Chapter Twelve: Royal Blue
The island rose up in strange round mountains with small little bumps that reminded Rowan far too much of cactuses. The sun was almost set, turning the normally white clouds in to giant puffs of orange, yellow and red so it looked like the mountains had caught fire.
"It's an island of giant cactuses!" Luffy squealed like a boy in a candy shop. He all but bounced on his little throne known as the figurehead. "It's Whisky Peak!"
"Thank goodness we've arrived safely!" Mr. 9 wheezed. Rowan turned on the two hitchhikers. Rowan's entire body flinched when they suddenly flew to the railing of the front deck and perched there. The sly smirks that manifested on their faces did nothing for Rowan's relaxation. "Well, we'll be taking our leave now."
"Thanks for the ride, darlings! We'll see you again, fate willing! Bye-bye, baby." Surprisingly powerful legs shot the two off the railing and far into the ocean. Rowan felt the tension leave her body at their departure. She hated having non-members aboard; especially unknowns like them.
"Praise the Kings they're gone!" And Rowan cleaned her hands of the matter.
"Who were those guys?" Usopp mumbled, not finished with the episode.
"Forget 'em! Let's land!" Luffy cried with tremendous joy. Rowan decided it was best to do as the captain commanded before Luffy had a heart attack. They were close enough to the island now that Rowan could see through the mist that crawled from the sea and hung desperately to the island's edges.
"There's a river," Rowan pointed out. "We can probably use it to sail inland and find a town."
"I hope there aren't monsters and stuff!" Usopp started sweating with a stutter in his voice.
"That's a definite possibility," Sanji didn't help matters. "This is the Grand Line."
"If there are, we'll just run away," Luffy shrugged off. Rowan tried to shove the feel of morose that she was actually surprised her Captain suggested running. He was wrong, of course, but that didn't filter any of the shock. The last person she suspected would run would be Luffy…with Zolo a close second. Sanji at least had some sense.
"Hold it. Don't forget, we can't leave right away," Nami chided, finally being the voice of reason. Luffy stretched out from the railing, his eyes wide and questioning. Rowan noticed his legs were wrapped around the figurehead so he didn't lose his balance.
"How come?" Nami tapped the Log Pose on her wrist.
"We have to record the island's magnetic field with the Log Pose before we can move to the next island. The time it takes to 'log' on each island varies. Some island may only take a few hours, but others could take days."
"If not years," Rowan agreed with Nami. Crossing her arms over her chest Rowan motioned towards the island with her chin. "Since we're so close to the beginning, odds are we won't be here to terribly long; and, even if we are, we can hopefully find an Eternal Pose." Usopp was ready to have a panic attack. His round eyes more round and sweat had started to break out on his tanned skin.
"You mean, if this island is full of monsters we might have to stick around for days?"
"That's right," Nami confirmed. Rowan frowned lightly as she turned to Usopp.
"What's all this talk of monsters, anyways?" A red eyebrow was raised when all faces were turned to the redhead. "What? Do you all seriously think there are monsters on this sea?" The blank looks returning Rowan's questioning one had her dead panning. A deadly finger was pointed to Luffy whose eyebrows disappeared into the hat's rim. "The only monsters you have to worry about are the ones that ate Devil Fruits. The only monsters," Rowan made quotation marks with her words, "we have worry about on these waters are the things swimming in it and the humans that live on it." Luffy's monkey like laughter had everyone turning to him on his little perch.
Rowan's head tipped to the side and she grabbed her chin in thought.
"Though…there are also fishmen but I doubt any are this close to the beginning…Arlong was a special case obviously. And there are also merfolk…and giants…then there's also the longarms and longlegs…and the minks but the odds of us seeing one of those is astronomical…oh and I've also heard of the Three-Eyed people but—"
"Stop stop stop!" Usopp screeched, putting his hands over his ears and closing his
"Rowan's right! We'll worry about this when the time comes. Let's go!" Luffy got the most eager look on his face then as he clapped his feet in front of himself. "Besides! We have to sail up the river because it's there!"
"It looks that way," Nami sighed with a shake of her head.
"Luffy's right. There's no use sitting around. Let's go," Zolo put in his two-cents.
"I'll protect you, Rowan-sweet! Nami-san!"
Usopp was sweating a fountain. Rowan decided the boy was useless and ignored his sudden claim to have a random fever called 'better not visit this island'. Rowan had the males quickly up and going in order to steer Merry Go towards the river. It was challenging due to the simple fact that a heavy mist still clung to the shores of the island. Rowan was at the front of the ship keeping an eye out for any dark shadows that could signal coral or rock. She was terrified they would run Merry Go aground. As the ship was swallowed in to the shadowy depths of the mist, Nami's voice rang out across the decks,
"We're going in. Don't forget, be ready to run or fight." Rowan's eyes burned into the mist, seeking any sign of danger. Brows furrowed between olive eyes when the silence of the crew was disturbed by soft whispers of humans. The woman was joined by Usopp and Luffy, both of them drawn by the sound of human voices.
"I hear people talking but I can't see 'em through the fog," Usopp gulped next to Rowan. Said woman frowned at the sharpshooter as he began to what may be called hiding behind Rowan.
"Seriously?" she questioned.
"People? Did you say 'people'?" Luffy all but jumped out of his skin. Rowan shoved her palm into Usopp's forehead, keeping him an arm's distance away from her. A small choking sound escaped the long nose as he tried in vain to glue himself back to her side. Rowan forgot the man's struggles when a very clear message of,
"Alert the town! Pirates!" echoed to them over the river. Removing her hand, Rowan watched Usopp stumble past and skid across the deck.
"Pirates are here!" someone shouted. Rowan could only assume there was a village somewhere near. How they were able to see Merry Go yet her unable to see them was extremely stressful for the woman. The Strawhats weren't under suspense much longer for the mist decided then to spit them out into a bay that harbored a surprisingly large village. People outlined the bay. Rowan's body tensed in preparation for the bellowed orders to attack but, strangely enough, the bellows thundered had nothing to do with weapons.
