Title: Storm
Pairing: NamiVivi
Warnings: Use of weapons.
Summary: Capturing Vivi was Nami's final mission as a bounty hunter. Her client would pay well, and the mission would ultimately save her village from the hands of Arlong. However, somewhere along the way, it seemed as if it was Nami who got captured by Vivi.
Author: Stopless [ladyquintessence Tumblr]
Beta: Atlanis Tumblr
Note: Written for the 2015 opbigbang.
Outside of the abandoned building, Zoro heard them before he saw them. In the distance, there was a group of about 50 people, all eager for battle against the those 'outsiders' who had taken one of their own.
Despite their numbers, the millions were organized. They worked together. Zoro was never really great with numbers, nor with directions, however he knew that such a high level of organization within a few hours meant that the battle against them would not be easy.
"Hey, Nami!" Zoro called.
Nami went out of the building and stood next to Zoro. They both looked at the horizon that was full of a quick approaching and very angry storm.
"Figure we'll get one of them to tell me the location?" Nami asked.
"You're crazy," Zoro grinned.
xxx
Blades, fists, and staves clashed as Nami and Zoro stood back to back against each other, fending off the attacks.
The pack of millions seemed to just keep on coming without end. What they lacked in individual strength was made up for in numbers and organization. It was getting more and more difficult to hold them back.
They attacked together, at the same time, with the same types of weapons at first, gauging how Nami and Zoro would defend themselves.
When the bounty hunters discovered that fending off a bunch of the same weapons was easy for Zoro with the swipe of a katana blade, and easy for Nami as she ducked under the katana to swipe her staff and knock their members to the ground, they decided to change tactics. Simply overwhelming Nami and Zoro with the sheer amount of weapons would not work anymore. The abilities of Nami and Zoro were not to be underestimated.
The bounty hunters instead began to attack together in small groups, with each member welding a different type of weapon. One member would attack with a blade, while another would attack with claws, and the remaining member would attack with whichever weapon they had that differed from their counterparts.
However, their attack was again fended off by Zoro and Nami. Instead of standing back to back to fend off the attacks, they briefly split away from each other to engage in their oncoming attackers, only to resume the back to back position once again.
Each time Nami split away from their back to back position, she spun her staff, briefly blinding her opponent before knocking them out. When Nami's weapon suddenly changed from what looked like a normal bo-staff into three blue pieces, many of the bounty hunters cheered and jeered.
"Tsk. A broken weapon, eh?" one of the bounty hunters laughed. "You were deadly before, but not anymore!"
In sudden confidence, some of the bounty hunters broke away from the organized attack and began to solely concentrate on Nami and her 'broken weapon.' Their confidence and laughs only grew as one of Nami's weapons fell from her hands.
Meanwhile, with their position changed because of the sudden concentration on Nami and not so much on himself anymore, Zoro held his own against the remaining bounty hunters. He jumped high and ducked to avoid a swipe aim at his legs and a hammer aimed to his head. When he landed, the two bounty hunters that were trying to attack him ended up attacking and taking each other out.
Zoro did not pause. He met his next opponents with his katana blades, executing one of his signature moves and defeating them in a whirlwind of movement. Once he was sure that that wave of opponents were down, he glanced at Nami.
Nami held up the two remaining pieces of her detachable Clima-Tact in one hand, and signaled something to Zoro with the other hand. Zoro knew that they were directions of some kind, however whether or not they meant up or north, he was unsure.
Zoro did, however, understand that the signaled numbers that shortly followed the directions meant that he should stay a certain radius away from Nami's upcoming attack. It was almost as if Nami had given up on giving Zoro directions, and gave him an easier measure to follow.
Zoro cursed good-naturedly as he met his next wave of opponents, keeping in mind to back them up to the radius of Nami's attack.
When Nami's attack came, it shook the area with a tremendous roar. Lightning came down from a mist of grey clouds above all of the remaining bounty hunters.
Once Zoro and Nami caught their breath, they looked at the wreckage that they had caused. All of the bounty hunters were knocked out with little hope of returning to conscious any time soon.
"Figure we'll get one of them to tell you the location?" Zoro asked.
"You're crazy," Nami replied.
xxx
When Luffy woke up, he was hungry.
True, him and Zoro had a feast last night, however last night was different from the morning.
Luffy looked at a hastily scribbled note that Zoro had left on the bedside. The note indicated that Zoro was heading to either north or south of the city. Something like that. It was outside of the city, anyway. Zoro had apparently left to deal with some emergency business with Nami, and while he was at it, Luffy was to find another means of gathering information about the location of Nami's client.
After putting on his clothes, throwing on his desert wear on top, and gathering his belongings along with the DenDen Mushi, Luffy headed out of the inn.
He walked the streets of Rainbase's main city, combing the surroundings by playing the part of a lost yet curious tourist. The lost and curious parts of the act weren't so much of an act, but Luffy was soon enough able to find what he was looking for - someone who might be able to help him.
The person wore a pink overcoat with silver trimmings, a blue and white striped dress shirt, and a pair of navy and sky blue shorts. Their pose and the two swan figures that made up the shoulders of the pink overcoat resembled the number two.
Luffy didn't need an introduction to know that the person posing before him and their admiring audience was someone who was familiar with the city and its people.
Standing beside the person was a tall woman in a white overcoat decorated with beautiful gold patterns. She wore a white hat with similar gold patterns to match the overcoat. The rest of her attire consisted of a deep purple vest and shorts. She smiled a mysterious smile before walking away from the person and the crowd.
"Oh, stop joking around," the person smiled as his audience showered him in compliments.
Luffy continued to observe the person from the corner of his eyes as he pretended to look at a map. The person seemed to be well-liked among the people of Rainbase. Admired, really. It was as if they were saying such kind words in hopes of getting on their good side. It probably had something to do with a ranking system.
His mind briefly wandered to what Zoro had told him last night about Baroque Works and their ranks in numbers. Or something like that? He had been too distracted by the delicious food.
Luffy shrugged and decided to approach the interesting person. He knew that people were able to tell a fake compliment from a real one, and being showed with fake compliments must be pretty hurtful.
He grinned, folded his map into his pocket, and walked up to the person.
