Chapter eight! :D Wohoo! :D I am cheering for myself! :D "Keep on writing Oneechan94, you can do it! You are the best!" :_D Maybe I should become cheerleader? XD
...
Yukiko ran the fastest she could until her feet hurt and her breathing came out as short gasps of moistened air. She decided to take just a short break, just a short break to catch her breath.
She had never been rescued by a man like that. All the men on the island knew that she was a prostitute and all the other men must realise it pretty soon too. So nobody saw her worth saving and put his life on danger for but the blond had been different.
Even though Blackleg must have realised it too, he never said an insulting word about her and treated her like woman should be treated. All the other men just ordered her to have sex with her and they would force their way to do what they wanted if she didn't do it voluntarily. But that man was different.
She didn't know how badly they had beaten the famous Blackleg Sanji but she was lucky to know he was alive at least. There was hope as long as he was alive. She could still reach him, still save him and his crew and the famous Soul King even though she wished for herself that Brook had continued singing and entertaining people but it was his free decision after all.
"Enough," she whispered. "Enough!" she shouted and started to run again, this time faster than earlier.
...
Everyone were on the alert even though the storm had passed them already. Luffy was catching his breath on the deck and his clothes had suffered a great deal of damage because of the lighting. Nami was drying her hair which had gotten soaking wet by a huge wave likewise her clothes which she had already changed.
Even Zoro was covered in sweat because of his not-so-welcome workout in a middle of the night. Of course the swordsman was strong but even he had difficulties fighting against the currents of the sea. Robin was sipping her freshly made coffee as calmly as nothing had happened at all.
The sun was rising already. It had been a long, stormy night which tired every one of them out more or less.
"I am beat!" Usopp whined while laying on the grass.
"Me too!" Chopper joined Usopp, not noticing that he still had some of Sanji's blood on his fur.
"Hey! You didn't even need to repel lighting!" Luffy complained. "Listen everyone! We must do a list about who is going to repel lighting the next time! It's not fair that I had to do it all alone!"
Everyone glared at Luffy before Nami opened her mouth. "YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE CAPABLE DOING IT, YOU IDIOT!" she raged and kicked the idiot laying on the grass with her heel. "Franky, are you finished fixing Sunny-Go?" she asked casually, forgetting that she had raged to their captain just a while ago.
"Our ship is in suuupeer shape yet again!" Franky cheered. "There were no serious damages so it was an easy job!"
"Is it almost time for breakfast?" Robin suddenly remembered and stood up. "I will go and prepare some sandwiches for everyone."
"WITH MEAT IN IT?!" Luffy gasped hopefully.
"If you wish that way, Luffy," Robin smiled gently and entered the silent kitchen.
...
"STRAWHATS!" there was a shout heard from the shore and the captain of the Strawhats turned to look at the figure approaching them.
"Is she an enemy?" Luffy asked stupidly but not moving an inch.
"We can't know that, you idiot!" Nami hissed.
Soon they saw the woman with snow-white hair and dark skin a bit closer. She was out of breath, her face red and her hair stuck to her skin but she didn't seem to mind it. "STRAWHATS!" she shouted again and suddenly jumped on the deck without approval.
"Who-who-who are you?!" Usopp staggered and readied his weapon.
"I didn't *breathing* come here to fight with you!" she noted, still trying to catch her breath even though she was on a famous pirate ship.
"What's your business with us?" Nami asked seriously and everyone waited for an answer while the woman looked around.
"My name is Yukiko, I was saved by Mr Blackleg a day ago and...is he not here?" she said shortly and became worried when she couldn't see the blond on the deck.
"He is resting," Luffy joined the conversation. "What's your business with my crew?" he asked seriously and Yukiko realised why the man wearing a strawhat had such a big bounty of his head.
"I am glad he is fine!" Yukiko sighed out of relief. "A crew called 'The Bones', they attacked Mr Blackleg and now they are coming here when he didn't pass the message!"
"What message?" Nami inquired and Yukiko turned to glare directly at Soul King.
"They have some business with Soul King-sama and he refused to tell them anything!" Yukiko spitted out and everyone expect Zoro gasped and turned to stare and Brook.
"What business might those people have with me...?" Brook wondered out aloud calmly.
"I don't know but it's not anything good I swear! You all have to escape this island as soon as possible and escape!" Yukiko advised.