"Welcome to the town of celebration—Whisky Peak!"
"Pirates, welcome to our town!"
"Welcome to the Grand Line!" Rowan's mind never registered her jaw going slack and hanging on its hinges. She followed the large crowd and tried to comprehend the smiling faces, the waving flags with 'welcome' written on them and the cheers of glory and pride. Luffy's face was a better off than Rowan's. His expression of shock was quickly replaced with one of giddy happiness as his head twisted this way and that on his neck.
"They're not monsters. They're welcoming us," Usopp said with clear disbelief and shock lacing his voice.
"What's going on?" Sanji grumbled, his cigarette clenched tightly between his teeth. Rowan was of the same mind as Sanji.
"Hurray for the heroes of the sea!" Rowan's jaw came back up with a painful 'clack' when Sanji's frame of mind quickly wondered with the words of,
"There are lots of cute girls here, too!" Usopp, now knowing that Rowan's words were true and there were no monsters, quickly fell into the swing of things and began to blow kisses to the shouting people with a flush on his cheeks and smile on his face.
"What a welcome! Pirates are heroes to these people!" It took only a short time for Rowan to give the orders to lower the anchor and the gangplank. Rowan herself took care of the sails. Recoiling anytime anyone got to close to the ship, Rowan chose to stay onboard as the others chose to disembark. When a tall, middle aged man came over, Rowan was prepared to jump from above should he show any signs of ill intent. Rowan wouldn't admit it aloud but she about fell out of the rigging when the man cleared his throat.
"Welcome. My name is Igarappoi." Rowan's ears burned with familiarity. Taking in the middle aged man Rowan found nothing to extreme about him that jumped out at her minus his hair. "No doubt this all comes as a surprise to you. This is Whisky Peak, a bustling town of ale brewing and music. We pride ourselves on our hospitality." A smile that Rowan found she couldn't trust even if it was slightly pleasant burst onto the man's face. "We'd love to hear the tales of your adventures. Would you be so kind as to join—" The man took a moment to clear this throat again and accompanied it with what sound like tuning one's voice. "A celebration in your honor?"
"Mister you've curled your hair way too much." Rowan suddenly found herself next to Luffy who she swiftly hit upside the back of his head. Luffy yelped and grabbed the back of his head with both hands. "Rowan," he whined, a small tear in the corner of his eye. Rowan had no regrets. However, her attack was quickly forgotten when Luffy was swept up by Sanji and Usopp and pulled into their celebration.
"You bet we would!" the three cheered before running into the crowd. Rowan watched with a scowl burned on to her face and arms crossed over her chest. Nami was quick to grab Igarappoi's attention and pointed to the Log Pose on her wrist.
"Say, how long will it take to log this island?" Igarappoi smiled down at the much smaller woman.
"Log? Please set aside such trivial matters! Rest from your travels!"
'Trivial?' Rowan growled to herself. There was nothing trivial about the Log Pose. The Log Pose was life or death on the Grand Line and anyone with half a brain knew that if they were born on the sea. Igarappoi threw his arm over Nami's shoulder and took off with her towards the disappearing crowd as they went into one of the buildings. "All right, everyone! Prepare for the festivities! Let us pay tribute to the adventures! Let's celebrate!" A loud cheer took to the air along with laughter.
Rowan continued to scowl.
"Have you ever heard of an island that welcomes pirates?" Zolo questioned from her side.
"Welcome? Yes. My island welcomes pirates. For some islands pirates are their life's blood. However to celebrate? Never."
"Didn't think so," Zolo scoffed with a tiny smirk. Rowan all but howled when Zolo patted her on the head. "Watch your back."
"I'm about to stab yours!" Zolo laughed as he walked towards the others. Rowan huffed, feathers clearly ruffled. With a scowl still imprinted on her face, Rowan turned and looked out towards the orange sunset. Her face slowly lost the scowl but was replaced by a stiff expression that kept her brows furrowed.
"This…can't end well."
Music pounded into Rowan's ears and made her heart beat in time with the sound of trombones and drums dancing through her. The smell of good food and booze caused drowsy, warm feelings to surface. Rowan watched her fellow shipmates enjoy themselves immensely. Usopp, surrounded by both men and women, was going on about a mixed version of their adventures that had Rowan pondering what went on behind his large nose; already the curly haired man's voice was slurring due to the grog he held in hand.
"And so then, I said in a very cool way, 'Hey, you sea monsters, get your flippers off my friends!'"
Rowan's eyes continued to wonder. Zolo slammed an empty cup of grog on the table; the man next to Zolo slammed head first into said table with a painful sounding hiccup and 'slap'. Zolo let out a loud belch that echoed through the already loud room. The defeated man was dragged off to join others Zolo had conquered in his drinking contest. A challenging smirk prowled Zolo's face as he faced the next challenged.
"He drank ten men under the table!" someone cried out with laughter in their voice. Nami's perils of laughter had Rowan peeling her eyes away from the enthralling expression on Zolo's face. The man's smirk was the one he wore during battle; Rowan wouldn't admit it even to herself, but the expression gave her chills. She was able to force any of those thoughts down with annoyance. Rowan had actually thought that the man was able to recognize the odd situation they were in.
"She out drank twelve!" another person applauded. "She sure can hold her own!"
"Gimme more!" Luffy bellowed. Rowan shook her head at the swollen boy. He had already eaten twice his weight food and still continued to stuff his face.
"The Captain over there's eaten enough food for twenty! The cook's down!" Rowan shooed away a man trying to give her a drink. She was refusing anything they tried to give her. She had always been a lightweight; a couple barrels and she was would have a pleasant buzz. It was something Mihawk had always teased her about. In a den full of something Rowan hadn't the slightest as to what, she refused to impair herself in any shape or form.
