Disclaimer:
The following is a fan made fiction. I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonen Jump Manga, and EliChiro Oda. I only own my OC and am writing this for my own amusement with Missus Sunstreaker 3143
Special thanks to 'The Path of a Writer' for editing this chapter. Go check out Path's fanfiction page using the ID: 10279871
Author's notes:
Nami. That's right, Nami's viewpoint
14. A Storm's Promise
I frowned slightly as I lay stretched out on a chair with Chou-Chou on my lap as I glanced at the figurehead of our ship where Luffy was sitting with Boko, who was using Luffy's lap as a pillow and appearing to be sound asleep.
'They're so weird…' I thought as I watched Luffy put braids in Boko's hair. I honestly didn't know what to make of them… Luffy was… Luffy was something else… I truthfully couldn't believe he was a pirate… I mean, seriously… he is the worst pirate I have ever met…
First, he fought that guy for wrecking Chou-Chou's shop. Then he fought Buggy to help save the town. THEN he had the nerve to leave MY treasure just so.. so… they could rebuild… There wasn't a pirate alive willing to do something like that… to willingly give up treasure because someone else needed it more… He even saved Usopp's village aswell… Luffy was definitely something else, I still hate pirates, but… Luffy wasn't your ordinary pirate, he wasn't so bad…
My attention shift towards the north where black clouds were fast approaching.
"Shit.", I cursed, jumping to my feet and yelling, "A storm's approaching!"
"Ahh! It'll knock over the food in the pantry!", Luffy yelled, immediately jumping to his feet and running to the kitchen while dragging Boko with him and Chou-Chou chasing after the two with excited barks.
"That's the least of our worries!", I yelled back as the kitchen door shut behind them, "Ahh! Screw it! I don't need your help anyway!", I yelled, deciding I could just steer the ship myself as I ran to pull down the sails.
-x-x-x-
'I cannot steer this ship by myself!', I roared for the hundredth time in my head as another rope snapped loose and danced about in the wind. The deck was slick and treacherous to traverse, not to mention the way the ship pitched and rolled about on the waves.
"Shit!", I screamed, moving, or more so sliding over and managing to grab the rope, tying it back down tightly as I grit my teeth. I blinked, shaking my head as another bigger wave crashed into the ship, breaking right above me, plastering my hair to my head, my eyes stinging from the salt.
"Oi! Nami! You sure you can man the ship alone? The storm's getting pretty bad!", Boko called out from the kitchen doorway.
"What?! Are you insane? Of course I can't!", I yelled at the top of my lungs as I felt my irritation bubbling at how serious his question was despite him seeing what was going on. Is he an idiot?.
"Ok!", Boko replied and much to my horror, walked back into the kitchen.
"What is wrong with you!?", I screamed at him in pure anger, starting to believe Zoro was right about him having a death wish. And in the next instance I found myself screaming in terror as a wave forced the ship to jerk forward and my feet to slip as I toppled off the mast. My eyes squeezed shut in fear as I continued to scream, waiting for the inevitable pain of my body crashing against the ship.
I took a sharp intake of breath as I felt something grab me and a second later I no longer felt as if I was falling. I carefully opened one of my eyes to see… bright glowing red ones staring back at me, along with...
"You have a tattoo on your forehead!", I said, the action causing Boko to immediately tense before he set me down abruptly and pointedly felt his forehead along with the braids Luffy had put in his hair.
"Luffy, don't braid my hair.", flatly said Boko, immediately undoing them as if desperate to hide his tattoo.
"Shishishi, ok!", came Luffy's reply from behind me, causing me to jump and spin around to see Luffy rocking on the balls of his feet while holding Chou-Chou, both of them staring at me expectantly, but for what reason, I had no clue.
"You said you needed help? So, what do you need?", Boko asked once the braids, were out of his hair and his tattoo along with his eyes were once more hidden.
"I… um… I…", I began uncertainly before a wave crashed into the ship, nearly sending all of us over the side, and if not for Luffy grabbing us and on to the mast, it probably would have.
"ahh!", I screamed in frustration, knowing just the three of us wouldn't cut it for this type of storm before yelling, "I need everyone!"
