Vivi explaining who the woman was sent the more cowardly members of the crew into a panic.
"What do you mean she's the Vice President?!" Nami shouted. "Why is this always happening to us?! Why are we always doing this type of thing?!"
"She's trouble!" Usopp cried. "Not only that, but big trouble! What do we do?!"
"I suppose I should apologise for letting you follow me around," Ms. All Sunday said to Vivi. "After all, now the boss has gotten very cross with you."
"Don't apologise for something I know you did," Vivi hissed, looking angry. "You let me find out on purpose didn't you?"
"Of course," Ms. All Sunday replied. "You worked so hard, you deserved that reward. However, I do think a princess going undercover in a secret organisation is one of the stupidest plans I've ever heard of."
"Don't mess with me!" Vivi shouted angrily. "You're trying to ruin my home! Kill my people! You're-!" Luffy watched as Nojiko and Usopp both pointed their weapons at either side of Ms. All Sunday's head, while Yosaku had his blade raised above her head.
"Quite foolish of you to just waltz onto our ship," Nojiko said as the hammer clicked back.
"M-Make one wrong move!" Usopp threatened, his rifle also aimed at her. "And we'll blow your head off!"
"Don't make us do it!" Yosaku shouted. Ms. All Sunday was quiet for a moment before she sighed, and Luffy had to admit he missed what happened next.
One moment the three were pointing their weapons at her, the next Nojiko and Usopp had been thrown over the railing onto the deck and Yosaku had been thrown backwards into the cabin by some force he missed.
"Don't point those things at me," Ms. All Sunday said. "After all, I've received no orders. I'm not here to fight."
"Those were Devil Fruit powers," Vivi hissed.
"If you're not here to fight, than you must be here for me!" Sanji shouted, hearts in his eyes. "Enemies turned lovers is such a romantic story!"
"You really have no sense of timing, do you?" Zoro demanded. Luffy ignored the cook and swordsman as they started an argument, keeping his eyes on the enemy. After a moment or two, his hat flew off his head and into her hands, and she placed it on her own.
"Monkey D. Luffy, right?" She asked. "You're the Captain of this nice little boat. I must say, you're luck is horrible. Having to help this Princess and all."
"Shut up and hand me my hat," Luffy replied. "I don't need to hear this from the person who blew up the curly old guy."
"If you were smart you'd listen to what I have to say," she replied. "The route you're taking will lead you to Little Garden. If you really do go there, we won't have any reason to try and stop you. So, I'll offer you this." She threw something to Luffy, who caught it and looked down at it.
"What the hell is this?" He demanded. Nami gasped as he held it up.
"That's an Eternal Pose!" She said as she took it from him. "And it's for Alabasta!"
"If you continue on your current path, you won't ever see Crocodile's face." Ms. All Sunday said. "If you follow that, you'll reach Alabasta with little to no issues."
"And we're supposed to trust the woman who just killed someone we know?" Luffy demanded.
"Do whatever you want, I'm just offering you the option." She replied. "I have no obligation to see that you go straight there. After all, it'd be better for me if you took the long route."
"Then why help us?" Zoro demanded. Ms. All Sunday smirked.
"Why indeed," she replied. With this, she took Luffy's hat off and tossed it back to him. "If we're done here, I'll be taking my leave. I hope to see you in Alabasta, Luffy." With this, the woman hoped off the side of the boat. At first Luffy assumed she'd just drowned herself, but he saw a giant turtle next to them. As she rode it away, the crew descended into silence. Everyone stared at the Eternal Pose in Nami's hands, not sure what to do.
"Which way to we go, Luffy?" Usopp asked. "Do we take the chance she gave us?"
"I vote no," Zoro said. "It's obvious she's trying to bait us."
"Agreed," Nojiko said. "No way our enemy just shows up here and offers us a helping hand."
"But this'll lead us right to Alabasta!" Nami said. "We could get Vivi home as fast as possible!" Luffy listened as the crew argued, not knowing the answer himself. He looked over to Vivi, who was just staring at the deck weakly.
"What do you think, Vivi?" He asked, silencing everyone else. The Princess looked surprised that she'd been called on, but made a face all the same.
"I don't know," she said. "I think it's really risky trusting her, but if we do go the regular route and get into trouble...What if we don't make it?"
"We'll make it," Luffy replied. "Nami, keep the Pose just in case. We'll take the regular route."
"Luffy?" Nami asked.
"I'm not going to let her decide our route for us," he said to everyone. "If she's right and we have no other way, then fine. We'll go straight there. Otherwise she can go to hell. She blew up the old guy, after all."
"Couldn't have said it better, Captain." Zoro said with a smile.
"Big Bro Luffy is so wise!" Johnny shouted, tears flowing down his face. "I'm so lucky to be here!" Luffy just laughed at this.
"Sanji, we need to food to cheer up this atmosphere!"
"Of course! I need to make sure Ms. Wednesday-chwan is taken care of!"
