A/N- Here's the next chapter! I hope it's OK, I had a hard time getting Shiroi to say goodbye and get on the ship. I'm really keen to start the Arabasta arc. :D Either way I hope you all enjoy it!
*Disclaimer* I do not, nor will I ever, own One Piece, any of the characters or anything. I only own my OC's and the made up places and e.t.c. I apologise if any of this material offends anyone. I assure you I didn't mean it to offend in any way, shape or form. This story may contain some coarse language.
Chapter 7 – Off to sail the seas!
I was charging down the dusty road to the docks, my hair flailing about behind me, my hands gripping two large suitcases, my eyes panicked and people leaping out of my charging way. I ignored the few, "Good mornings" I got from passersby's. I had no time to stop and chat, I was late enough as it is!
Pause.
Rewind.
The reason why I was blindingly charging toward the docks was because, after exhausting myself from the fight against Haya and the party afterwards, I had overslept and woken only to remember I was leaving with the Straw hats. I awoke to find I had fallen asleep in old lady Sakura's spare room in her tea shop. I would sometimes sleep here when Tsuyoi controlled the island, so that I was safe away from the rowdy crew. As I opened my eyes memories flooded my mind and I welcomed the grin that came at Tsuyoi's departure. He's gone, I thought. He's finally gone. I sat up in bed with the grin on my face and stretched before jumping up and dressing for the day. I then skipped down the halls and emerged into the main part of Sakura tea, spotting Sakura herself wiping down the counter. "Good morning," she greeted, smiling softly at me. I grinned back, "Good morning!" Sakura chuckled and shook her head.
"You're rather happy today, aren't you?" I nodded and rocked on my heels.
"Well, I woke up only to remember Tsuyoi's left!" I declared, throwing my arms up in the air. Sakura blinked at me for a few seconds before smiling softly.
"I thought you were going to say how happy you were about finally leaving this island," she said, turning back to wiping the counters. I raised an eyebrow at the women, confused for a few seconds. "What do you mean, leaving the island?" I asked, perplexed. Old lady Sakura paused mid-wipe then turned her face up to look at me. "Did you forget?" she asked, frowning. I narrowed my eyes in thought before I gasped. More memories of last night came rushing back, and I suddenly remembered the promise I had made Luffy.
"I promise," I began, my voice becoming confident. I suddenly turned my finger to the moon, pointing out at the horizon. "To become the best nakama you'll ever have!"
I felt my ears and tail drop as I gaped at Sakura. "I-I completely forgot!" I cried, throwing my hands in the air and clasping handfuls of my white hair in stress. I then snapped my amber eyes towards the clock and felt my heart skip a beat. "Ah! It's nearly 10! I said I'd be down there and ready at 10! Ah, I need to get packing," I nearly squealed, spinning on my foot and charging out of the room, fleeing back into the room I had slept in and collecting my belongings that I kept there for safety. Whilst I furiously packed my mind drifted back to last night.
Luffy stared unblinkingly at me after I made my promise. He then jumped up, spraying sand everywhere, and began to laugh and cheer. "Yay! A new nakama!" he cried with joy, a toothy grin on his face. I grinned then turned fully to him, clapping my hands together. "Now, what are the arrangements for tomorrow?" I asked. Luffy hummed with thought as he put his hand on his chin in a thinking motion. He then nodded slowly and answered, "Be at the docks at 10 then we can leave!" I nodded and smiled. "Sure! I'll be there!"
Coming back to reality, I finish shoving my clothes into suitcases before staring at the few meaningful possessions I had collected over the years. I had only 5 books, though I would have loved to collect more. I also owned a few cuddly toys that were looking a bit worn. One of them, a small white wolf, was my oldest and dearest. It was connected with my childhood, and was the only thing I had from those years as well as the memories. It was my version of Luffy's hat in a way. I gently picked up the toy, smiled softly down at it before I safely packed it away along with the books and other toys. I then took a step back, admiring the room. It looked much larger now my belongings were out of it. As I looked about the room I felt my heart being tugged at. Perhaps now it was beginning to sink in that I was about to leave this place and achieve my biggest dream, to sail the seas. I knew I would miss this place dearly but, trying to be optimistic, I looked forward, thinking about all the good times that were to come; all the good times with the Mugiwaras.
