Yayness! Special thanks go out to my reviewers zenfry-kun, Gothy Wolfie-san, White Butterfly-san and sanji-luver-chan, who took the warning to heart. You made this ickle otaku happy with nice words and sly guesses about future plot. Sad to say, but I only threaten because reviews are my life's reward. I do not in any way own One Piece.


Illicit Memories

Assassin's Arc: Rivalry

No one was sure how long it had been since the arrival of the new crewmen, but in all actuality, it had been nine days before the first major problem arose. Gormal was sitting lazily in the crow's nest, looking towards the horizon. Life on the Merry Go had become fairly boring as the job of deck hand mainly consisted of sitting in the crow's nest and watching out for other ships. Neither a ship nor land had been seen in days and the rest of the crew was becoming rather restless.

"You're a complete idiot, you know that, right?" Gormal heard Yume scream. He peered over the side of the crow's nest to see his captain and the Mugiwara first mate engaged in a heated argument.

"You ignorant man! How dare you think that you can become the greatest swordsman in the world!" Yume yelled. "I have just as much chance as you do when it comes to beating Hawkeye!" She shoved some of her raven hair behind her ear in frustration. Since first joining the crew, the Merry Go had stopped in a port and Yume bought herself some clothes to replace the ones she lost at sea and was now donning a pair of calf-high brown boots, black pants and a deep red long sleeved shirt that was the exact same color as her eyes. Her hair, though pushed back with a crimson headband she tied around her hair, still fell into her eyes sometimes. Yume's new appearance made Zoro dislike her even more, not wanting to take her as a serious swordswoman.

"At least I have a shot of becoming the best swordsman! You have no chance! Mihawk and I are men. We're always going to be stronger!" Zoro retorted. "Why don't you just give up!"

"You have no idea as to what I'm capable of!"

"None of it will do you any good in the end..."

"Prick!"

"Bitch!"

Both Yume and Zoro put a hand on their respective swords before the remaining Mugiwara Kaizokudan took notice.

"Leave her alone Zoro!" Nami called from the other side of the ship. She and Robin had been attempting to have a pleasant conversation, thought it was being rudely interrupted by the loud bickering.

"Yeah, how dare you challenge a woman as lovely as Yume-chan to a duel, stupid marimo-head," Sanji added, popping his head out the galley door.

"I'll challenge who I want to, damn shit-cook!" Zoro snapped back. He could see the disgusted look Sanji gave him as he returned back to his work.

"Let's settle this, right here and now," Yume said. "Who's the better with a sword." She unsheathed the sword on her back and stood in a warrior's stance. "Come on, unless you'll think that you'll lose."

"I'll make you eat those words," Zoro growled, placing his white sword in his mouth. Drawing the other two, he readied himself for the fight.

"You know," Gormal called from the crow's nest, "I doubt that you two should fight on the ship. It's already half-busted. You two'd only make it worse."

"Stay out of this! It's not your fight!" Zoro responded.

"Just be thankful I'm not already down there to beat on you for wanting to fight her," Gormal said, nonchalantly pointing at the swordsfighters. "She's like my elder sister and if anything happens to her because of you, you're dead."

"Thanks for the warning," the green-haired man muttered. "Like I'm really worried about what you are going to do to me."

"Yeah. You should be more worried about what I'm going to do to you!" Yume shouted, charging at Zoro. She ran as fast as she could at him, immediately dropping to the floor and sliding when she got in range of his swords. Taking her own sword, she swung upwards, catching the bottom of Zoro's swords. Without thinking, she landed a rather firm kick in an area that was more than sensitive and while he was incapacitated, she was able to stand up and drive her elbow between his shoulder blades, sending Zoro down into the deck.

"Augh! Bitch!" Zoro cursed. He stood up and faced the laughing woman, swords ready. "You're gonna pay for that!"

"Am I now?" Yume smiled. She twirled the hilt of her sword and placed it back in the scabbard. "Next time we reach land, we're having a duel to see who's better, got it?"

"Right, then this one does not count then, huh?" Zoro said with spite. He had to restrain himself from attempting to relive her shoulder of the burden her head was. The swordsman growled as he watched Yume walk off, relishing in her personal victory. He sheathed his own swords and began to walk over to the shade of the mikan trees for a nap.

"Oi," he heard from above. It was Gormal up in the crow's nest. "Are you just going to let a lass like that get the best of you?"

"No. Our fight isn't over," Zoro muttered. He then looked up and saw Gormal's smug face. "What are you laughing about, shit-head?"

"Now that's not very nice," Gormal snickered, joyously basking in the swordsman's irritability. "You better hope to hell that I don't take offence."

"...and what if you do?"

"I'll beat your arse... or better yet, have my captain do it for me," the deck hand smirked. He went and laid back down and closed his eyes in order to properly bask in the sunlight. He did not see the rude hand gesture directed towards him and went peacefully to sleep. They were scheduled to reach land the following day and he wanted to rest up for what was sure to be an exciting one indeed.

