::Slinks in quietly:: Sorry for the long wait guys, as I said, updates would probably slow down and it looks like it's gong to stay like that for a few weeks.
I'm snuffling and coughing, even as I do a final check over of this chapter. That's going to slow the next chapter some but hopefully not too much as I already know what I'm going to write.
Thank you all for the lovely reviews, follows, and one new fave.
KeepHopeStayWhelmed: Thanks, I'm glade you liked it. Yes, Meli is cute. I've been working on a fair bit of bonding between everyone to prepare for later scenes, when she will not be so cute but will still be Meli underneath that.
Lady Syndra: Thanks, cuteness is important. It's the glue that helps gold things together when the going is rough.
Warnings/special notes.
Once again I behaved myself all too well, this might only count as mild Melisandra torture with some swearing.
Lets, see oh yes, I don't own one piece. Just my ideas and possibly rather rampant errors in this chapter due to it not being the best of ideas to edit and proof-read while ill.
Chapter 9 Never go Shopping with Izu
"But I don't wanna wear a dress!" The Whitebeard pirates have woken to some rather strange phenomena but someone screaming about dresses before the sun had risen was a new one. Marco and Thatch had a pretty good idea who it was. They headed in the direction of the shout to do damage control if necessary.
Sure enough Izu was in the process of pleading with Melisandra. "You'd look so cute in a dress though. Won't you at least try one on when we get to the Island." Izu was referring to the fact that they were going to be docking at a new island later today. Honey Cove was a relatively peaceful island with a big city and lots of shops. Melisandra was glaring now, cute was not a helpful word to use to win this argument. Her firm reply gave credit to this thought, "No!"
Izu was looking exasperated, this disagreement had apparently been going on for a while before it's noise level rose. Finally giving up on his argument he asked, "Why not!?" Melisandra sighed. Honestly why was this such a problem, she told him, "Because a dress would be awkward for me to wear. I'd get tangled up in it when I needed to shift, I couldn't climb trees and then there's my tail." Melisandra grabbed the aforementioned tail and continued, "My poor tail, it'd get squashed and I'd overheat. Anyway, making a hole in the dress for it would look weird. Besides, just because you want to wear a kimono doesn't mean everyone else has too."
It was Izu's turn to sigh, he had to admit that she had a few points but he had such high hopes. Izu wasn't going to give up just yet. "Okay, but what about getting just one or two dresses, for party's and such?" Izu paused, a thought suddenly occurring and went on with, "What do you mean by overheat?" Melisandra tilted her head to one side, now that she thought about it Meli had no idea how humans cooled off. Melisandra decided to question it. "How do people cool off when they get hot?" Thatch decided to answer this curious question. "We sweat to cool off and shiver when we're cold." Melisandra seemed to reach some internal level of understanding, saying. "Oh, that makes sense them. Were-nekos don't do that, we use our ears and tails to cool ourselves. They've got extra blood vessels to help, it also means that an injury to ears or tail will bleed a whole lot and really hurt." Melisandra clutched her tail a little closer to herself at that thought. The others stored that little tidbit away as something we need to let everyone know.
Marco decided to ask about the other side of the body temperature regulating. "What about if you're cold, surely that won't work for both?" Melisandra looked at him oddly, telling him. "If I were cold I'd shift or curl up with some siblings." Melisandra said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and to a were-neko it probably was. Well, it did explain a few things. Melisandra was very tactile, always close to others and if it had been a while since she last saw you then you'd better prepare to be hugged. Everyone had just assumed it was because of her prolonged isolation, maybe they'd better ask Pops, Vista, or Rakuyo about this. It could just be a normal were-neko thing, not that they'd mind as it was a rather endearing habit.
Melisandra looked between Izu, Thatch and Marco. She sighed inwardly, thinking. Would one dress really kill me? No, not really. Besides, did she really want to disappoint Izu? No, not as badly as her reluctance to wear a dress. This time Melisandra sighed aloud. "Alright, just one dress mind. Everything else is going to be chosen for its ease of shifting out of and lack of making me feel like I'm in an oven."
There should be laws, even amongst pirates, about not allowing Izu to look so damn happy. Melisandra felt even worse about holding out against a dress seeing Izu and even Thatch look so elated. Marco just found the whole thing amusing. Izu immediately went into a monolog about the dress. "Don't worry, we'll find something light and breezy even if I have to buy fabric and make it. In fact, I still might need to do so to accommodate your tail. No need to let that get in the way of fashion." At this point Thatch and Marco excused themselves and it didn't take long for Melisandra to find out why.