I then grit my teeth and ran down below deck where Zoro was lounging on his hammock and Usopp was hugging the couch, clearly scared out of his mind. The sight of the two only caused my anger to grow as I began to bark orders, "What are you doing? We're in the middle of a storm, get your asses up and on deck!"
"Tsk, it's just a little rain.", Zoro scoffed, only to yelp as the boat rocked and nearly sent him flying off his hammock.
"Little?", I asked in utter shock before again yelling, "Little?! You call-", I began, only to be cut off as water suddenly shot through the hull and into the men's quarters.
"Crap! The water's leaking in!", Usopp screamed in horror as he hugged the couch tighter.
"Don't just lay there, move!", Boko snapped, running past me, causing me to realize he had followed me down.
"Quick!", I shouted as Usopp and Zoro both jumped to their feet, "hold it!"
I watched as the three of them all quickly tried to pluck the hole with their hands and I could hear Chou-Chou barking at them from from behind me. I glanced back at the sound only to get an arm full of Chou-Chou as Luffy pushed the dog into me and ran past me and towards the others.
"Leave it to me!", he yelled as he immediately pushed the others out of the way and tried to cover the hole. My first thought was, 'who the hell is manning the ship?' Only for it to quickly switch to, 'you have got to be kidding me…' As Luffy covered the hole with his mouth and quickly started to inflate with water.
"Luffy!", Usopp yelled, attempting to hold Luffy down, only for water to explode out of his mouth and he to be flung all around the room as he flooded the place. I let out a squeal of shock and fear as I was swept up in the water, unable to do anything but hold onto Chou-Chou as we were thrown about before the water pressure shot all of us out and onto the deck. I grit my teeth as I barely managed to twist myself so that I would land on my back, rather than on poor Chou-Chou who could do nothing but bark his little head off.
"Are you kidding me?!", I yelled at the top of my lungs at Luffy who was lying flat on the deck, clearly dazed, but I couldn't care less about how dizzy the idiot captain was as I shot to my feet and immediately stepped on his head, yelling, "You idiot!", ignoring the fact that the ship was rocking dangerously to the side as wave after wave hit into us.
"Enough!", Boko shouted, his tone dangerous and demanding, causing me to flinch away from Luffy in fear as I glanced wide eyed at him. I hated that, I hated how easily he could terrify me and how my body always seemed to betray me. I honestly didn't understand why I was afraid of him. The boy was rather docile and was a bit of a pushover, seemingly always going with the flow of things. I knew Boko was smart and could easily talk his way into getting even the most stubborn of people to do what he wanted. He had, after all, tricked me into coming along with pirates, and I hate pirates.
He was rather indifferent to mostly everything that went on around him and it wasn't till syrup island that I noticed how easy it was to get him wrapped around my finger. A pout here, a smile there and he would simply follow along without protest. But that didn't change the fact that Boko was a pirate and Luffy's first mate. In my anger, I had forgotten that, forgotten he wouldn't hesitate to hurt me in order to defend Luffy. The only reason he hadn't done so yet was because Luffy ordered him not to, but it didn't mean he wouldn't.
"Usopp, fix the leak!", Boko ordered, though his voice no longer held any emotion in it as he crossed his arms, adopting a bored expression, but I knew from his earlier tone that he was frustrated, even if he wasn't showing it.
"Me? How? I don't…", Usopp nervously replied as he glanced around the ship. I couldn't help but agree with Usopp, the boy had never sailed before and this was his first storm. The thought caused me to realize that it actually was all of ours… this would mark the first time we endured a storm together, and from what I'd seen, no one but me knew what they were doing. We're going to die… I couldn't help but think that as lightning struck not too far from our ship.
"You're a mend-smith's apprentice, figure it out!", Boko scoffed, causing me to question what Boko was talking about.
"How did you-", Usopp started only to be interrupted.
"Take Zoro and get to it before we sink!", Boko flatly said, his tone seeming to be uncaring, but based on how protective he seemed to be over Luffy and Zoro, I knew better than to focus just on his tone.
"R-Right.. Leave it to me, for I am the great captain, Usopp!", stated Usopp, seeming to have gained some confidence, though it was obviously fake as the boy shook and looked at the men's quarters with unconcealed fear.
"Tsk, why the hell do I have to help him? Why can't you?", Zoro snapped, and I swore to god, if that man went back to sleep, I would murder him!
