Chapter 7: How it All Began, Part One

After a quick dinner provided by Sanji, for it was already rather late in the evening and the sun was throwing beautiful reds, pinks, and oranges out across the bottom of the sky, the Straw Hats decided to get some much needed rest. Chopper and Sanji were alright, if you didn't count the fact that Chopper was anemic after his apparent encounter with Fenrir Cain, the woman vampire. The mood on the ship was dark and quiet. The Going Merry felt strangely empty without their boisterous captain and ever-sleepy first mate. Even Sanji wasn't his usual self, failing to be as lady-happy was the norm for him. Nami reached a new conclusion: Perhaps Sanji only doted on women so much nowadays to annoy the hell outta Marimo. Those two were like close brothers.

That night, Nami had a strange dream about chains squeezing the life out of a chunk of meat that she really wanted, while near by a chunk of moss was chained to a rock, unable to move. Then the dream switched to the Battle for Arlong Park, only this time Luffy was killed by the evil fishman. She woke in a cold sweat, sure her beloved captain was dead.

There was a big ache in her chest. She looked at Robin, who was sleeping soundly, though the archaeologist wore a pained expression. For a second, Nami was confused. Why would Robin be having a nightmare? But then she remembered that Luffy wasn't dead at all, though that could change any moment. In fact, he had been genderbent and kidnapped by the Manacle Pirates, to be sold into slavery on the nearby Tsuki Island.

They would rescue their captain and first mate, or they would die trying.

How many times had Luffy and Zoro, now Lucy and Zoe, done the same for them?

Well, at least the Manacle Pirates had overlooked the gold they'd earned from their hard-won battle on Skypiea.

Maybe it was a bit sappy of her, but Nami found herself thinking of the day everything changed. Not yesterday, when two of the Straw Hats were kidnapped, but the day before, when they docked on Taiyo Island. As she recalled, Luffy (still male at the time) had been thrilled.


XxxFLASHBACKxxX


The sun shone warmly overhead, radiating down on the good salt water. A pirate ship with a goat figurehead proudly and cheerfully flew a Jolly Roger wearing a Straw Hat. The Going Merry and her crew had just escaped from the G-8 Base and was well on her way to the last leg of her journey.

"You're awesome, Merry!" Luffy cheered, still not really getting over the fact that his ship had flown through the sky in order to escape Marines... even if it had been helped a little by a squid and some bad gas (don't ask). He turned to Nami, mood unable to be deterred. "Oi, Nami, when are we gonna land at the next island?"

The redhead sighed and rubbed her head. She should really start seeing Chopper about that headache. Being with this crazy crew day and night was starting to grate on her health.

"I'd say a little over two hours," Nami calculated, checking both her precious map and her even more precious Log Pose. Her gaze lingered on her wrist for a second. The large gold ring around it had been a gift from her adoptive sister, Nojiko, whom she hadn't seen in what must've been going on three months now. Smiling softly at the memory of her purple-haired sibling, Nami shook herself out of the past and glanced up at Luffy, who was now bouncing uncontrollably on the figurehead - - his "special captain's seat," though nobody quite knew why it was so special. Not even Robin, which was really saying something. The rest of them were doing about their daily chores - - Usopp was working on some new Sure-Kill Star and trying not to burn his eyes out due to the spiciness, Sanji was posing as look out, Zoro (having filled his training quota for the day) was sleeping, Chopper was fishing, and she and Robin had reclined on twin lawn chairs on the front deck. They'd chosen the front over the back simply because the sun was nicer there today.

"Really!?" he squealed like a girl, throwing his hands up in the air, his grin growing even wider (something Nami had thought impossible). "You're awesome, Nami!"

She blushed and quickly covered her cheeks with the map, peeking over it to see if he'd noticed.

The idiot rubberboy hadn't.

Nami wasn't quite sure about her feelings toward him. He was more hyperactive than a hyena on steroids, acted on impulse, loved adventure, and had a total inability to think when it came to the importance of money, which they were currently swimming in, ironically enough. On the other hand, she felt the nearly insatiable urge to squeal and wrap the innocent teen up in a rubbery hug whenever he grinned and giggled at her - - which he did a remarkable number of times for a seventeen-year-old. The navigator often found herself pounding Luffy hard enough to send a charging water buffalo flying, just to shove her growing feelings for him on the back burner.

Luffy was her captain. He was also pretty much asexual, never showing any interest at all towards either females or males.

The chances of him finding a love interest in her? Slim to none.

'Still...' she found herself wishing, 'I'd like it if he'd deepen our relationship a little...'

Her cheeks tinged darker pink, bordering on red. The Straw Hats' newest recruit, Nico Robin, raised an eye brow at Nami.

"You're blushing, Navigator-san," the sly woman noted, smiling softly as she turned a page. "I hope the heat isn't too much for you."