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"There it is!" shouted Luffy, bouncing happily on top of his ram's head perch. "Land! I can see land!"

"Yay! Finally!" Usopp cheered.

"Alright then, get ready to man the longboats," Nami ordered, spreading a map out before her. "There are some shoals close to the shore that will prevent the ship from being within five hundred meters of the island. We have to anchor right where we are."

"Umm, not to be rude, but shouldn't the captain be giving those orders?" Maon asked Nami sheepishly.

"Do you really think he's gonna give an order like that?" Nami asked casually, jutting her thumb over towards the rubber-man captain. Maon nodded his head in blank agreement and walked over to the longboat in preparation as Luffy and Usopp went inside the ships' hold to drop anchor.

"Someone looks a bit shaken," Yume snickered as she snuck up behind her nakama. "What's the matter?"

"Something's gonna happen today if we go to that island," Maon said, glancing warily at the mass of earth on the horizon. "It's a bad feeling, like one of us won't come back as we are now."

"You're nutters," Yume laughed slightly. She put her arm around Maon's shoulder and whispered in his ear. "I'm only gonna have a honor duel with our mission and then he'll be fully offed."

"Honor duel...?"

"Yeah. He challenged me on the ship and thinks he has a better chance of killing me on land. Nothing much."

"What'cha whispering 'bout?" Luffy asked, butting into the conversation.

"Oh, nothing!" Yume said, turning around and giving the captain a grin. "When are we going ashore?"

"As soon as Sanji's done packing our lunches!" Luffy said, unaware of Yume and Maon's conversation. Everyone else waited patiently, some more than others, and when the blond man finally emerged from the galley, Luffy seemed so happy that he was going to explode. The Mugiwara Kaizokudan carefully piled into the longboat and cast off for shore.

About twenty minutes and a few rounds of unnecessary cook/swordsman squabbling later, the ten pirates landed ashore. Zoro and Sanji immediately jumped out of the boat and began fighting, having been restricted to only name-calling earlier. Nami sighed as she got out of the boat and muttered something about men as she went off to find a good picnic spot with Robin in tow. Usopp, Luffy and Chopper were cheering on their fighting crewmates. This left Yume, Gormal and Maon to wander off on their own. The trio decided that it would be beneficial to go trekking through the copse of trees that covered most of the sandy island.

"Hm, no one's here. This island seems to be free of a human's touch," Maon observed as he followed closely behind Gormal.

"Eh, this place has 'pirate hangout' all over it," Yume said.

"Yeah, there are paths and such all about the woods," Gormal noted, pointing out the worn places where those before them had stepped. "I swear Maon, you're no good just going off by yourself. Just because there's no one else here doesn't mean that there weren't others here before."

"Right Gormal," Maon said as he sidestepped a fallen piece of fruit that had been overly ripe. "Wait, Yume-san?"

"Yes Maon-kun?"

"What happens if you aren't able to complete the fight you wanted today?"

"Then it's time for our apothecary to shine," she smiled, looking back at the redheaded man. Yume plucked a leaf from a tree and handed it to Maon. "You know what to do."

"You're going to try to seduce him?" Gormal questioned. "I highly doubt you would be able to pull it off."

"Sure I can. Just a few more days for the magic potion and get us alone on a night watch shift change. Simple!"

"I don't know," Moan said, twirling the leaf in his hand. "Maybe I should try one of my illusions. What you want to do was risky enough the first time. I hope you remember that the last attempt at this nearly killed you..."

"...and you ended up just stabbing the target to death," Gormal added. "A complete waste of talent and skills."

"The past, the past," Yume scoffed. She pulled her necklace out from underneath her shirt and began to play with it, revealing that there was a simple golden band attached. "I think this one is going to work. He's a pirate doing rounds at sea. No wife, no known lover, he's probably dying for it."

"I still don't like the idea," Gormal protested.

"Listen, I'll be fine," Yume assured. "You're just being over-protective."

"We can't help it," Maon smirked. "Yume-san, your going to always be our captain and we swore loyalty until the end."

"A girl couldn't have asked for better nakama," Yume sighed. The three shared a laugh until Gormal suddenly stopped and glanced around, looking cautiously at the surroundings.

"Hey!" Luffy's voice sounded happily, accompanied by a mirthful laugh. He bounded into the middle of his false crewmates and smiled. "Has anyone seen Nami?"

"No," Yume said, placing the necklace back discreetly. "Why? Are you looking for her?"

"Yeah! She took all the meat with her!" Luffy whined. Gormal gave a slight snigger as Yume led Luffy over towards another path in the trees and disappeared.

"Do you trust her judgement Gormal?" Maon asked as he plucked some more of the leaves from the tree.