Rowan frowned heavily when someone shot a streamer and the scraps of paper fell onto her hat.
"This one's flirting with twenty girls at once! Who are these people, anyway?" someone howled in hilarity. Rowan dusted off her beanie as she looked towards Sanji. The blond was surrounded by women, his nostrils flared and his cheeks flushed. Igarappoi came to Rowan's side with a smile that was both large and wide.
"This certainly has been—" The man took a moment to clear his throat and tune his voice. "—an enjoyable evening! I'm so pleased you're having fun!"
"Hey, girly!" Rowan turned with a dull look to a scrawny man smiling in her face. An eyebrow was cocked upward. "Want to try your strength against, the strongest? An arm-wrestling match?" Rowan didn't see it but Zolo perked up instantly at the word. He was quickly distracted however, and was once again submerged in his drinking game.
"Go away," was Rowan short and easy reply. As the redhead returned her attention to her crew a deep, baritone voice cackled.
"Why you askin' her? You should be askin' the swordsman! Obviously that girl can't—" The chair almost fell underneath Rowan due to the way she threw herself in to it. Her lip pulled back to reveal her teeth as her brows tried to furrow their way down her nose. Green eyes ablaze, Rowan glowered at the man on the other seat. His arms were the size of Rowan's width when placed together. A rectangular head sat on a non-existent neck with a thick beard that hung to his angular jaw. Tiny eyes sparked back at Rowan from above a large nose.
Rowan slammed her elbow on to the table, hand open in clear challenge. The beast of a man smirked. His massive hand engulfed Rowan's as the two appendages clasped together. Rowan stared at the man's pinkie finger; it was easily twice the size of her thumb. With a smirk Rowan refused to break eye contact with the man as a scrawny male grabbed both their hands in one of his.
"Go!" the man thundered and a heavy cheer filled the room. Rowan felt the man's arm stiffen in preparation to stop her from budging his arm. Rowan felt her smirk widen. The man's frowned lightly in his confusion. She was sure most would throw themselves instantly into the battle of strength, but then, most of them had too. The cheers around them had died down a bit, surprised by the no visible strain on either party. Rowan tightened her grip on the hand in front of her.
"I win," Rowan snarled, her face turning into victorious sneer that lit up her eyes and stretched her lips from ear to ear. Rowan felt her strength course through her muscles as they contracted. With one powerful push, Rowan felt the wood splitter and crack underneath the man's fist, forced through by Rowan's hand. Smirking through the rain of wood, Rowan released the stunned man's hand and leaned back into her seat. The table continued to crumble in one itself even as Rowan crossed her arms and smirked at the quiet crowd. "You were saying something about a swordsman?"
A sharp sting on the back had Rowan stumbling forward slightly in her chair. Confused, she looked behind her only to be swarmed by the cheering crowd. Their loud voices rang in Rowan's ears as someone shoved a mug of grog into her hand. Shoulder still stinging, Rowan was swept up out of her seat and back into the party. Rowan's brows tightened. She saw their mouths moving but sounds that couldn't be described as words filtered through her ears and danced around her brain. The grog was shoved down her throat. The inn was suddenly spinning. Colors began to blur together.
Rowan felt herself fall into a chair. The scent of steel and sweat filled her nose along with the smells of food and booze. Rowan's head lulled on her neck as she looked up into a flush faced Zolo. His head was thrown back as he laughed about something. Something wasn't right. She had to tell Zolo that something had happened to her.
Rowan glowered at the grog in her hand. Maybe it had something to do with why the room was still spinning.
White hot pain shot through the darkness that was Rowan's consciousness. Green eyes flew open as she flung her body forward, prepared for another attack. More pain flashed from Rowan's head and a loud yelp filled her ringing ears. Her eyes squeezed shut as she grabbed at her the rising bump on her forehead.
"How hard is your head?" a female's voice growled, causing Rowan to open her eyes and watch a face come into focus. The rattling organ in her skull took its precious time to give Rowan a name. Rowan's brows furrowed as her brain also noticed that her cheek was burning.
"Did…Did you slap me?" Rowan screeched with her eyes wide as she gently cupped the aching flesh. Rowan instantly regretted the sound level of her own voice. Her brain was pounding within the walls of her skull as if it was trying to escape the confinements. Everything around her began to pulsate as Rowan placed her head between her legs. Her shoulder was a throbbing mass of high level pain. The woman felt as if she had drowned herself in booze, she even tasted it on her lips. However, Rowan knew for sure that she hadn't drank anything.
"You refused to wake up!" Nami barked, causing another wave of pain to rattle through Rowan's brain. The redhead rolled her shoulder and barely contained a hiss. Looking at the hurting body part in confusion, Rowan grabbed the edge of her shirt and pulled it over her shoulder. "What are you—" Rowan turned her back to Nami and looked over her shoulder. Nami's eyes had gone wide and her mouth dropped. "Where did you get that bruise? It looks horrible!"
"Knew it," Rowan snarled with enough venom to kill a horse. "I was drugged." Rowan let out shirt fall back down. Turning to Nami, the two women stared at one another. "Well, at least we know their original plan wasn't to kill us."
"Zolo's been fighting them for a while now. The commotion has died down some." Nami's impish little smirk popped on to her face as her eyes light up. "Wanna go check it out?" Rowan gave the young female a deadpan but stood up none the less. Eyes taking in the disaster that was the room, Rowan found that the only ones still in the inn was Sanji and Usopp; both laid out on the floor. The ladies exited the inn and Nami about ran Rowan over in her haste to get back in when a large explosion went off. Rowan's head picked up as did her ears. "What was that?" Nami hissed, her hands encasing Rowan's arm.
"…I don't know," Rowan admitted, closing her eyes in hopes of keeping some of the sound in her mind. "It wasn't gunpowder, nor a plasma…" When Nami didn't answer, Rowan turned to her and found the woman was raising an eyebrow. "What?" Nami shook her head and continued on. Rowan tailed after her. "What happened to Luffy?"