Exiting the room I made my way back over to Sakura and smiled softly at her. Taking a deep breath, I attempted to explain my emotions and thoughts to her. "Thank you for everything," I began. "You've been the kindest to me and you've helped me so much. You've been there for me when I needed you. You've been perfect." I trailed off and could only smile at the woman. Sakura stood rigidly for a few seconds before she moved over to me and hugged my tightly. Her grey hair tickled my nose and it smelt of herbal teas.
"Oh, Shiroi! I do hope you have a good time! And, you've been wonderful too! You've helped the village with a lot and you've always tried hard to protect us. I'm going to miss you, Shiroi," Sakura said into my shoulder. I stood still as I listened to her before I slowly smiled wider and closed my eyes, hugging back, albeit somewhat awkwardly. We stayed in a hug for a few minutes before she pulled back and dabbed at her eyes. "You better get going, dear, or you're going to be late." I risked a look at the clock to see I was now ten minutes late. "Ah! I've gotta go! See ya later! I'm gonna miss you!" I cried, snapping up my suitcases and rushing out of the shop.
Old lady Sakura followed me to the doorway, where she then stood and watched me disappear into the distance. "I'll see you again one day! I promise!" I shouted back over my shoulder. "Perhaps I'll come back for holidays! Who knows?" Sakura watched with a gentle smile as I eventually faded from view, lost in the milling people.
So, here I was, charging down to the docks frantically, clutching my bags tightly. I felt excited and ready to go, but a small, nagging feeling was eating away at me. My departure was too short, too quick. I didn't feel satisfied; I hadn't gone around and thanked all those who had been kind to me. I also felt that my goodbye to Sakura was too short. I had much more pent up emotion that I hadn't expressed, though I never really expressed it in the first place, so what difference is there now?
Luffy sat on the ram figure head of his ship, bored and agitated. He was waiting – impatiently – for his newest crew member, Shiroi, to arrive. He had said to come at 10 and so far she was 10 minutes late. Luffy huffed and jutted out his lower lip, using his hand to shield his eyes and scanning the horizon for said girl. Approaching from behind, Luffy heard footsteps on the wooden deck and turned to find Nami joining him in looking out from the front of the boat. "Namiiiii!" Luffy whined. Nami rolled her eyes and sighed. "What?"
"When is she going to be here?" Luffy asked the orange haired woman, expecting an answer. Nami sighed again and frowned at the idiotic captain.
"She's probably just late because she has to say goodbye," Nami said, hoping the answer would suffice and shut the captain up. This seemed to work, for Luffy fell silent and looked back at the docks, until he suddenly began to shout. "I see her!" he cried, jumping up to gain a higher view point. "I can see heerrr! Oi! Hurry up!" the boy shouted, addressing the white haired girl who was racing towards their ship.
I heard Luffy shout at me to hurry up and frowned slightly in response. Reaching the boat, I easily and smoothly jumped up from the docks walkway and on to the deck, landing almost soundlessly beside Nami. Luffy grinned and began to cheer. "Yeah! Shiroi's here, let's set sail!" he announced, proudly hopping off the figure head and pointing out to sea. I smiled at the boy before looking to Nami. She growled at Luffy before turning to me. "What took you so long?" she asked. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.
"Well, I kinda overslept, then I had to say goodbye to old lady Sakura, then I ran all the way down here. I'm sorry I took too long," I explained, offering her an apologetic smile. Nami smiled back and nodded in understanding. "That's okay since you were saying your goodbyes. This whole thing has happened really fast, huh?" I nodded slowly and realised she was right.