Izu went on and on, a never ending stream of fashion talk and questions. Melisandra learned more then she ever wanted to know about fabrics and sewing techniques, hell she hadn't even known that there was enough information on the two topics for her not to want to know. It didn't end there, oh no. Embroidery, lace, sequins and beads were also mentioned at length. Izu questioned Melisandra about favorite colors, if she liked flowers, and other similar topics. Just when Melisandra thought her ears were going to drop off from overload or self defense, the call to breakfast was sounded. Melisandra began to feel that she'd bitten off more then she bargained for in her efforts to appease her brother.
~~~~~ Page Break ~~~~~
Melisandra was sprawled out on the deck, enjoying the sunshine. Thatch and Haruta were seated near her, leaning up against the wall. It would be sometime before lunch until they reached Honey Cove and Thatch and Haruta had finished their chores. The pair was enjoying watching Melisandra relax, she appeared to be boneless and if you listened, soft purring could be heard.
Haurta tilted her head to one side, still watching Melisandra. After a few more minutes she spoke. "You really like the sunshine don't you? Trying to work on a tan?" Haruta couldn't help teasing just a little. Melisandra opened one contented eye, Thatch and Haruta watched in fascination as the iris automatically adjusted to the light. Melisandra was so relaxed her words almost came out as a purr. "It feels nice. I rarely had the opportunity to lie out in the sun before, it often wasn't safe."
Haruta and Thatch sadly thought about that. To be unable to relax enough to enjoy such a simple thing as sunbathing for fear that some wild animal would come along. Well, at least Melisandra could do so now until her hearts content. Thatch's thoughts wondered off down a different path and he grinned to himself. Haruta noticed and perked up, she knew that look and was delighted to see it.
Thatch looked over to Melisandra and commented. "You know what Melisandra, you've been with us long enough now that you should join us in a pirate tradition." Haurta snorted, effectively cutting Thatch off so she could add, "A pirate tradition? Since when has pulling pranks been traditional?" Thatch glared at Haruta, saying. "It's tradition on this ship. Anyway it's been quite, we need to liven things up for our siblings." Melisandra had been looking between the two with interest. She asked, "Prank?"
Thatch and Hatura looked at each other and then began to explain. Melisandra listened with interest, this was the first time anyone was willing to let her help with anything. It sounded fun, though not for their victim. That was the only thing bothering Melisandra, she didn't want her siblings really angry with her. It would probably be best to find out about that so Melisandra asked. "Won't whomever we prank be mad at us? It doesn't seem worth it for that." Thatch's wild grin settled into a soft smile before he replied. "Annoyed or frustrated with us, maybe just a little mad but nothing that trying to get back at us won't cure. There's a few things that are off limits to do to one another. Izu for example, you don't do anything to his kimonos that might ruin them. Marco is pretty free game so long as you don't touch his paperwork, fair enough since we don't have a second division commander and Marco tends to be the one doing their paperwork."
Melisandra decided that sounded okay after all, she thought she'd let them know something. "We're almost at the island." Thatch and Haruta got up off the deck to have a better look, they knew they'd be arriving soon bet were surprised Melisandra also knew. Haruta voiced the question on both their minds. "How did you know Meli?" Melisandra was also getting up as she replied. "I could smell the land getting closer. There's lots of pollen so I expect there will be plenty of flowers and lots of plants too. A hint of smoke and something else, not sure what it is but it smells kinda sharp and sweet at the same time."
Thatch's grin came back and he exclaimed, "That has got to come in handy a lot. The flowers certainly fit as the island is famous for it's honey. Do you think for example track someone on the ship?" Melisandra puffed her cheeks out as she thought. Eventually Melisandra said, "It depends on the circumstances. The fresher the trail the better the chances and it would also depend on how many crisscrossed the trail. I would also be able to track better if I shifted. Other factors could also hinder my ability but yes, overall I could track someone."
Haruta's eyes widened. "We're really going to have to put that to the test later." Melisandra grinned, showing just a hint of teeth, then asked. "What about the prank? How are we going to do it?" Thatch's manic grin came back full force, he answered. "You leave the planing to us. All we need you to do today is keep Izu busy. That shouldn't be hard since you're going shopping with him today. Although if you can, occupy some of Marco's time as well but don't be to obvious or he'll get suspicious."
Haurta nodded, adding. "We'll pull off the prank later when everyone's less watchful. The day after your full moon shift would be a good time, everyone will still be hyped up over that. It's less then a week away now too, plenty of time to make plans." Thatch and Melisandra agreed, it sounded like an excellent plan.
~~~~~ Page Break ~~~~~
Melisandra stood on the docks of Honey Cove next to Izu, her eyes wide with amazement. The city was the largest place she'd ever seen. People were just everywhere along the dockside and the most amazing thing about that was they merely gave Melisandra a second look before moving on. Although that could have something to do with the fact that Melisandra's clothing was carefully selected by Marco, it all had Whitebeard's mark displayed on it.
