction.
"Robin-chan, you're so smart! As you know, our team has the disadvantage of having a complete moron who's always lost."Sanji said with hearts in his eyes. The raven haired archaeologist aware that the other cook would snap at Sanji's insult on their green haired swordsman so she interrupted again before Sunny could say anything to Sanji.
"Looks like it's getting dark soon. Let's find the others and head back to the ship."
"Wonderful idea, Robin-chan! I told Chopper to meet up at the clearing at the south side of the lake. I'll lead you there." With that, the three of them started walking toward the destined place.
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"Nami-swaaaaann!!" Sanji called lovingly when their little group approached the clearing and saw the orange haired girl walked back and forth while occasionally wrote something on the paper she had in her hand. Usopp and Franky were standing nearby with big backpacks on their backs.
"Hey, why are they here?" Sunny voiced his curiosity.
"Great, everyone's here!" Said the navigator to the arriving straw hats. "We have a new plan, guys. Since we didn't meet our goals today, I think it's better to camp here until we find all the things we need . This island is bigger than I had predicted and I doubt we could gather all of it before sunset tomorrow so I think it's best to not waste more time going out and coming back to The Sunny by setting our temporary base here."
"What about our ship?" asked Sunny.
"Franky and Usopp had moved it to a small cove nearby before I asked them to come here with camping tools. The Sunny will be safe there until we finish. Luckily, I brought mini den den mushi with me so we don't need to go back to tell them." Nami grinned and paused briefly before continuing, ignoring Sanji who was babbling about how lucky he was to be in the company of a beautiful and intelligent lady like her. "I told Luffy, Chopper, and Zoro to get some dry woods half an hour ago, they'll be back soon."
"Great planning there, girlie. Let's start setting up our camp." Franky said.
"Do we have enough to cook?" Sanji asked, a tad worried about his crew well being. This part of the island didn't seem to have plenty to eat.
"I bring some food supply we have left from the kitchen. Luffy caught a wild boar a while ago and Chopper and Zoro got a lot of berries. I think we should have enough until tomorrow morning." Usopp patted his big bloating backpack where he stuffed as many food from the galley as he can in it.
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The day was getting dark soon. The straw hats had all gathered on the clearing and were currently busy with their own tasks helping to set up the camp.
"Luffy!!! What did I tell you about not making a crazy bonfire?! Do you want all the marines to come here?!!" Nami punched and shrieked at the rubber boy who had built a massive bonfire instead of a camp fire like she had asked him to make.
"But Nami, you said there's nobody live here." Luffy whined while rubbing his sore head and pouted at the navigator who suddenly grew fangs on her mouth.
"Sis, think about what captain bro said. It would be super when we lit it." Franky tried to persuade the navigator.
"You helped him built it didn't you?!!" Nami grinned darkly that enough to make a big man like Franky gulped and back away a little.
"How am I supposed to cook on that?" Sunny enquired.
"Oi, I'm cooking tonight!" Sanji, who heard the other cook, quickly bellowed from his spot where he and Robin had finished setting up a tent for the girls.
Meanwhile, Usopp and Chopper were trying their luck to catch something from the lake with their fishing poles. Zoro was lounging nearby since Usopp insisted that they would need him if they catch something huge from the lake, like a nessy or something. The swordsman rolled his eyes and said it was impossible and that they shouldn't go fishing if they were scared, but he didn't leave his spot either. He supposed he could use the opportunity to take a brief nap before dinner.
"Usopp, I think I catch something!" Chopper squealed excitedly and began to reel but the fish seemed to be stubborn and resisted the pull.
"Reel it in while it's not struggling, Chopper!" Usopp told him.
"I'm trying, but it doesn't move!" The reindeer said.
"Zoro, help! Chopper caught something big!" Usopp told the sleeping swordsman.
"Huh?" The green head cracked his eyes opened and looked at the two panicked straw hats. He stood up and put down the three swords on his waist carefully then pull off his haramaki and his shirt as well.
"What are you doing?! Quick, the string's gonna snap!" The sharpshooter screeched at Zoro.
"Calm down, I'm coming!" The swordsman got into the lake and swam to where the 'stubborn fish' were. It was quite deep down there so Zoro could dive in and found out that the 'fish' was actually a sunken log of tree. Those silly kids, he told them there was no fish in this lake but they didn't listen.
He swam up to the surface to told them, "Oi, it's a tree log. I'm going to unhook the fishing hook, don't pull it, okay?"
As soon as he saw Chopper nodded, he dove back in to do his job. He began to swim back up once he finished but suddenly he felt someone pulled his waist from behind. The green head jerked his head and his eyes widened to find a very familiar dark green eyes looking back at him.
"Why don't you take a rest for a while? I'll help you in the meantime." The man's smirk was filled with similar confidence and slight arrogance such as his. And then all the green head could see was blankness.
to be continued....
Hope the plot isn't too boring... There are not much happening between Sanji, Zoro, or Sunny yet. But I need to write this first to set up the plot on the new island...
Review please? :3