Boko gave him a flat look before gesturing to himself, then to Luffy who I just noticed was sitting up with his legs crossed, doing nothing but watching the proceedings, and I couldn't help but question why the so called captain wasn't the one taking charge as Boko stated, "Devil fruit.", before pointing at the flooded room, "Salt water."
I watched with delight as Zoro opened his mouth several times, obviously trying to come up with an argument, before he grit his teeth, gave a curt nod and immediately dragged Usopp to the entrance so they could fix the hole, and hopefully, drain the water out.
I glanced over towards Boko to see him standing there with his arms crossed as he stared at me, causing me to nervously shift and ask, "What…?", hoping he wasn't still mad about me kicking Luffy.
"Tell us what to do.", Boko flatly said, as if I should've known that. I couldn't help but stare at him in shock before glancing at Luffy who also was looking at me expectantly.
"What?", I once again asked, not at all understanding how this crew worked. Luffy was the captain, and those were the ones that were supposed to give orders. Boko was the first mate, so him giving orders was understandable, I supposed, but both of them were looking at me as if it was my job to boss them around, and normally, I wouldn't hesitate to do just that, but currently, I was too confused as to why they would want me to, as I held Chou-Chou close to my chest.
"Shishishi, you're my navigator!", Luffy stated as if it was obvious, and a navigator I indeed was. However, I wasn't his navigator, and I wasn't part of his crew, so it still made more sense for Luffy or Boko to take charge instead of having a non-crewmember doing it.
"And the one that knows how to sail. So, are you going to take charge or are we going to sink?", Boko asked, his tone flat as he gestured to a rather large wave that was going to crash into us.
"Shit!", I cursed at the sight of it before yelling, "Hard to port!", while running up the stairs, not thinking twice as I started barking orders left and right while forcing myself to ignore the shock of both of them doing exactly as I said, not once questioning me.
I couldn't help but grin as we continued to battle the storm, Zoro and Usopp at some point having come back up onto the deck, now following my orders without question as well. It was obvious that all of them trusted me to lead them out of the storm safely and I couldn't help but grin widely at my friends… my friends… The thought causing me to falter for just a moment and my smile to dim, however, that thought was quick to vanish completely as a wave crashed down onto us, forcing my attention back to the situation at hand, never once letting go of Chou-Chou throughout all of this.
Zoro's viewpoint
I slightly grunted as I pulled on some ropes, yanking the sail up for what felt like the tenth time before jumping down and yanking off my shirt, having grown sick of it sticking to me. I didn't give it a second thought as I tossed it to the side, a frown starting to form on my face as I noticed our shitty, suicidal first mate leaning against the railing of the ship, looking like he was going to pass out or throw up. I scowled as I mumbled, "Fucking, suicidal first mate.", in aggravation, knowing his condition was due to his refusal to eat.
"Zoro, half-mast!", Yelled Nami, causing me to grit my teeth and immediately start climbing back up, despite having just finished bringing the sail in, only to right then spot the damn, suicidal bastard jump over the railing and into the raging sea.
"Fucking hell!", I snapped in pure aggravation at the idiot, wishing he would wait till after the storm had passed as I launched myself off the mast and dove into the water after him. I quickly scanned the water, ignoring how my eyes burned before spotting the idiot slowly sinking. I grit my teeth in mild anger as I swam towards him and grabbed the back of his shirt along with his scarf before swimming back upwards, it not taking long before I reached the surface.
"Shit…", I cursed as a wave crashed over me, dunking me down for a moment before I managed to once again get my head above water, "Oi!", I called up at the ship.
"I'm on it!", Usopp yelled and continued to yell while throwing down some rope, "I, the great captain Usopp, will save-"
"Shut the fuck up!", I snapped, not even wanting to hear him finish that sentence as I grabbed the rope and attempted to pull the both of us up, only for it to instead cause me to fall backwards and for the rope to fall into the sea. I could feel a vein on my head pulse as I screamed, "You idiot!"
"I got you!", Luffy yelled, and much to my annoyance, shot out his arm and forcefully yanked the both of us back onto the ship, or rather, into Usopp and then straight into the mast.
"What the hell?", I roared, jumping to my feet, ready to beat the shit out of my idiot captain.
"Boko!", Nami yelled, rushing to the boy who was coughing only for her to slam her first into the top of his head, shouting, "You idiot! You could have drowned!"