Izu looked down at Melisandra, smiling softly. This was going to be Melisandra's first trip into any kind of town and Izu was determined to make sure nothing went wrong. With her experiences thus far it was a wonder Melisandra was so willing to go in the first place. It could have a lot to do with the fact that she felt safe going there with her brother. Izu felt a warm glow wash over him at that thought. Izu asked, "Ready to go Meli?"
Melisandra tore her gaze away from the city to look up at Izu and replied. "Yes. But how will we find anything we're looking for?" Izu laughed softly and took hold of her hand, then said. "Don't worry, all the shops tend to cluster together. We'll find what we're after and more besides." As they began walking a loud shout from Marco followed them "Don't forget Melisandra needs more then just clothes! Get her a hair brush and some more paper and let her look around a bit, Yoi!" Izu looked down at Melisandra as she walked. Marco was right, she really needed shoes. Everyone had gotten used to her going without, no one had any her size. Izu came to a decision and said "lets get you some shoes first."
Shoes lined the walls all the way to the ceiling, some were hanging from it. Shelves placed throughout the room were piled high with even more. Boots, scandals, flip-flops, dress shoes, you name it they probably had it hidden in there somewhere. It looked like there was a spacial or gravitational halting of the rules so everything could fit in here. Melisandra felt the familiar feeling of dread wash over her, the same one she got with Izu's lengthy explain earlier that day.
A man that was somewhere in the back of the shop exclaimed, "Ah, I thought I heard someone enter. How may I help you on this fine day?" Izu was glad they wouldn't need to hunt for the owner in this maze. Izu replied, "We're looking for some shoes for my sister here." The owner of the shop came into view between some of the shelves. "I'm sure we can find something lovely for your sis-" The shop owner, an elderly man broke his sentence off when he finally came into view to see Melisandra and then continued. "Well bless my stars, I haven't seen a were-neko in years." He was looking at Melisandra fondly, so Izu wasn't worried about trouble.
Izu smiled, saying. "That cuts back the level of explaining I'll need to do then. You used to know a were-neko then?" The shop owner came back from his revelry, apologizing. "I'm sorry Tom's my name, I'm the owner of this shop. Yes, I used to know a few in my youth. Been a longtime since I've seen another." Proper introductions were made.
Tom was looking at Melisandra thoughtfully, After a while he said. "As I recall were-nekos didn't go in much for shoes. It had to do with the shifting I suspect. Never saw it myself but I imagine it would be awkward to get out of shoes at a time like that. I'd recommend some sandals or flip-flops and a pair of boots for the colder climates." Izu nodded, saying. "A fine suggestion. What do you think Melisandra?" Melisandra put her head on one side, her ears flicking and asked. "They would be easy to get out of?"
Izu was the one who answered her. "The boots will be a bit tricky but you'll need them for colder weather. Sandals and flip-flops are both easy to take off." Melisandra smiled and nodded, this might not be as bad as she first thought.
After going through seventeen pairs of boots Melisandra was ready to eat her own tail for ever even thinking this could be easy. This was only the boots, they hadn't even got to the other part of the shoe shopping yet. She didn't really care about material or style but Izu did, how could things be otherwise. On the upside Melisandra might never have to put on a dress, if only because they'll never make it out of here.
Melisandra had long ago given up on paying attention to the conversation between the shop keeper and Izu, not understanding a word of it but part of it caught her attention. "-Crocodile hide. A very fine pair but they may be a bit to large." Melisandra's ears perked up at that, even her tail straightened to attention. She'd had many a run in with crocodiles and the idea of having boots made from their hide appealed to her.
Melisandra asked. "Really crocodile hide?" Tom nodded, adding. "Oh yes, the real thing not synthetic. Finley made too. I'll just go get them, be right back." Izu took a look at his sister as the shopkeeper was leaving. He realized with a start that this was the first bit of interest Meli's had in the shoe buying. He'd been shopping more for him then Melisandra. Izu sighed inwardly, thinking. Well, if that's what she wants, that's what Meli will get, even is we have to get a pair made specifically for her.
The shop owner came back smiling and proffered the box to Melisandra. They really were a fine pair, black even. She'd never seen a black croc before and thought that made them even better. They were a bit big but nothing that a thick pair of socks couldn't take care of, they were winter wear after all.
It only took five pairs of flip-flops to tell Melisandra that she really didn't like the feel of the strap in-between her toes. She didn't even want to think about how many sandals she had to try on. Melisandra wound up with two pairs of sandals. A comfortable brown, soft leather pair for everyday and black leather ones with a flower pattern.