"Ms. Wednesday took him." Rowan stumbled to a stop with her own face turning into a dropped jaw and disbelief cloud her eyes.
"…and you just let her?" Nami's blank look had Rowan's headache intensifying.
"What was I supposed to do?" Rowan's fingers dug into her temple as she tried to help her aching head.
"Nothing at all apparently." Rowan continued on their journey to find Zolo or Luffy. Honestly, Rowan simply wanted to get away from Nami. Her voice was too high pitched for Rowan right now.
Another loud explosion had Nami squealing and hiding behind Rowan once more. Rowan just gave the woman a deadpan look again and continued down the path towards the explosions. She still hadn't the slightest as to what was causing the noise. There was no scent in the air that could identified what sound couldn't.
"Aw, get up! I don't wanna hear it! Let go of me!" Zolo's voice echoed from the other side of buildings that separated the two streets. Rowan went into a trot in order to get to Zolo faster. Something wasn't right with this island, not even in the smallest mentioning of the word. Nami, knowing Zolo was near, took the incentive to run ahead of Rowan and climb up onto one of the stone buildings.
"Those two are formidable fighters! There's no way I can defeat them! Please! Protect the Princess for me!" Rowan's ears twitched at Igarappoi's voice.
'Princess?' she pondered to herself, choosing to walk through an ally instead of following Nami up and over.
"Please escort my Princess to Alabasta, a great kingdom in the far east!"
Rowan felt like someone had suddenly slugged her in the gut. The woman came around the building and found the curly-haired man flat out on the ground with blood pouring from multiple wounds. Zolo stood in front of Igarappoi who was attached to his feet. Rowan felt a headache come on tenfold when she spotted a large bellied Luffy laid out and still snoring. His large belly jiggled with each snore. "You shall be rewarded handsomely!" Igarappoi cried in pure desperation. "I beg you! Please save her!" Zolo, the uncaring brute that he was, simply snarled down at the man with agitation smeared all over his face.
"You want some more?"
"Just how handsomely are we talking?" Rowan lifted her head and found Nami sitting on the edge of the house she had climbed. With her sly smile and cunning wink, the young woman snapped her fingers with impending doom echoing in her eyes. "We'll do it for a billion beri!"
Igarappoi's jaw dropped into the dirt. The man gagged on about something but both Zolo and Nami ignored it.
"You must still be tipsy," Zolo said with a blank expression. Nami dropped from the house and joined the group that was slowly forming. Nami frowned at the swordsman with self-importance.
"Do you really think I'd get tipsy in a town that welcomed pirates? Give me more credit than that." Nami beamed happily at Zolo and Rowan who joined their side. "That was all an act! I can drink way more than that." Igarappoi was still choking at the audacity Nami seemed to display. Rowan, convinced she was missing a very big piece of the very large puzzle, simply stared at the musician. She was hoping his face would bring something to her memory. Nami turned her attention away from Zolo and pounced upon Igarappoi like a cat with cream. "Well? Will you pay us a billion or not, chief? 'Cause without our help, it looks like your princess is gonna die." Igarappoi sweated with the sudden challenge in front of him.
"I am but a humble soldier! I cannot possible guarantee such a sum!"
"Are you saying she isn't worth it?" Nami's smile brightened up to match the sun. Kneeling down, the young orangette propped her chin with an open palm. "Pay up."
"That's blackmail," Zolo called out even as Igarappoi looked ready to have a heart-attack. Rowan honestly couldn't blame him. As a child she hadn't had to ever worry about money until eight; then she had learned the horrors of poverty. She hadn't even seen a billion beri for the past ten years. Gagging on blood that had bubbled into his throat, Igarappoi stuttered out,
"Well if you deliver the Princess safely to her kingdom and negotiate the fee with her, there should be no problem!" Nami's joyous smile turned slightly bitter as the edges of her expressions turned down.
"You expect us to save her before we get our money?"
"They may be killing her Highness as we speak!" Nami let out an annoyed sigh but nodded her head none the less. Flicking her short hair over her shoulder the woman huffed,
"Oh, all right. We'll save your princess first." Annoyance turned determination as Nami flung out an arm and ordered loudly, "All right! Let's go, Zolo!" Rowan stopped in her staring long enough to see Zolo turn red with anger.
"Are you crazy? Why should I go along with your silly, moneymaking schemes?" Nami appeared flabbergasted by Zolo's decline. Turning on the swordsman, Nami pointed at the pissed man with sulking lips.
"You're so stupid! The money's all mine, but the contract obligates the whole crew!"
"What kind of logic is that?" Zolo bellowed Rowan's thoughts. Rolling her green eyes, Rowan turned to Igarappoi.
"How do we get to Alabasta?"
"C'mon, all you have to do is swing your sword a little!"
"I don't like being used! I'm not that stupid cook!" Igarappoi stuttered a little bit before croaking out,
"It's east of here, about two months voyage from here…we have an Eternal Log—"
"You don't think you can beat them, do you?"
"That'll help us out a lot," Rowan mused, already thinking on how they would get there. Rowan wasn't sure why she wanted to help but knew that she'd regret it if she didn't. Rowan had always trusted her instincts and they were currently screaming that Rowan had some connection to this man.
"What? Say that again!"
"I said, you don't think you can beat them!"
"Stop repeating yourself!"
"You're going to help?" Igarappoi stuttered out, eyes bulging. "But I can't promise you the—"
"I think you've forgotten something. You owe me!"
"Forget about the money."
"What did you just say, Rowan?" Nami suddenly screeched, her brows furrowing and the pout disappearing. Rowan ignored her and Zolo quickly recaptured the orangette's attention.
"No, I don't."
"Remember the 100,000 beri I lent you to buy a sword in Rouge Town?" Rowan pushed her lips out in thought before scratching at the beanie that covered her hair. Her head fell to hang between her shoulders.
