I'm back! Sorry for taking so long to write a new chapter! Life has been hectic, but it definitely feels good to finally come back to this story. I went through and read the older chapters, just to refresh myself, and MY WORD. I really need to go back and edit. So many typos, and overuse of... so many things. I'm so sorry I'm awful at writing. Please, throw trash at me.
Anyway, I know this chapter is really short, but the entire thing just sorta happened. I was actually going in a totally different direction when I started writing, but things got a little carried away. I just ended the chapter when it felt right. I'm honestly pretty interested to see where I take this, 'cause I'm just winging it. Don't worry, I'll get back on track with the next update, I promise!
Nami stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. It didn't really surprise her that she wasn't tired, considering how lethargic she had been recently, coupled with the events of the day. She rolled over for what felt like the thousandth time since she had gotten into bed. The redhead frowned as her cheek met the damp pillow, wet from her freshly washed hair. Why am I even trying to sleep? She asked herself. Robin's bed lay empty beside hers. The older woman was probably in the library, absorbed in a book. I wonder what she would have to say about all of this? Nami imagined herself spilling her guts to Robin. Admitting she was brimming with emotions, like a love-struck adolescent. There's no way I could do that. She could practically see the sly grin on the woman's face. Robin was known for her poise, but she wasn't above teasing her crew mates from time to time. No, this is something I can deal with on my own. I have to.
"But, what is 'dealing with it,' anyway...?" Nami asked the empty room.
When the darkness failed to respond, the young woman snorted. "Exactly. There's nothing to do."
Accepting that she was wide awake, she abandoned her bed. Remembering the cold of the night before, she threw a light jacket on over the shorts and tank top she was wearing as pajamas. With no real destination in mind, Nami strode out of the room. It really wasn't too late yet. The navigator knew it couldn't be later than midnight. Some of the crew besides Robin should be up. Maybe I'll find Usopp. He tends to stay up late, tinkering with things. She knew Franky was just as likely to be up for the same reason, but she didn't feel like she had enough energy for him. The cyborg had a way of exhausting her through conversation alone. Usopp, however, held a secret soft spot in her heart. When she had first joined Luffy and Zoro, Nami had constantly felt like she was outclassed. The men were basically monsters, and next to them, she felt like a kitten. When Usopp joined shortly after, they immediately bonded through the constant terror caused by traveling with two battle-hungry muscle-heads. Even though she liked to pick on him now and again, Nami really did appreciate the sniper for always backing her up as the voice of reason.
Before she knew it, she was at the entrance to his workshop. If the light glowing from the cracks around the door didn't give away the room's occupancy, the sound of objects being dragged around certainly did. The redhead knocked, waiting for a response that didn't come. Instead of repeating the gesture, she decided to peek in at what her friend was up to. She climbed down into the room, and observed silently. What she saw was confusing to say the least. Usopp was lining up three huge clay pots. Each had different colored smoke billowing from it. In one hand he held what Nami could only assume was one of his weird plants. It appeared to be a cluster of writhing vines, about the size of a grapefruit, with little suckers on the ends. The young sniper picked up a fishing rod, and attached the... plant onto the line. He then dipped the plant into the first pot, letting it soak for a moment, before pulling it out. It seemed more or less the same, aside from seeming to have slowed it's movements. Usopp dunked it again, this time in the middle pot. When he pulled it out, it was clear that the plant had grown to at least quadruple in size, with it's color darkening noticeably. As he brought the plant over the last pot, the creature seemed to react to the vapor billowing around it. The second it touched the liquid, the ball of vines shrieked like a dying rabbit, it's appendages flailing frantically. Nami was so surprised, she let out a small cry herself. Distracted by the sudden presence of the navigator, Usopp took his eyes off the vines for a moment. In a split second, it used it's tendrils to crawl out of the pot, heading straight for the storyteller.
"Usopp!"
He turned back to his experiment and yelped, dropping the fishing pole. He tried to make a dash for the door, but the creature overtook him, dragging the rod behind it. It wrapped it's many limbs around the young man's legs, bringing him to the ground.
"Nami! Help me!" He cried piteously.
Fighting the urge to scamper upstairs and make a break for it, she dashed to her nakama's side. "What do you want me to do!? What is that thing!?"
The tentacled beast was making it's way up to Usopp's torso, tightening it's grip. "Do anything! This thing's gonna strangle me!"
Nami scanned the room for something to use as a weapon. She grabbed an over-sized mallet off the table, and swung it at the creature, missing due to her reluctance to get near it.
"What the hell are you doing?" Usopp squawked as he wrestled with the leafy abomination. You're gonna smash my head open with that thing!"
"Well, what else do you want me to do?" She swung a second time, this time hitting the beast dead center. Unfortunately, the impact traveled to her friend's stomach, which was right under the creature.
"Oomph!" His face turned purple.
"Ah! Sorry!" His skin was nearly the color of the smoke still pouring from the last clay pot lined up behind him. "Oh!"
"Why aren't you helping me!?" The sniper cried as the tendrils reached his face.
"The stuff in that last pot," Nami demanded as she hurried across the room," Is it dangerous to humans?"
"What? Dammit, Nami! I'm being choked... to... death!"
Without waiting for an answer, the redhead put all of her strength into tipping the giant urn onto it's side. Odd, greyish fluid poured from the vessel onto the floor. It took no time for the young man to be coated in the substance. As it contacted the plant-beast, it let out a hiss, and scampered away from the incoming concoction. As Nami reached again for the mallet, it scurried up and out of the room, using it's suckers to cling to the walls and the ladder.
Usopp sat up. And wiped the viscous liquid from his face. "What if this stuff was acid? You could have killed me!"
"Well, it wasn't, was it?" She responded, staring nervously at the room's exit. "What on earth is that thing?"
"I call it a Squid Fern. I found a few seeds a while ago, and I was trying to figure out a way to weaponize it."
"Well, it looks like you succeeded..."
The dark-skinned pirate laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He slicked his goo-covered hair back. "So..."
"We should probably warn everyone else."
"Yeah... Probably"
The pair stared up at the exit of the room, imagining the creature waiting for them, just out of sight. They turned to each other in unison, "You go first."
