Setting Sail

"I don't want three drunken men on this ship!" - Nami

Golden morning light danced among the floating dust particles as Nami opened her eyes to the silence. She had imagined the sounds of running thongs on the deck and the hissing of the frying pan as Sanji cooked breakfast and the shouts of a green swordsman as he tried to shut the captain up. She half expected Chopper to come charging into her room with tears from Usopp's latest horror story, asking him if the Blood Sucker's were real and if they really did like reindeer blood best. Nami sat up in her bed and envisioned that Robin sat at the desk in the corner, several hands turning the pages. But there was nothing. In the distant she could hear the clock toll seven times in the town. She hurriedly pulled on some daytime clothes and ran to the deck. She stopped as a tall thin man stood against the sunrise, a battered old suitcase in one gloved hand, dark hair, like his brother's, slicked down tighter than the skin on his narrow skull. He wore a black suit with a high collar and long blue pants. She jumped over the railing of the Going Merry.

"Are you…?"

The man turned around.

"…Sirence?" She stepped backwards to look into his face properly. He was tall. Very tall. Another head and a half onto Sanji's height – maybe more, definitely taller then Robin.

Sirence pressed something into her hands. "Das diagramm." He looked up at the approaching robot armed man as Nami opened the scroll. It was the map to Acropolis Island, fine featured; every rock was etched delicately into the parchment for there were a lot of rocks. The paper smelt of an incalculable age.

Bronze led the laden cart up to Nami. "I brought along with me some supplies. Couldn't leave the good grog behind, Hammer-boy would go crazy."

In response to the mention of his brother, Sirence lifted his glasses higher on his nose. Nami pulled her gaze away from the map and stared at the cart.

"I'm not having all that on board!" She cried, gesturing wildly at the grog. "I don't want three drunken men on this ship!"

Bronze snorted through his nose, creating a large gust of air that stirred the dust. "Don't worry, captain, I don't think Sirence drinks…do you?" The tall man made no motion, leaving the bartender with an annoyed expression. "And Toga…well…he can't hold his liquor, drops after one or two glasses."

Nami sighed and rolled the map up. "Come on to the ship then."

"AYE CAPTAIN!" Bronze hefted the grog from the cart and followed Nami onto the Going Merry's deck.

"This is the deck," she said, showing the robot armed man with the metal chest. "That door through there is the supplies. Up there is the kitchen," Bronze clapped his hands in anticipation, "and the bunks and such are below." She spotted a tall figure by her tangerine bushes. Nami clomped up the stairs, pieced together her clima tact and ran through the unsuspecting Sirence - hitting him square in the lower back. "Number one rule," she snapped as the man searched for his glasses and picked himself off the floorboards. "Never touch my tangerines or I will make you hurt very much."

Bronze tsk-tsked Sirence as he humbly walked into the kitchen rubbing his lower back. "You already made the captain angry!" He beamed as his eyes swept over the kitchen. "Ah!" He gushed, "Such a beautiful kitchen you have, captain, all trimmed and clean!"

Nami sadly touched a hanging pot. "You'll be nice to it?" She asked, no longer angry.

"I shall give every utensil all my respect," he replied honorably, making Nami smile. He nudged the silent man as Nami stalked out onto the deck. "I made her smile!"

Sirence bared his teeth.

Nami stepped out onto the deck steaming, blocking the seven o'clock glare with a hand. She strained her sight along the docks. "Where is the idiot?" she hissed and turned to his older brother, craning her neck as she did so. "What's taking Toga so long?"

The man stared blankly down at her.

At last, after the distant town clock struck eight, a burly blacksmith appeared with a sack slung over his shoulder and a gleam in his smile. He looked up at the ship with awe. "Guess I got 'ere firs'!"

Nami leaned angrily over the railings. "What the hell took you so long?" She yelled.

"Don't get angry, girlie-Capt.', jus' cause I'm a few minutes late…"

"A few minutes late," she snorted. "Mr. Bronze and Sirence have been here for over an hour!"

Toga grinned off Nami's dangerous vibes as he clambered aboard. "No rush, no rush," he assured her, before his eyes narrowed and fell onto his older brother. "Guess he found is way 'ere – I don't even think we told him where the ship was docked."

Nami massaged her forehead muttering to herself. "Okay, keep it together. You can keep sane with Luffy; you can keep sane with these guys no problem." She pointed to the horizon. "Okay, we're heading north, to Acropolis!"

Toga saluted. "Aye aye, captain!" He followed Bronze to the steering.

Nami looked back concerned. "North is in that direction."

The blacksmith laughed heartily. "I mightn't know how ta read or write, girlie-mate, but I know where to point me nose." He leaned against the steering stick as Bronze let down the sails.

Nami breathed in the salty air as Going Merry turned her head to sea.

Sanji pressed his swollen check to the cold iron bars and closed his eyes. In his mind's eye he could picture Nami, pulled into the tides of frightened bodies, he feared she had been knocked to the ground and trampled mercilessly by fleeing feet. He opened his eyes and watched Luffy charge at the bars again, hitting the iron with a clang, and then melting to the ground with a groan. Sanji went to his aid.

"Luffy," he grunted, moving the rubber boy, "give it a rest, you're tiring yourself out."

The captain eased himself onto his feet and glared at the bars. "I have to get to Zoro and Chopper!" He charged forward shouting.

Usopp stuck a leg out. Luffy tripped and slammed head-first into the bars. "Achhh," he groaned, "what are we going to do? I'm going to die here – I know it!"

"Hush," said Robin, supporting a bloodied wrist, "we must be patient."

Usopp ignored Luffy's groans and sighed, rubbing the raw bruise at the back of his neck. "Yeah, patience."

Sanji dragged Luffy away from the bars.

Giri: Hi I finally updated! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Oh! And when Sirence speaks the translation will be at the bottom - here.

Das diagramm the map

Sirence is a play on the word "silence", but the Japanese say 'r' instead of 'l'...except with Luffy, which is definitely an 'L' and not an 'r'.