"Do you know of any other path that can make our journey quicker? Our Captain isn't exactly patient…"
"I paid you back! Anyway, I got that sword for free, so I didn't even need your money." Rowan peeked over her shoulder to the squabbling couple even as her mind pondered their next course. She'd have to run the navigations over with Nami but it shouldn't be too far out of the way. If she turned it in to an adventure Rowan knew she'd have Luffy aboard. Sanji would do whatever Rowan asked and Zolo couldn't care one way or another. That left Usopp but Rowan didn't worry about him.
"Yeah," Nami scoffed shaking her head at what she thought was Zolo's stupidity. "But you promised to pay me three hundred percent interest! You still owe me 300,000 beri."
"You're a shark, Nami," Rowan stated with a heavy sigh and turned her eyes back on to Igarappoi. The man was looking desperate.
"I gave back what I borrowed. Isn't that enough?"
"No." Rowan fought the urge to gag when Nami's voice slithered into her ears, weighed down by fake woe and wretchedness. Rowan had to shake her head in order to dispel the woman's words from her ear. "Aren't you going to keep your word? If you help me, I'll forgive your dept." The sudden sputtering Zolo released told Rowan all she needed to know. She wasn't surprised in the least when Zolo ran off with,
"You're gonna pay in the afterlife!" shouted over his shoulder.
"I know, I'm going to the blazes," Nami waved off. When the navigator turned on Rowan, the red head raised both eyebrows. "What was that I heard about 'forget the money'?" Rowan stood up from her squatting position and grabbed hold of Igarappoi's arm. She didn't like the man that much still, after all one of his friends was the cause for the giant bruise on her shoulder, but the nagging feeling of recognition refused to let her just leave the man to bleed out. With some effort Rowan had Igarappoi leaned against one of the buildings. "I'm talking to you, Rowan!"
"And I'm choosing to ignore you," was Rowan's response. Rowan turned to Nami, her brows furrowed dangerously. "In case you didn't just hear him, the man said he's a soldier. If a man of no position promised something he can't promise, the royals may just put him to death for it—us along with him if we demand what payment he had no right to give. Now, if we rescue the Princess I'm sure once we arrive at the island we'll be welcomed with open arms, and this time, for real. We'll feast on the finest animals, with better pedigrees than any one of us, and beds that our bodies can't even imagine. We'll probably even get paid if this Princess is the heir. Now, are you going to continue to haggle, or are you going to listen to me?" Nami seemed to maul the situation over a few times, Rowan's words playing heavily through her thoughts. With a stern expression the woman demanded,
"And you're sure we'll get paid?" Rowan heaved a sigh.
"No, I'm not sure we'll get paid." It was Rowan's turn to think heavily as she tried to find a way to get Nami aboard with the plan. It came to her when she looked at the desperation in Igarappoi's eyes. "Though, I know that the kingdom will be in our dept. And I know that you find the idea of having an entire kingdom in your debt is appealing." Nami's face light up as her eyes sparkled at the idea Rowan had implanted into her head. Igarappoi finally seemed to catch on to Rowan's plan and began to node his head wildly.
"If you were to help the Princess our entire kingdom would give you their gratitude!"
"Fine! We'll do it!" Nami squealed, still wrapped up in her fantasy world. Rowan felt the tension in her shoulders drop; if Nami wasn't onboard with the plan her life would have been a living hell. "Now we just need to get Luffy—where is Luffy?" Rowan's head flew on her neck, praying Nami was simply blind and didn't see the lard of Luffy sleeping away; she had no such luck.
"By the Kings!" she cursed. "Why can't that boy stay still?" Rowan was quickly trotting away from the two. "Keep an eye on the old man!" And on a stray thought Rowan demanded over her shoulder, "What's the Princess's name?"
"Vivi! Her name is Vivi!"
Boredom plagued the child's mind like a festering wound that refused to heal. Her family had abandoned her to her own devices; her father and brother off doing whatever it was that they did and her other brother had commanded her to stay beside the fountain as if she were so form of dog as he left to do something 'real quick'. Rowan, with the mind of an eight-year-old, had decided that 'real quick' had ended two minutes ago and that her brother was a jerk. Her father had told him to stay with her and he had simply wondered off like a ninny. Rowan stuck out her lip in what was most certainly not a pout and held back the water in her eyes that was certainly not tears.
She decided that her brother was going to pay. She was going to tell their dad that he had left her. Rowan was also going to tell him about the time he had lost her while they were playing, and the time he had cut her hair (she had taken the blame for him), and that he was the one that broke the kitchen door. But she wasn't doing this because he left her! She was fine being on her own! It was because dad had told him to stay with her. He deserved to be punished for leaving her to be so bored. It was only fair.
When Rowan's ears were assaulted by malicious laughter that rang like a thousand drums, she was instantly drug from her thoughts. Greatly annoyed, the girl turned with a scowl towards the laughing man. His large bulk filled up a good portion of the street, while the soldiers filled up the rest of it. Rowan wished desperately to yell at the man (he had, after all, interrupted her train of thought), but found solitude in her father's teachings. She wasn't allowed to hit adults that only annoyed her. Rowan was prepared to go back to her own business but just before she began to avert her eyes the annoyance passed by a little blue haired girl. And slapped her hard. Rowan felt her heart squeeze with shock as her eyes went wide.
"My hand slipped!" the annoyance thundered with laughter. The little girl shrieked as she flew backwards and hit the ground with a painful sounding thud.
"You're majesty?" a man cried out, dressed in an outfit fit for the cold, which was a similar manner to the large man. With a snarky smirk that went from ear to ear, the fat man placed his hands on his hips and sneered down at the child. Another man, this one with large curlers for hair and dressed for the heat, was quickly upon the child, his voice thick with emotion.