It took all of a few hours for the crew to completely relax. Sanji cooked some amazing food for them, and everyone had a feast while he tried to court the girls on board. Everyone turned him down, some more violently. Vivi also told everyone that the beginning of the Grand Line was the most random, so the weather would be mostly okay now that they'd passed the first hurdle. Although she probably didn't think that they'd take that so literally and just started relaxing. Their attitude didn't change in the upcoming days, still lounging around until they were needed.
"Is this really okay?" Vivi asked weakly. "We should probably be more on guard..."
"Just saying that isn't going to make them get up," Nami replied as she walked over to her with a smile. She knew full well that no one here was going to get serious until they had to. "So here, have your drink and relax. It's actually pretty easy here." Nami watched as Vivi did as she asked, looking off to the sea.
"I suppose you're right," she said with a smile. The crew relaxed for a while longer, everyone laughing and having a good time.
"Hey look everyone," Sanji said from the edge of the ship. "A dolphin." Sure enough, it one looked off that side of the ship they could see the dolphin.
Only problem being it was thirty times bigger than the Merry.
"Get us out of here before he crushes us!" Usopp screamed.
"You heard the man!" Nojiko said. "Get us away from this guy!" The crew, spurred to action by the threat, quickly manoeuvred their way away from the dolphin. Once they had gotten away, a island appeared on the horizon.
"That had to be our next destination," Nami said, investigating the Log Pose's lock. "We're definitely locked onto it." As the ship ventured closer, it quickly became apparent to all that the name Little Garden was not at all accurate. The entire island was coated in a thick dense jungle, and once they got closer they could hear all manner of creatures inside. Nami didn't like the idea at all.
"This place has got to have scary monsters," Usopp muttered as the Merry sailed inland, down a stream.
"Or scary ghosts!" Yosaku added weakly.
"Stop wetting yourselves, nothing's even happened yet." Zoro said. As if to startle the crew, a loud explosion sounded off on the island, causing both men to fall to the deck in surprise.
"It explodes!" Yosaku shouted. "I hate this place already!"
"How long do we have to stay here, Nami?!" Usopp wailed. Nami made a face back at him despite the unsettling feeling she too had.
"I don't know," she replied. "Unless we find someone to ask, we just wait until the Log saves."
"So we could be here forever!" Usopp replied. "That's it, get out that Eternal Pose and let's get the hell out of here!"
"Nah," Luffy replied before anyone else could say anything. "Imma go explore this place."
"What?!" Nami demanded. "Luffy, we don't have time for you to be playing around!"
"Actually we do, cause the Log isn't saved yet right?" Nami was stunned by her Captain's somewhat logical take down, unsure of what to say now. "Besides, we need food. We can spend this time hunting some animals until the Log saves and we can leave."
"I hate when you make sense," Nami hissed. Luffy had a point no matter how she looked at it. Due to the chaos at Whiskey Peak they hadn't had a chance to restock their supplies, so this was the perfect opportunity. "Go and have your fun."
"Awesome!" Luffy shouted. "Off I go!"
"Can I come Big Bro?!" Johnny asked, looking excited. "I want to explore this place too!"
"Can I come too?" Vivi asked. Luffy just laughed at this.
"Sure, come on!" He said. "Sanji, get us a pirate lunch! We'll need it!" Once Sanji had given the crew their food, the trio darted off into the jungle, the sound of Luffy's laugh trailing off the farther away they got.
"Alright you guys, just cause the Captain is goofing off doesn't mean we can," Nojiko said. "We need food, and lots of it judging by the eating habits around here. Zoro, can you hunt?"
"Huh?" Zoro asked. "Oh sure, whatever, I can do that."
"Awesome. Tha-"
"Nojiko-swan, why didn't you ask me?!" Sanji demanded, looking heartbroken. "I'd find the perfect meat for your delicate palette!"
"I was just about to ask," Nojiko said to reassure him. "We're both going with Zoro anyway." Sanji looked like he was in heaven at the idea of going on a 'date' with Nojiko, as if he were forgetting Zoro even existed. The second trio walked off at this, leaving the last three on board.
"I guess we guard the ship?" Nami asked weakly.
"I guess we do," Usopp said.
"Someone has too," Yosaku agreed. Silence fell over the trio before Nami and Usopp smiled at Yosaku at the same time.
"We're counting on you, Yosaku!"
"You two need to protect the ship too!" Nami made a face at him, but he didn't back down. She didn't know what his problem was, he was the only fighter left on the ship. Despite this, something nagged at Nami, but she didn't know what it was. It made her uneasy about this island though, she knew that. Had she heard the name before or something?
Deciding to investigate her concerns, Nami walked back into the cabin and went to the bookshelf, looking through as many books as she could as fast as she could.
"What are you doing, Big Sis Nami?" Yosaku asked.
"Something about this place is bugging me," she said. "I feel like I've heard of the place before, but I can't place the name. It's got to be around here somewhere."
"What the hell is a sea creature doing on land?!" Luffy asked in surprise, staring up at the serpent in surprise.
"It's a monster!" Johnny shouted. "What the hell is up with this island!"
"Don't be dumb!" Vivi replied, trying to keep Karoo calm. "It's not a sea creature, it's a dinosaur!"