"S-Shut up," she mumbled, blushing harder. Robin knew perfectly well what was going on. She'd confessed her recent Luffy obsession to the archaeologist the other night and had been a bit surprised when Robin had admitted that she, too, had been growing affectionate toward one of their crew members... albeit, the apple of her eye was Roronoa Zoro.

"Should I ask Captain-san to fetch a cold rag and hold it against your forehead?"

"I-I-I said, shut up!"

"You're flustered, Navigator-san."

Frowning at the older woman, Nami sunk deeper into her lawn chair and studied her map intently. She had just gotten over her embarrassment when a narrow burst of flames shot up into the sky from the lower deck, along with a strangled cry of pain. Jumping in shock and a little fear, she glanced down.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?"

"Did somebody steal my meat!?" Luffy yelled, comically angered.

Robin looked over her shoulder, blinking. "Perhaps someone hurt themselves."

Chopper was so surprised he slipped backwards off the railing and landed painfully on his back.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot! My face is peeling off!"

Usopp was rolling around on the deck, clutching his face and blubbering in pain. A puddle of what seemed to be the newest version of his Tabasco Star lay next to him. Nami put two and two together.

"Oh, it's just Usopp," the redhead said, rolling her eyes and sitting back down on her lawn chair.

Luffy blinked and stopped cracking his knuckles. "So nobody stole my meat?"

"Doctor! We need a doctor!" their reindeer doctor shrieked, running circles around the main mast in panic. "Usopp's in trouble!"

"But you're the doctor," Sanji called, amused.

"Yowch! It burns! It burns, I tell you!"

"Huh. I was sure somebody stole my meat..."

A little while later, Chopper had tended to Usopp's rather pink face, everybody had returned to their jobs, Zoro was still sleeping, and Luffy had just started complaining about how hungry he was. Thankfully, Sanji saw something that distracted the one-mind captain.

"Nami-swan~! Robin-chwan~! And the rest of you bastards!" he barked, grinning. "Land ho!"

"You see the island!?" Luffy gasped, spinning around on his seat. "HOORAY!" He jumped off the figurehead and ran down to Usopp, who had given up on his weapon-making in favor of helping Chopper fish. Then Luffy started dancing with both the sniper and the doctor.

They sang, "Adventure~! Adventure~! We're gonna have an adventure~!"

Robin looked up from her book. "Nami," she said, "what is the name of the island we're headed for?"

"Well, by aligning the course the Log Pose is taking on with the G-8 Base and some maps," Nami mused, "I'd say we're stopping here." She leaned over and showed the map to Robin, tapping on a circular island with lines of reefs sticking out from it to make it look like a child's badly drawn Sun. "It's called Taiyo Island. This map that I stole from those Marines doesn't say much about it, though."

The archaeologist frowned, looking at her book. "Taiyo Island? I thought so. This nautical novel mentions an island in the Grand Line by the name of Taiyo Island. Apparently, it has a curse on it, though it doesn't go into much detail..."

The Idiot Trio froze.

Luffy's eyes lit up. "A curse!? AWESOME!"

"Scary!" Chopper squeaked, hiding behind the main mast the wrong way.

Usopp's eyes bugged out and he clutched his throat, sinking to the floor dramatically. "Oh, no!" he moaned. "I've suddenly come down with If-I-Go-To-That-Island-I'll-Die Disease! It must've been brought on by those burns from earlier!"

The little reindeer fell for it hook, line, and sinker. "Guys! We can't go there, Usopp'll die!"

"There's no such disease," Nami informed Chopper bluntly.

His eyes widened and he stepped out from behind the mast. "Oh, you mean it was lie?"

Robin giggled and Sanji immediately swooned at the sound.

"Mellorine~!" the perverted cook gasped, eyes heart-shaped.

"This island is gonna be awesome!" Luffy declared, stretching back to his special seat and peering at the ocean.


"WHOA! LOOK AT THOSE SQUIRRELS! THEY'RE FLYING! That's so cool!"

"And those fish are flying out of the water. I wonder how good they'd taste fried with rice and rolled in seaweed..."

"Yosh! Look here, young Chopper, and observe as I, the great and legendary Captain Usopp, fires down an army of those flaming deer!"

"Eh!? Really!? AMAZING, USOPP! You're a hero!"

"Snork - - Huh? Wait, where are we? ...Am I still dreaming?"

Nami sweatdropped as she regarded her crewmates. "I'm surrounded by idiots," she deadpanned.

Robin, dressed in her normal purple jacket, white undershirt, purple hat, and purple pants, stepped forward next to her with a soft giggle. "Let them have their fun," she told Nami. "We just got back from a tough battle on a land in the sky. An island like this is a perfect place to relax, wouldn't you agree?"

The navigator sputtered and pointed at the coastline. "B-B-Bu-But those deer are on fire! They're wrapped in more flames than Luffy's older brother! That can't be natural!"