"I'm so sorry. Aren't you the Princess of Alabasta? How unfortunate you are to be the daughter of that worthless fool."
"Princess Vivi! Why—how dare you!" The man began to stand, his face one of thunder and his eyes murderous. Rowan actually felt her breath catch.
"No, Igaram!" the little girl screamed, throwing herself between her offender and protector. When she was sure her protector wasn't going to attack, she turned to the fat man. The smallest of smiles came to the girl's face as her clear eyes turned up to the much larger man. "It's all right. Sorry I bumped into you."
Rowan felt a large amount of surprise echo through her small form. And Rowan felt that shock turn into an all-consuming rage wreck through her body from her toes to the tips of her red hair when instead of taking blame the fat man turn and start to walk away with his head held high.
Rowan wasn't sure when she started running just that she was quickly upon the obnoxious fat man. She felt her leg muscles contract and shot her into the air, easily making it up the man's height and coming face to body with him. Using the momentum of her run and jump, Rowan lashed out with her leg and heard more than felt the solid 'thunk' of shin against flesh. Blood exploded onto Rowan's pants leg as the cartilage in the man's nose broke and caused the heavy flow of red. Rowan stumbled a bit when she landed, her foot getting tangled into the mass that was the man's clothes. She found his outfit highly unnecessary; her family, despite living on a cold island, rarely wore shirts (the females found bandages or tube-tops useful in covering their accessories), and baggy pants, shoes were always optional. She was currently making the most out of that option and that was why she currently had blood all over her foot.
"You little—" the offender thundered, his beady black eyes filling with the wrath Rowan felt. The man turned on Rowan but the redhead simply crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her chin. "How dare you even think of touching me?" he roared, blood still crusading down his chin and non-existent neck.
"Shut it!" was Rowan's clever response. She did hate whiners. "Yer da one hittin' little girls! Da says no man hits people smaller dan 'demselves!" Rowan watched the man's round face begin to flush the same color as her hair. His beady eyes were twice the size they had originally begun at and his teeth were being bared in a feral-like way. When the man ten times her own figure advanced towards her, Rowan suddenly realized her predicament. She was facing a thirty-year-old man and her family was nowhere in sight. But she knew a Clodagh never backed down; especially, when she was defending someone. Therefore, Rowan couldn't run for it like she so desperately wanted to now.
"Insolent brat!" Rowan set her chin in defiance, her oval shaped eyes narrowing dangerously. When the man raised his hand in a clear sign of aggression, Rowan ready her stance. "You dare attack a King?"
The soft 'click' of a gun's hammer locking echoed through a suddenly quiet town. Rowan's face lit up like the sun itself when she heard that click and saw the blood drain from the fat man's face. That smile quickly disappeared though when Rowan realized it was his fault that this had happened. If he had stayed with her like their father had ordered originally than he wouldn't have stopped this and she wouldn't have had to get involved.
"You dare raise a hand to a Clodagh?" the owner of the gun questioned, his voice like an artic breeze cutting across the tundra. The man's beady eyes looked over his shoulder to the best of his abilities; his entire face was drenched in sweat as his gloved hands shook, even the one raised in the air. The man that was dressed similarly to the fat man was obviously trying to find a way out of the current situation but was coming up with nothing. "I suggest you lower your hand before I get really angry." The fat man did as ordered. Rowan knew that the gun hadn't been lowered for the man's entire body was still extremely stiff.
Clean cut strawberry blond hair peeked over the man's shoulder, his hair more red than blond. Dark brown eyes, the same oval shape as Rowan's, glowered over said shoulder.
"I leave you alone for ten minutes and find you in the middle of a fight with a full-grown male. Do you know how foolish that is? What would our father think?"
"He'd yell at ya for leavin' me!" Rowan barked out, crossing her arms angrily over her chest. Brown eyes rolled in their sockets.
"He would not have known had you been a good girl." Rowan barred her teeth and, finding her brother too much to deal with (especially when he insisted on talking all proper), the girl turned to the blue haired child. Her forehead was already swelling from where she was hit. Rowan got closer, ignoring the girl's shying away, and inspected the bruise. It wasn't bleeding thankfully, but it would turn out to be a nasty bruise if not a black eye as the blood sank.
"You two should leave now," Rowan heard her brother order as he finally lowered his gun and walked around the fat man.
"That brat—" Rowan felt the intense pressure come off her brother and was strangely relaxed by the suffocating feeling.
"Insult my sister again, sir, and I will not hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes, your heritage be damned."
"My name is Rowan," she greeted the blue haired child. "Clodagh Rowan! Come on. We need ta get ice on dat." Rowan snatched up the child's hand and began to pull her through the crowd. Citizens and tourist all parted to allow her through. Rowan heard her brother following after them along with the girl's protector. "Ye need ta get ice on all bruises quickly." Rowan found a secluded spot and sent her brother to find ice. He did so with grace.
Rowan forced the blue haired child onto a house's stairs. The protector knelt down in front of his ward. Rowan watched him look the wound over and Rowan felt it necessary to say,
"She'll be fine." Rowan grabbed hold of her pants leg and raised it up. Already a nasty red and purple bruise covered the shin of the eight-year-old. "See? I have a bruise too! He had a hard head." Red eyebrows narrowed in confusion when tears began to fill the dark brown eyes. When the tears turned to sobs Rowan was instantly terrified. The protector was quick to wrap his arms around the crying girl and pull her into his chest.
"You were magnificent Princess Vivi!" Rowan was highly uncomfortable with the current situation. She wasn't use to people crying when they got hit, or apologizing for that matter. It usually resulted in more hits from the recipient that turned into a full on brawl sometimes right in the middle of breakfast. Her mother hated when that happened. When the young girl had her cries, both turned to the still horrified Rowan.
"Thank you," the blue haired girl hiccupped, whipping at her eyes with the hem of her dress. "You stood up for me."