The sun was a lot higher in the sky by the time they exited the shop, Melisandra's new shoes on her feet. They still felt a bit weird and she rather hoped that she could get away with not wearing them at home. In their next stop a brush, comb and other basic necessities were purchased or at least basic to Izu. Some more paper, books, hair ties, and even some colored pencils were among the miscellaneous items. Melisandra felt that it was an overload of packages and poor Jozu was coerced into taking their acquired packages back to the ship.
Melisandra stared in horror at the pink monstrosity in front of her. It was pink, bright fucking pink and sparkling. She couldn't decide if it was a lot of fabric attached to even more lace, ribbons, ruffles and other stuff that Melisandra didn't want to know the name for or if it was the other way around. Oh no, Izu can't be serious but one look at his face told her that he was. Melisandraother wanted to scream as she thought fiercely. Oh hell no, nope this is where I'm drawing the line. Much as I love Izu I'm not doing this for him. Only over my dead body and even my corpse would put up a fight over this one.
Melisandra decided to start in before Izu did. "Oh no way am I putting that on." Izu knew by the way Meli had been staring at it that she would probably say something like that and that had been his plan. After seeing this it should be that much easier to try something on from the selection Izu had in mind. Izu sighed dramatically, saying. "Alright, let's see what else they have then. Not everything in here is so flashy."
Melisandra's dress size was sorted out with the help of the shop keeper. The owner was a nice enough woman but with Melisandra's glum mood she hardly noticed. In a whirlwind of fabric Melisandra found herself modeling far too many dresses, she'd lost count after number twenty or was it thirty...
Most were of a heavy fabric and more then one Izu said just didn't do her looks justice. Eventually a spaghetti-string orange dress with a red flare that went to just above her ankles was chosen. It was made of a light fabric that flared out with even a small movement. Melisandra rather liked how it moved. After taking some measurements the shop owner Sally, Melisandra thought her name was took the dress to the back for an alteration to fit her tail.
Melisandra wound up wearing the dress out of the shop. They stopped in a café for lunch before heading to the final leg of their shopping. Several siblings were also in here eating. They were all delighted to see the duo and complimented Melisandra on her new dress and shoes. They were also excitedly discussing the latest news. Apparently, the captain of the spade pirate's was fighting their friend and ally, Jinbe. The fight between the two had been going for days now. Pop's had already announced this evening they were to set sail to see this new upstart who apparently wanted to challenge Pops.
Melisandra thought the name sounded familiar but couldn't quite... Oh yes, the wanted poster. She quietly studied everyone's face. They all seemed excited about the upcoming fight. Melisandra couldn't help but be a little worried, this was her family after all. She didn't want anything to happen to them. Still, so long as no one else was worried she'd try to refrain from panicking.
One might have thought that picking out everyday clothes would have been easy but not if it was Izu you were shopping with. Izu of course felt that she should be well dressed and look good under any circumstance. Melisandra by now was sorely tempted to bang her head against the wall. This was so unfair, why didn't anyone warn her!? Melisandra didn't fully understand how torture worked but she was pretty sure you were supposed to do it to other people and not your siblings. Perhaps this was a form of practice?
It was just getting dark by the time Melisandra, Izu and Marco made it back to the Moby Dick. They had ran into Marco as they were exiting the last shop and he was now carrying the bulk of the packages. Someone on deck all but shouted, "Our princess has finally arrived!" Melisandra looked up and spotted Thatch coming their way, his usual smile stretched across his face.
Thatch continued. "Well, since you got to spend all day with little Meli it's only fair I get to take her to the galley for dinner. Haruta has already called dibs on having Melisandra in her room tonight." Thatch bowed dramatically and held his hand out for Melisandra to take. When she took it Thatch swept her up into his arms and Melisandra laughed delightfully. Marco and Izu just shook their heads, having long ago become accustomed to Thatch's antics.
When they were far enough from the others Thatch whispered in Melisandra's ear. "There's been a change in the plan. We need to make our move tonight before we meet up the rival pirate group. You and Hatura will be meeting up with me in the kitchens tonight to carry out our plan." Melisandra frowned, asking. "What plan?" As far as she knew they didn't have one yet.
Thatch glanced around before continuing. "Haurta and I came up with one while we were out. With the upcoming confrontation we can't afford to wait. This will really catch everyone off guard and things will probably be too chaotic over the next few days for us to prank anyone." Melisandra accepted that, it would help take her mind off her worries about the challenge or fight, whatever it was. She did wonder about one thing though and asked. "Are we going to be pranking Izu?" Thatch's evil grin was answer enough for Melisandra but he added. "Not just him, we've got quite a fair number of targets." Melisandra wore the first really pleased smile she'd had all day. Things were finally looking up.