"But the log isn't set!" Nami reasoned and Yukiko's shoulders fell.
"It's fine!" Luffy said suddenly, interrupting the silence. "We will fight them!"
Every Strawhat blinked and prepared for their destiny since their stubborn captain had made up his mind. Everyone knew it would be of no use to argue with their captain in a situation like that. Well, everyone expect Yukiko.
"But you can't win! You can't possibly win!" she tried to reason with them but the orange-haired woman smiled at her.
"You know, we have survived Enies Lobby, we have visited Sky Island, our captain escaped Impel Town and we have declared war against Big Mama. There is nothing we couldn't do!" she smiled confidently.
"She is right! W-W-We are brave warriors of the sea!" Usopp staggered while his knees shook almost violently. Robin just chuckled at the sight in front of her eyes.
"Can you tell us anything about our enemy's powers?" Nami asked seriously. "Sanji-kun said something about possible devil fruit powers!"
"Ah yes! I know about his powers!" Yukiko smiled suddenly. She wanted to be able to help her savior and his crew if possible. "He is - - "
The answer was never heard, however, when she fell on the ground with a blood-stained spot on her back.
...
"How is Sanji-san?" Brook asked from their doctor in the middle of their breakfast.
"He is stable, nothing to worry about!" Chopper reassured with a wide smile.
"That's relief!" Nami sighed.
"Of course he would survive! He is Sanji after all!" Luffy tried to reason but nobody understood his logic. Well, nobody expect himself. "So, how long will it take until we reach the next adventure?!" Luffy asked, excitement in his voice.
"I am not too sure because of the storm..."Nami admitted. "We might have drifted off the route we were supposed to take."
"Well, there was nothing you could do to that storm and to Sanji's condition, Nami," Usopp noted and the navigator smiled at him.
"Usopp is right! The most important thing is that all of us are alive!" Luffy cheered.
"Well, more or less..."Brook joked and everyone started to laugh at the stupid joke. The tense feeling from earlier had already disappeared and everyone started to relax when the worst danger was over already.
...
"Yukiko-chan!" Nami gasped and rushed next to the woman who had fallen victim to the only bullet the enemy's sharp-shooter had shot. She knew she shouldn't have rushed towards an unfamiliar woman like that but her instinct told her that she could trust the woman who had just tried to help them.
She turned Yukiko around and saw the woman gasping for air. "CHOPPER, HELP HER!" Nami shouted and Chopper rushed next to the two women only to notice the utterly hopeless situation. He said nothing, he just shoke his head as a sign there was nothing he could do to save the woman.
"Tell *cough cough*" Yukiko struggled to speak out her last words. She coughed up lots of blood. "Mr Blackleg that *inhale* I was *cough cough cough* happy!" she staggered, eyes filling with tears. "Be ...careful..."
Then the woman in Nami's lap stopped breathing and her hand fell down on the floor.
"Yukiko-chan", Nami addressed the woman with such a casual tone even though they had just met her.
"My my, what a pleasant welcome we had."
Strawhats turned their attention towards the voice and saw the enemy standing on the cliff, staring at them with grinning face. Soon his underlings stepped next to their boss and took the same sort of facial expression's on their faces. "Don't worry, that woman was just a whore," the man said as if it meant anything.
"SO WHAT IF SHE WAS A WHORE!" Nami shouted at the man. "YOU ARE MUCH WORSE THAN SHE WAS!"
Their enemy stared directly at Nami, smirking slightly. "Burglar cat Nami, 16 million berries, I assume?"
"That's right!" Nami shouted and everyone where surprised how the navigator had brought up the courage to face the strong enemy.
"Well, as if other members would matter..." the man sighed. "Soul King Brook," the man called out. "Do you want to join me or see your friends die?"
Brook was silent for a while but when he met Luffy's eyes accidentally, he didn't hesitate to answer. "You know, I was saved by Luffy-san a while ago and I owe him my life. I was loosing my hope to life even though I was already dead but then he came and asked if me, a mere skeleton he knew nothing about, wanted to join his crew. There is no way I could join your crew and leave him behind!" Brook stated and the enemy's leader grinned widely.
"That's fine by me. Your choice," the man said and the fight began.
...
Author's note:
Let's see how I deal with these fighting scenes in the next episode, shall we? :) I just hope this story will work out as I planned and I have thought of every single detail in this story! :D