"Yeah, last night I agreed to become a Straw hat and now here I am. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to everyone," I finished feebly, looking out at the slowly disappearing town. Nami frowned at me before speaking. "We can wait a little long if you want to-"
"No, it's OK. If I go and say my goodbyes then I might change my mind. It's best if we just go. Sakura will tell them I said goodbye." Nami nodded before walking away, leaving me to look at the few crew members who had approached. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were all smiling at me –grinning in Luffy's case. "Yosh! We now have a wolf in our crew!" Luffy cried excitedly. I laughed light-heartedly at him and nodded.
"That's right."
"How are you wounds feeling?" I looked down at the sweet, soft voice of Chopper the reindeer and smiled at him.
Giving him a thumb up I answered, "They're feeling much better thank you, Doctor-san." Chopper became his usual – and adorable – giddy self, clapping his hooves together and chanting, "Stop flattering me!" I giggled at him before looking at Usopp who was sizing me up. I rolled my eyes but smiled.
He still doesn't trust me, I thought. Oh well, I guess he'll come around sooner or later. "Hey, don't you trust me? I did, after all, help you in the fight," I said, smirking at him and shifting closer to the curly haired boy with a strangely long nose. Usopp gulped, glanced down at Chopper who was looking at him questioningly, then nervously said to me, "W-what are you t-talking about? Brave c-c-captain Usopp fought off all 100 wa-warriors!" I raised a brow and folded my arms across my chest.
Usopp, at the sight of my un-impressed look, began to nervously laugh loudly, crossing his arms and trying to look calm and collect. He looked the exact opposite. His whole demeanor was betraying his real emotions; he was trembling terribly at the knees and his eyes screamed panic. I stared at him for a few more minutes before putting one finger up and smirking. "You're lying," I stated. "One: you aren't the captain, two: there wasn't even 100 of them." Usopp gasped then collapsed comically onto the deck.
"Ahhh! Usopp!" Chopper cried, rushing to his friend's aid. Beside me, Luffy began laughing along with me at Usopp.
"See? I told you he lies!" Luffy laughed, pointing at the boy. Suddenly, he gained a shocked and angry look, his hand curling in to a fist. "Hey! I'm the captain!" Chopper now fell to the floor with Usopp while I slapped a palm to my face, giggling. "Yes, we know you are Luffy," I said, shaking my head. Luffy chuckled then snatched up my suitcases. "Oi!" I interjected. "What're you doing?"
"Let's go put these away then you can play with us!" Luffy declared, rushing off and disappearing below deck before I could object. I raised a hand but sighed and let it drop. Shrugging to myself, I looked around at the rest of the crew.
Nami and Vivi were sitting at the back of the boat on deck chairs, enjoying the sun, with Vivi's great duck sitting by her side. Zoro was napping by the mast, slouched against the wood. Usopp and Chopper had recovered and were now sat on the deck. Usopp seemed to be telling another one of his 'amazing stories'. Sanji was nowhere to be seen - I presumed he was in the kitchen. Suddenly the door burst open and Luffy reappeared, a goofy grin on his face and his coal black eyes zeroing in on me. "Shiroi!" he excitedly called as he approached. I raised a brow but still smiled.
"Yes, captain?"
"Let's play a game!" Luffy declared. I nodded in agreement.
"Sure. What game?" I asked, my tail beginning to wag. Luffy opened his mouth to reply but got distracted by my – apparently – hypnotic tail. His eyes followed its every move and I only sighed and clicked my fingers, breaking Luffy out of his trance. "Huh?" He blinked then looked up at me. "Oh, right! Err... Let's play It!" I grinned and my tail began wagging faster.
"OK! What about Usopp and Chopper?" We both looked over at the animal and the boy. Luffy shrugged.
"Sure! Usopp! Chopper! Wanna play It?" The two looked over and Chopper nodded eagerly. Usopp, however, was more hesitant.
"But you're both really fast... We don't stand a chance," he muttered, slouching over. I hummed with amusement and approached him. Smiling at him I put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly and looked up at me. "Don't worry, Usopp-san, I'll go easy, and we can team up against Luffy when he's on," I said, attempting to comfort him. He sighed before begrudgingly agreeing to the game.