"Aye," Rowan mumbled, scratching at the back of her head, her long red hair hanging down past her shoulders. "Me da says that ye should protect those in need." Rowan felt her horror melt into aggravation when the girl's protector narrowed his eyes at her. Rowan felt the need to do the same back. "What?" she snipped, her brows furrowed heavily and lips pulled back to bare her teeth.
"You…are a Clodagh?" Rowan didn't bother to stop the feral snarl that tore through her chest and out her throat.
"Do ye have a problem with dat?"
"Igaram! Don't insult her!" Rowan gave a cocky smirk and thrust her chin into the air. "Again, thank you for standing up for me." The redhead simply shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against the stairs. The red puffiness around the girl's eyes made it hard for Rowan to meet them.
"T'was nothing." The girl shuffled around for a moment before handing over a strap of colorful yarn intertwined together. Rowan watched the Princess tie the bracelet around her wrist. The different colored yarn stuck out hard against Rowan's tanned skin and the strap of leather she already had tied around her wrist.
"Please accept this as a token of my gratitude for your valiant efforts, Clodagh Rowan." Rowan dangled her wrist above her head and pushed her bottom lip out in thought. When the surprise had passed, Rowan's face burst into a bright smile that reached from ear to ear.
"Thanks Princess."
"Vivi. My name's Vivi."
Rowan was thundering down the street before her mind even defogged from the memory. Her long legs easily propelled her through the deserted streets. Sudden explosions had Rowan squealing to a stop, digging her heels into the dirt roads. Confused, the woman tilted her head slightly with hopes that she'd catch another sound. The explosion was caused by something going through the houses, Rowan could tell by listening. Her red brows narrowed between her squinting green eyes as the sound got closer. When the building next to her exploded outwards, Rowan barely had time to dodge out of the projectiles way. It was to her shock that the redhead watched Zolo fly past, his swords drawn and bandana wrapped tightly around his head. Rowan began to blink rapidly in confusion watching Zolo fly into yet another building which crumbled down upon him.
The rubble was tossed to the side as Zolo burst from the destroyed house and charged past the redhead. Rowan continued to stare at the place Zolo had crashed, the harsh sounds of brawling coming from the direction he had flown from. Her eyes still blinking rapidly, Rowan looked through the house he had destroyed and found Zolo not fighting the enemy, or struggling to keep the Princess from harm, but instead, the man was going in an all-out fight against Luffy.
"…By the Kings I'm going to kill them all," Rowan sighed, finding it impossible to get angry at the idiotic captain and first-mate. They simply didn't have enough gray matter between their ears to realize their own faults. One couldn't blame a fool for being a fool when they were too foolish and couldn't notice their own faults. Rowan walked towards the brawling males, careful not to step on to much debris in fear of stepping on a nail. Ducking under a failing beam that was meant to keep the currently destroyed roof up, Rowan's eyes scanned the area around the boys. Her eyes instantly landed on the blue haired Ms. Wednesday sitting upon an oversized duck that was wearing a snowcap and saddle.
Rowan rushed to her side.
Vivi's body tensed dramatically when she noticed Rowan advancing on her, her eyes going wide and her bottom lip stiffening. Rowan ignored the girl's discomfort, instinctively searching her body for any damage. There was only a small scratch on her forehead and Rowan assumed that that attack had something to do with her hair being down instead of the high ponytail it had been in.
"Are you okay?" Rowan asked just to make sure her eyes weren't missing anything. Rowan hadn't realized how nervous she had been about Vivi's safety until Vivi nodded stiffly. "Good." With Vivi safe, despite Zolo's fluke, Rowan found she could focus on the two idgets still going at each other's throats. In the short period of time that Rowan had spent checking on Vivi, Nami had found them and was taking it upon herself to sort things out. Two solid punches had both males falling to the ground while Nami bellowed,
"Enough!" Vivi's face was one of extreme surprise as Nami placed both hands on her hips and snarled down at the boys. "Just what do you think you're doing?" Nami's eyes traveled to Vivi guarded by Rowan and nodded once with a stiff node. "At least Rowan has enough sense to help the girl. That's the main thing." The orangette reached down and snatched up both the males. "But do you realize you could've cost me a billion beri? Do you?"
"Nami!" Rowan barked out, catching the girl's attention and taking it away from the boys. Rowan stuck the woman with a glare, brows narrowed and teeth clenched. "I told you forget about the money." The Princess had apparently had enough for her high-pitched voice called up from behind Rowan.
"What's going on? Why are you helping me?" Rowan was unable to answer immediately due to her being struck in a wayward punch of Luffy's as he and Zolo began to brawling again while still being held by Nami.
"We have business to discus. What say we negotiate?"
"Negotiate?" Rowan rolled her eyes dramatically and turned back to Vivi. "Stop fighting!" Nami screeched followed by the sound of Nami cracking their skulls together.
"Ignore her," Rowan sighed with a strong shake of her head. Looking up into the face of the young blue haired girl, Rowan gave her a crocked smile. "She's of little coincidence at the moment. Come on." Rowan reached out and gentle took hold of the duck's reins; why the duck had reins Rowan wasn't quite sure. Vivi pulled the reins from Rowan's hands, her face full of mistrust. Rowan couldn't really blame her; she still didn't fully trust her own crew.
"I don't understand!" the girl screeched almost silently, her eyes going wild in her sockets. Rowan held up her left wrist and gave the girl a soft smile. The multi-colored bracelet was fitted against her wrist, the colors dull due to the wear of salt and sun, the tied ends frayed. Vivi's face remained a cloud of confusion as her eyes roamed Rowan's arm. Vivi's brows were furrowed as panic started to fill her eyes.
"Don't ya remember? Ya said ye'd never forget my 'valiant' efforts Vi," Rowan chuckled unable to stop her old accent from seasoning her words. Recognition came slowly but it came none the less to Vivi's eyes. The girl's mouth worked but no words came out for the first few tries.