"That's just as bad!" Johnny replied. Luffy however, felt starstruck. A dinosaur?! How was that even possible?! Granted he could hear Vivi explaining it, something about climates or something he didn't know. All he knew was that it wasn't as cool as that dinosaur! Ignoring the shocked cries from both Vivi and Johnny, he quickly scaled the creatures neck and stood atop it's head, looking around at the island.
"There's a volcano over there!" Luffy called back down to the others. "That's probably what exploded back when we rode in."
"Please be careful Luffy!" Vivi shouted back. "It's still a dinosaur you know, no matter how nice it's being!"
"How's the view Big Bro?!" Johnny asked.
"It's great! I can see practically the entire island from up he-!" Luffy was interrupted as the dinosaurs head bucked, and he was thrown off.
And promptly eaten.
He didn't really know what happened next as it was all mostly black on his end, but after a few seconds the light returned and he was rescued. Finally getting his bearings, Luffy saw that he was no longer in the creatures body, but he wasn't on the ground either. In fact, a giant was holding him up. The giant bearded man let out a large bellowing laugh.
"You're quite the cheerful human!" The man bellowed as he laughed. "I haven't seen one like you in quite a while!"
"You're huge!" Luffy replied "That's so cool!" The giant just laughed again.
"I am Dorry, the greatest warrior of Elbaf!" He said. "I'd like you lot to come with me to my home!"
"Sure!" Luffy replied, looping in his friends down below without warning them. "I've always wanted to meet a giant!"
"What was that?" Sanji asked. Nojiko made a face and turned back to him.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I could of sworn I heard a scream," he replied as he scratched his head. "Oh well. It was probably my imagination."
"Probably just an animal," Zoro said. "Speaking of, can we eat this?" Nojiko looked forward to see that he had cut down a massive beast while the other two had been distracted. The creature looked reptilian, but was clearly far to large to be one that Nojiko had ever heard of.
"It looks like a dinosaur," she said, speaking her mind to the others.
"Dinosaurs are extinct," Zoro said bluntly.
"What else could it be?" She asked.
"You're so perceptive Nojiko-swan!" Sanji shouted. "To see that these creatures are ancient!"
"Can we eat them or not?" Zoro demanded, looking irritated by the Cook's actions.
"Of course we can, it's meat." Sanji replied as he lit a new cigarette. "Which is good for us, because Luffy would have lost his mind had it not been edible." Finally deciding they could eat it, Zoro picked up the massive creature and began to haul it back in the direction of the Merry, leaving Sanji and Nojiko to themselves to hunt. The Cook used this as an attempt to flirt heavily with the Merry's Quartermaster, who was more interested it looking for more food to eat. After all, she doubted only one dinosaur was enough to satisfy the appetite in this crew.
The last couple of minutes had been a complete blur to Yosaku. One moment Nami had been looking for some answers about Little Garden, and the next she screamed in terror from out on the deck. When he'd gone to investigate, he was stunned to find that a massive giant had walked up to their ship. Despite the clearly shocked crew he had asked for some rum, identifying himself as Broggy, the man accepted the rum Yosaku found for him, before he roared in anguish. This sent both Nami and Usopp to the deck in fright, but Yosaku just watched in awe as the giant turned and sliced the head off of the dinosaur that had bit his rear end. After this he invited them to his home, and more or less just took them there despite the cries from the other two present crew members. Now Broggy had cooked them up some of the monster that attacked him, and was offering it to them as a gift.
"We don't want it," Nami and Usopp said weakly.
"Why not?!" Yosaku demanded through a mouthful of dinosaur. "This thing is delicious!" Broggy let out a laugh at this.
"Dinosaur meat is indeed delicious!" He roared, "Just relax, you two! I mean you no harm!" This didn't seem to do anything to soothe the other two, but Yosaku loved this guy! He was so big and awesome, and he made some delicious dinosaur food. He wondered what Sanji would be able to do once he got his hands on it.
"Yosaku stop eating!" Usopp hissed in his ear. He turned and watched the sniper in confusion.
"Why?" He asked. "It's so good!"
"He's fattening you up! Don't you see the skulls over there?!" Yosaku looked where the man pointed and saw a pile of skulls there. Swallowing the bite he'd had in his mouth, he shrugged.
"So?" He asked.
"So?!" Nami hissed, joining in on the conversation. "He's killed people and then ate them! Picked the bones clean and everything! We need to get the hell out of here, now!" Clearing her throat, Nami turned back to Broggy. "Um, Broggy, could I ask you a question?"
"Of course little one!" Broggy shouted. "What is it?"
"H-How long does it take for a Log to save on this island?" She asked. "W-We have places to be, so..." Broggy just let out another bellowing laugh.
"Well I hope it's not too important!" He said.
"W-Why?" Nami asked, looking frightened now. Broggy laughed again.
"Cause it takes a Log a year to save here. Make yourselves comfortable, we'll be sharing the island for a while!"
I've been meaning to ask you guys for a while, but what do you think about me tackling certain filler arcs. I know I'm doing G8 regardless, but I also enjoyed the small memory loss arc that happened. You guys got any problems with that? Let me know! I hope you enjoyed, leave a review!