I was chosen as the first to be It, because – according to Luffy's logic – I was the newest member so I had to go first. I wasn't overly fussed and instead stood at the figure head, facing away and out over the ocean, counting to 50. "48, 49, 50! Here I come!" I yelled out, smirking and beginning to sniff the air. I could make out the scents but it was annoyingly mixed in with the salty air. I sniffed and tried to differentiate between the scents but my nose had yet to adjust to the new and strong scent of the sea. I could work out the vague direction of the scents and followed them. I walked past Zoro and caught him peeking at me through one lazily opened eye. I smiled and waved, causing him to grumble and shut his eye again. I giggled then made my way up the stairs to the sort of balcony bit where Nami and Vivi were relaxing. "Hello," I greeted as I passed by. Nami waved silently while Vivi sat up from her chair and smiled at me.
"Hello Shiroi! How are you?" she asked kindly.
"I'm fine thanks. You?"
"I'm good myself, thank you."
"Have either of you two seen Luffy, Usopp or Chopper?" I asked, eyeing the duck at Vivi's side. It was a strange creature, with a blue hat on its head. It seemed to be watching me cautiously, and I could have sworn it was sweating. I thought birds couldn't sweat? Snapping out of it, I listened as Vivi answered. "No, sorry. We heard them running past and laughing but didn't see them," she said, shaking her head. I smiled and waved my hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it," I said giggling. "I think everyone could hear them, the amount of noise they made." Vivi laughed and waved as I carried on into the kitchen.
I peered in only to see Sanji cleaning the kitchen. He looked up at the sound of the door opening, probably expecting it to be Luffy, only to see it was me. He went into his custom stupor of hearts for eyes and sung my name. "Shiroi-chwan!" I smiled at him – I always humored the guy – and walked in fully. "Hello Sanji-san, have you seen Luffy, Usopp or Chopper around?" I asked, scanning the room. Where are they hiding? This ship isn't too big so they can't have gone far. Sanji shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Shiroi-chan, but no one has come in here except for you." I nodded slowly before shooting him a smile.
"That's OK, I'll go look for them below deck," I said, turning and going to leave the room. However, just at that moment, as my hand was reaching for the door knob, it turned of its own accord and the door opened to reveal Luffy on the other side. "Sanji! I'm hungry, make me somethi-" Luffy froze mid sentence as he finally noticed me standing before him. We both stood stock still and stared at each other as our brains slowly processed what was happening. "AH! YOU'RE TRYING TO GET ME!" Luffy screamed, turning on his heel and bolting away as fast as he could. I snapped out of my own stupor and shouted after him, "Oi! Where're you going?" I then smirked and lunged after him, chasing him down like he was prey.
I leapt out and bounded clear over the railing and down onto the lower deck. I landed softly and shot off as soon as my feet made contact with the wood. Luffy looked back and screamed with bulging eyes as he saw me in pursuit. I laughed evilly and narrowed my eyes, locking in on him. I ran after Luffy, easily catching up and matching the rubber captain's speed. I would have caught him had he not extended his arm and grabbed a hold of the edge of the crowsnest. He then pulled himself up, my outstretched arms missing him by mere inches. "Hey!" I stated childishly, not being able to resist pouting at the boy in disappointment. Luffy poked his head over the edge of the crowsnest and laughed down at me, sticking his tongue out playfully and pulling one of his eye lids down. "Meh! Catch me if you can!" he taunted childishly. I smiled and then suddenly launched myself up, managing to jump into the crowsnest. I made it and caught Luffy completely off guard. His laughing face turned to one of surprise and shock. "AH!" he yelped as I fell on top of him, sending us both crashing back and out of the crowsnest. We both yelled as we fell to the deck, expecting a hard, wooden surface to meet us any moment. Instead, however, we landed on something squishy – or rather, someone. "Urgh, my head," I muttered as I sat up. I opened my eyes to see Luffy and I had landed on an unsuspecting Zoro. Who was now awake, and looking very, very angry.