"That was the idea.", I said, aggravatedly, "Fucking, suicidal first mate!"
"I'm not.", Boko groaned out, flopping backwards onto the deck as the witch deemed it necessary to continue kicking him, and I really hoped she gave the idiot a concussion as the damn mutt that Boko had picked up barked its head off while in her arms, the damn thing not having stopped since the storm had started.
I scowled at it before I scanned the storm around us and mumbled, "Huh… This storm sure did come out of nowhere…"
"Shishi, it sure did!", Luffy grinned, glancing at Nami and Boko, causing her to pause in her kicking of Boko.
"I gave you fair warning!", Nami snapped at Luffy.
"Shishishi!", Luffy laughed.
"Doesn't matter.", I scoffed.
"Yeah…", said Luffy, as if in thought, "This isn't so bad. We should stop and eat some meat."
I felt like bashing my head into the railing at Luffy's stupidity. And then I groaned at the fact that this boy was, unfortunately, my captain, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.
"Not that bad?!", Nami roared, "Look around you!", she gestured around us and at the crashing waves that were causing the ship to nearly capsize, "We need to get back to work! Zoro, I told you to-"
"If you didn't notice, I was I little busy!", I snapped, gesturing to Boko who appeared to have passed out.
"Ahhh, you killed him!", Usopp screamed, hiding behind the mast and pointing at Nami accusingly.
"He's not dead!", I said in aggravation.
"That idiot!", Nami yelled as she started to shake the suicidal boy, "We're in the middle of a storm! Wake up!", and then she turned to me, "And you! Hurry up and fix the sail!"
"tsk.", I scoffed.
"Don't just scoff at me!", the she witch screamed before finding it necessary to hit me upside the head.
"What the hell, Woman?", I yelled, holding my head, finding it odd how hard the damn witch could punch.
"Stop standing around!", the witch yelled back.
"Shishishi, yeah, then we can eat!", Luffy yelled excitedly while looking around the ship.
"Are you crazy?", Usopp shouted, "Does no one care about how she just killed Boko?"
"I did not kill him!", Nami roared out, her teeth seeming oddly sharp.
Luffy let out another laugh as he pointedly poked Boko's scarf under which we both knew his gills were hidden, the action causing an immediate grown of discomfort along with him twitching away slightly, but otherwise remaining where he was.
"He lives!", Usopp yelled as he pointed at Boko, now having seen him move.
Nami, however, just yelled, "of course he does! Aghh! We don't have time for this! Luffy, Zoro!", the sound of my name caused me to glance at her as she continued to yell, "Get that damn sail down, we are getting out of this damn storm! Usopp, wake the idiot up!"
"Pass.", stated Boko, refusing to get up, causing me to scoff and yank the boy up.
"You're with me!", I snapped, forcing him to go up the mast with me so I could keep an eye on the idiot, he not once protesting as Luffy laughed and followed us up.
-X-X-X-
I leaned against the mast of the ship, looking out at the now calm ocean before glancing back at the rest of the crew. They were all exhausted; Nami was sitting or more like sprawled out on the stairs with Chou-Chou panting in her lap. Why the damn mutt was exhausted I had no idea, all it did was bark at us. Luffy and Usopp were sprawled out on the deck, staring at the sky and Boko was sitting down next to me, also watching the rest of the crew. We all looked like we had just gotten our asses handed to us. Everyone was groaning and panting, even I felt exhausted, though I was making a point not to show it.
The air was stiff and after that disaster I wondered if the rest of our journey would be much the same. We hadn't been a very good team, constantly bumping into each other. To top it off, Boko had been more suicidal than normal, and every time I turned my back he was trying to jump ship. I glanced slightly down at him, noting he seemed to have calmed since the storm passed.
I gently nudged him with my foot and at his look, I raised an eyebrow at him. There were two questions I had in mind; one, was this going to be a normal thing during a storm, and two, why?
Boko bit his thumb at my questioning look before softly saying, "I… I don't know…"
"Tsk.", I scoffed in annoyance, knowing I was going to have to keep an even closer eye on the idiot during storms.