"Rowan?" she was finally able to choke out. Rowan didn't understand the light tears that began to fill the corners of Vivi's eyes and instantly assumed she was actually hurt. The redhead instinctively reached out to Vivi who fell off the duck in order to grab on to the taller female. "I thought…they said—" Rowan took Vivi under her arm and pulled her towards the others.
"Come on, Vi. Let's get all this settled." When Nami's mouth began to open Rowan pointed a finger that threatened immense pain and torture should she say a word. Nami huffed like an angry chicken ruffling her feathers.
Luffy's head was thrown back on his shoulders as he about choked himself on laughter. Rowan wanted to tie his lips shut with one another, positive that he was alerting everyone to their current location. Vivi had lead them all to a small clearing that was half destroyed due to the early excitement; Rowan had parked herself next to Vivi who sat down on a bale of straw, choosing to stand like Nami. Zolo and Luffy (no longer fighting) decided to sit; Zolo leaning against a box and Luffy perching on a barrel with his legs crossed.
The rubber man was still finding something funny out of the situation he had caused by jumping to conclusions. With Zolo's help, Vivi had explained what all had gone done since they had fallen asleep. The entire island was a bounty hunter infested place, and the hunters had decided to go after the bounty on Luffy's head. Zolo had been holding them off and indeed up defeating the three hundred hunters on the island. Nami had pounced on the current conversation and tried to bring the topic of money back up again.
"That's impossible! But I'm very grateful to you for having saved my life. Thank you," Vivi told the orangette, her voice as polite as it had been when she was seven yet holding a bit more steel now due to age.
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Luffy laughed at Zolo who only glowered back. "I thought you got mad and beat everyone up 'cause they didn't have the dish you wanted!"
"That's something you would do!" Zolo bellowed at the strawhat.
"Oh well, don't be mad." And with that, Luffy was finished with the conversation. Rowan watched Zolo, prepared to stop him should he try and toss the rubber boy in to the ocean. He had stopped her from killing him, so Rowan refused to give that pleasure to the swordsman.
"But why?" Nami whined with a bit of a pout. "You're a princess, aren't you? What's a billion beri to you?"
"Nami!" Rowan barked, getting fed up with the entire conversation. "A billion beri isn't just a simple purchase even to a royal." Vivi placed a surprisingly soft hand on Rowan's arm and quieted her. With a single look at Rowan Vivi turned to Nami.
"What do you know about Alabasta?"
"Never heard of it."
"You see, Alabasta was once the most civilized nation on the Grand Line and the most peaceful, at one time." Nami's face turned south.
"At one time?"
"The citizens of Alabasta have grown rebellious in recent years. Riots and uprisings have thrown the kingdom into turmoil."
Rowan knew of Alabasta's current situation thanks to rumors and speculations that circled the Grand Line. She hadn't heard anything recent since she had entered the East Blue but she had assumed that it hadn't gotten better. Rowan had been surprised when she first heard the rumors. She had known of Alabasta during the end of its prime. She had met Vivi when the land was prospering and thriving. To hear that the wonderful land of sand was falling had hit hard for Rowan. It had hit far too close to home for the then teenager's heart. She had tossed aside all rumors until they became too common to ignore. "Then one day, I learned of a secret organization called Baroque Works." Vivi cast her eyes downwards. Rowan couldn't help but smile softly when she noticed that Vivi was sitting with perfect posture and her hands were resting gently on her knees. "The rumor was that agents of Baroque Works had been stirring up the citizens. But try as I might, I couldn't uncover information that would help us fight these criminals. So I went to Igaram, who has looked after me since I was a child—"
"The guy with the giant rollers?" Luffy questioned, making circles with his hands to demonstrate.
"I hoped to find the source of the rumors and infiltrate Baroque Works. I could then find out who was pulling the strings and learn his intentions."
"You're pretty brave for a Princess," Zolo stated aloud.
Rowan refused to acknowledge the sudden twinge of jealousy that shot through her stomach. She absolutely refused to acknowledge it.
"But isn't the goal of Baroque Works to create the ideal country? Then why would—?" Nami stumbled.
"The boss deceives his minions with talk of an ideal country. The true aim of Baroque Works is the conquest of Alabasta! I've got to return to my land and stop the rebellion before my people throw themselves into Baroque Works' clutches." Nami's face had fallen into despair as she came to terms with what Vivi was telling them all.
"So, that's how it is. I'm starting to get the picture. With your country in chaos, there's no money to be made there." Rowan reached into her pockets and pulled out her bag of cigarettes and matches. The tobacco lit easily and Rowan quickly sucked in the sweet taste. A lot of information had just passed by Vivi's lips. Keeping her arms crossed over her chest, Rowan lifted her eyes to the sky. The sky was beginning to lighten just barely as the moon continued its trek across the blanket of black.
Rowan chewed on the butt of her cigarette as a thought wormed its way into her mind that she hadn't thought to ponder in the excitement of meeting Vivi again. Vivi, being from the Grand Line and having a connection to her past, had a large amount of knowledge on Rowan; knowledge that she didn't necessarily want known to those around her. Dread bubbled into Rowan's stomach as her thoughts began to take a downward spiral.
A soft nudge against her pants covered leg had Rowan trudging from the dark pools of her mind. Rowan looked down and saw Zolo's legs had stretched out and were pressed up against her. The redhead had no time to contemplate the man's unnaturally long legs for Luffy piped up at that moment. She slapped the offending appendage off.
"But who's pulling the strings?"
"I can't tell you the boss's identity! What a question! Don't ask me that! I can't! I can't tell you! If I did they'd hunt you down, too!"
"That's okay, don't tell us," Nami laughed with a mix of nervousness. Luffy simply looked disgruntled. "I mean, if he wants to take over a whole kingdom, he must be a scary guy!" Vivi's blue ponytail bounced lightly as she nodded somberly.
"That he is. You're very strong, but you're no match for Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