Taiyo Island really was something else. Nami had seen a lot in her life time, but this was just freaky. They had docked at the island just a minute ago, and now they could see the landscape and wildlife. Before them was a grassland that rose up into a rocky mountain shaped oddly like a witch's hat. The grassland was home to the strangest of creatures, including deer that were literally on fire (Usopp was now pointing his slingshot at them), giant brown ants marching in perfect rows, and squirrels that were literally soaring from treetop to treetop. In the water around the Going Merry, brilliantly colored fish leaped up into the air and swam, in midair, for a short while before diving back below the ocean surface. The Grand Line was truly a place where anything and everything could happen.

Luffy, either unaware of or ignoring his navigator's amazement and slight fear, stretched out to a nearby tree and latched on, catapulting himself onshore. "Gum-Gum ROCKET!"

"Oi, Luffy, wait!"

"I still don't know where the hell we are," Zoro grumbled, put out by the fact that everyone was ignoring him.

"We're on Taiyo Island," Robin explained helpfully. "As for the flaming deer, the author of the book I'm reading, Homer, called them Fire-Tailed Deer. Apparently the flames are a byproduct of the friction created by the speed of the blood coursing through their veins, which is fifty times faster than normal blood flow."

"How is it not dead?" Nami wondered in deflated awe.

"Hey, it survived my Sure-Kill Exploding Star!" Usopp complained. Quickly getting bored of the notion of sniping the Fire-Tailed Deer, he sighed and looked at Luffy, who was now busy riding the giant brown ants, which their archaeologist quickly identified as Magniants. The resident liar's eyes popped out of his head in shock at their captain's antics. ...No pun intended.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Luffy!? You'll get yourself eaten!" the navigator roared, shark-like.

"Eh?" the straw-hatted pirate whined, patting his ride's head. "But this little guy doesn't mind, do you, Billy?"

"The Magniants are perfectly harmless herbivores," Robin agreed.

Sanji swooned. "Robin-chwan is so smart~!"

Nami sweatdropped again. "Okay, but why did he name it Billy...?"

"He's gonna join our crew as our pet!"

"NO WAY IN ODA'S NAME ARE WE MAKING THAT THING OUR PET!"

"Eh!?" Luffy moaned while Usopp and Chopper, taking Nami's distraction as their chance, jumped ship and ran to join him by riding their own Magniants.

"I'm thirsty," Zoro yawned, slumped against the railing. "Do we have any good booze?"

"You drank it all during our party last night, Marimo," Sanji growled, swirly eye twitching. "Stupid bastard, that was the wonderful Skypiean wine Conis-chan's people gave us! And you drank it in one freaking night!"

"What was that, Dartboard?" the swordsman hissed, springing to action with a hand on Wado Ichimonji.

Robin smiled softly. "There is a village called Sola Village on the other side of that mountain. It is said to hold the best wine in this part of the Grand Line, and apparently Marines come here every few weeks to stock up on it. By my calculations, the next Marine visit isn't until tomorrow evening, so we have enough time to stop today if we want. I would like to visit the village myself. The author of this book, Homer, lives there."

"We can't spend any money," Nami sighed, "so no one get anything they have to buy, alright? We still haven't broken in our gold from Skypiea."

"Yeah, yeah," the local Marimo muttered, swinging himself off the Merry, a little ruffed up from his most recent battle with the ero-cook.

"We're going to a village!?" Luffy cheered, suddenly rushing up to the ship with Usopp and Chopper as the remaining Straw Hats went ashore. "Awesome! I wanna try out their meat! Maybe they'll have some of those flaming deer on the menu! Those things look good~!"

Nami's fist clenched. "I said no buying."

"Eh!?" Her captain turned on his infamous puppy-dog eyes, suddenly looking endearingly like a lost little retriever who desperately needed a home. Nami's will crumbled.

"Okay, maybe a little."

The Idiot Trio's eyes lit up in sparkles. "Yay, we can try out their food!"

"I don't want to eat the deer though," Chopper said, shivering. "That would be cannibalism!"

"I said only a little!" Nami snapped.

This was going to be a long day.


Here is the seventh chapter! I finally got around to the part where we explain just what occurred before the story's start, and it is a pretty long flashback. I must say, even as the author, that Taiyo Island sounds pretty cool. The next chapter will be in Sola Village, and then after the flashback ends, the crew will arrive at a new island! Yay! :D Here are my replies to reviews on the previous chapter:

XxxAyakixxX: Laziness FTW. XD Oh, thank you. Personally, I find the descriptions to be the easier parts, as I can see what it looks like in my mind. It's the action and fluff that I have trouble with. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I hope you all liked this newest update. It's been a little hard for me to write lately because of the EXTREME lack of reviews - - seriously, only one review on the previous chapter? You guys can do way better than that! Come on! But anyway, to all you newcomers out there, I'd appreciate it if you would follow and/or favorite this fanfiction! Popularity is greatly appreciated but not necessary for me to continue writing. Please, please, please review! I really want to here feedback from you guys! How am I doing so far? It's my fan's comments that goad me on to continue the story, so please review! Thanks to those of you who do!

-TheRealEvanSG