"I always trust Yume-san's judgement," Gormal answered. "It is just the actions of all the other blokes I have a problem with. Her inherited power is going to fail her one of these days." He leaned up against a tree and sighed. "You know what I mean, right?"

"Of course," Maon said as he finished stuffing leaves into his pocket. "That should be enough to make a fast-acting elixir."

"How fast is that?"

"Seven days."

"Great," Gormal groaned. He then started walking away. "Come on and let's find those gits with our lunch."

"Right then!" Maon said happily, following his nakama closely.

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"Are you ready for this?" Zoro sneered.

"You bet," Yume smirked.

"Alright," Nami said in an official voice as she stood between the two swordsfighters. "This is a fight for bragging rights and training. Keep the injuries minor, got that? Chopper's medicine is starting to run low from all the bickering at sea." She paused, as if expecting a response from Zoro and Yume. Instead, they just stared at one another fiercely. "Fine," she sighed, stepping away. "Begin."

In an instant, both fighters let out a burst of energy and three katana clashed violently with a singular longsword. They stood frozen before one another in the grassy field, debating on their next moves. It was a process that seemed to bore some of the onlookers.

"I don't get it, why doesn't the baka marimo move already?" Sanji moaned, leaning back casually against a tree. "I mean, it's bad enough that he had to pick a fight with Yume-chan."

"You obviously have no understanding of swordplay. You know, I remember..."Usopp said in a voice that his crewmates recognized as his bragging voice. All but Chopper sighed as they began to tune the long-nosed teen out.

"Gormal, do you understand why Yume and Zoro are being so stubborn?" Luffy asked. He looked over at his first mate dodging a strike and pouted. "I don't get it at all."

"I think it has something to do with pride," Gormal said, half a smile on his face. "Yume-san has always had a very high sense of pride and when Zoro challenged her the other day, that pride was damaged. She retaliated and Zoro did not like the outcome. Now they are having a duel for their pride." Gormal pointed over towards the battle for Luffy to pay attention to. "See how they both are moving on their toes near constantly? That shows how they are really letting themselves go at one another. I doubt that this fight will cease until one is either unconscious or dead."

"Oh. I get it a bit better now," Luffy said. Then his face turned sad. "Why do they have to kill each other for pride? They really should just blow it off and forget about it."

"I don't think they're going to kill each other," Nami said lazily. "My money is on both getting beaten to a pulp."

"Wanna bet on it?" Maon said. Nami gained a twinkle in her eyes.

"Sure!" she exclaimed. "I say they're going to tie."

"Yume-san wins," Maon countered. "I bet a hundred berri."

"You're on," Nami grinned.

"I bet that Zoro'll win!" Usopp said, having finished his tale for Chopper. He placed a bill of money on the tree stump that had become the betting table and grinned. Robin, Luffy, Sanji and Gormal just sighed.

"You idiots are never going to beat Nami-san," Sanji muttered, lighting up another cigarette and taking a nicely needed drag.

"Don't worry, we'll beat her," Usopp said gleefully. "One of them has to lose."

"It's not proper to bet on our nakama's quarrel," Gormal scolded rather blandly.

"You too Gormal?" Maon half-cried. "Why does no one wish to back us up?"

"...because you're a bunch of fools," Gormal said before Sanji could add his own quip. Crystal blue eyes watched as both of the fighters landed blows on a shoulder. For a few seconds, Zoro and Yume stood there in exasperated fury, but then collapsed there in the grass simultaneously.

"Pay up boys!" Nami chuckled. Usopp and Maon were caught dumbstruck as Nami claimed her prize.

"I will get the longboat," Robin said calmly as she walked off.

"I'll help you," Gormal added as he followed the woman to the shore. Luffy followed Chopper over to the fallen fighters and watched the reindeer panic.

"Oh no!" Chopper squealed. "They've lost so much blood! These wounds are awful! They're both going to be held for at least two weeks for this!" He rushed back and forth from one to the other, random medical instruments appearing out of thin air and assisting the young doctor. Luffy gave a slight smile as Gormal and Robin reappeared with the longboat.

"All for pride," he said, just barely over a whisper. "You two are going to be great swordsfighters. I can guarantee it."


Author's Notes

So, am I keeping it on the level? No confusion? Any questions? Please ask in the review. Foreshadowing and stuff was done, yadah, yadah...

BIG NEWS: I have gone through and decided that I was going to reformat the chapter titles so that they were identified in arcs, as well as the singular chapter title. I will change the previous chapter text to incorporate this concept. This means lots and lots of chapters for the future. So far, there are eight arcs with a good possibility of being many chapters each. You're really gonna be sick of me by the time this fiction is over. -winks-

Keep them reviews coming! Morale is high! Will I make it to the Oregon Territory or will my oxen die of consumption? I should begin writing story now! Whee!


Edits: dividing lines, Robin's name (I might make further changes later. This chapter never sat well with me.)