"I… she…", he glanced out at the sea before saying, "She was calling me…"
"Tsk, that doesn't mean to follow!", I scoffed aggravatedly, knowing he was referring to the ocean. I didn't know if he really could understand the sea, but it did make sense since he was a fish, and it also made him incredibly stupid for constantly trying to go to her, or it, or whatever the damn ocean was.
"I give up… You guys are hopeless and are going to die out here…", Nami whined.
"I didn't know how scary the sea could be…", Usopp shivered.
"Tsk.", I glanced at Luffy as I saw him chewing on his lip, clearly pouting at his crew. I imagine this wasn't the crew he had hoped for. Nami clearly only cared about herself, Boko was constantly trying to kill himself, Usopp was in way over his head and I didn't have the faintest idea how to work in a team.
I looked over to him as Boko sighed quietly, looking around at the crew and focusing on Luffy before he said, "Alright.", he then stood up and stretched, causing his bones to pop, "That wasn't too bad.", the words causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"Are you crazy?! We nearly died!", Usopp roared as he waved his arms around in exasperation while still lying on the ground.
"That's what happens when you join pirates! That's how their life is! just running around, making everyone else's life a living hell and getting killed, and killing and-", Nami began to ramble in frustration only to quiet down as Boko suddenly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder before calmly moving to the upper deck. Nami was still holding Chou-Chou, now with one arm as the other pounded on his back while she repeatedly yelled, "put me down!"
I glanced at Luffy who in turn looked at me before we both moved and started following after them. Usopp giving an odd squawk before running after all of us to the upper deck near the ship's figurehead.
I slightly smiled at the sight before us as Luffy laughed delightedly and rushed forward, sitting on the figurehead. One glance at Usopp showed that he too was staring, his face seeming to be a twist between awe and an emotional outburst. Nami seemed to slowly stop her rant as well, taking note of our silence, her expression becoming confused.
"This is what it's about", Boko said, his voice indifferent as he placed Nami down and turned her around.
I gave a slight smile as Nami gasped, taking in the sight before her, Chou-Chou also giving a slight breathy bark. I glanced back at the sight. Before us, we could see the sun rising with a light fog in the sky due to the storm, a rainbow arching through the fog and disappearing beyond the horizon. The sun's rays playing across the water, making it shimmer in various orange hues.
"Shishishi!", Luffy laughed as he glanced back at us, saying, "Worth it!"
"Agreed.", Boko softly hummed as he leaned against the railing, a look of longing in his eyes as he gazed out at the sea. I sighed as I stepped up next to him and leaned against the railing, allowing my arm to lightly press against his in order to stop him from attempting to jump into the sea... again...
"It is beautiful…", Nami said in awe as she walked over to the railing and stood at Boko's other side with Chou-Chou still in her arms. I slightly glanced to my right as Usopp stepped beside me, also leaning on the railing, a grin that was similar to Luffy's on his face as he looked out and softly whispered, "Definitely worth it…"
"It is.", I hummed as I again gazed at the sight along with my crewmates. If all the storms we came across end like this, then it would be worth it.
Authors notes:
Feedback is encouraged
if you have any questions, feel free to ask :)
This Chapter was edited by 'The Path of a Writer'
To see pictures for this story go to DeviantArt. It will be under the user ID blackphoenix2217
Shout outs:
Werva: It'll be awhile before Boko officially joins the crew, you'll have to wait for the grand line. We have something else planned for Arlong Park, but I'm glad you like Chou-Chou being part of the crew. I hope I didn't overlook him too much in this chapter, but unfortunately, he can't really do much in a storm.
Otaku1325: right now no one is Luffy's first mate, but we'll look into that more in later chapters :D just haven't posted it yet. But I know it's been a while, so I'll just go over chapter three to help explain. In that chapter Boko does agree to be a pirate because he can't do anything else, but doesn't agree to join Luffy, nor is he asked to. Currently, Boko is only traveling with them because of circumstances, like being ran out of town or not having a boat of his own etc. Zoro, who came after Boko, has just assumed Boko to be the first mate and thus calls him 'suicidal first mate', which leads to everyone else that joins to think he is. and although Boko always says he's not, everyone thinks he's denying the suicidal part, where, in fact, he's denying the first mate part. I hope that helped and am sorry for the confusion. I'll need to figure out how to fix that in my writing. I'm also glad you liked Nami's view and you can expect more chapters to come in other crew members' viewpoints.