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Uh-Oh Look Out Oregano! Oion Bay Packs a Punch!

By: peanutbutterlung (Whale)

Morning on the Cherry Maria

It was a windy morning out on the West Blue today, and the waves of the ocean bobbed up and down a little rougher than usual. The Cherry Maria was simply coasting along however as it headed to its next destination.

It was a little past seven o'clock in the morning and Oregano and Polen were both currently still snoozing away in the sleeping quarters. Oregano would normally be up by now but he hadn't slept very well due to his leg aching all night long. He was sleeping in a little extra due to the fact that he had finally fallen asleep a couple hours ago.

As the two continued to rest peacefully in silence, a sudden and incredibly jarring 'squawk' noise came from outside the Cherry Maria. The squawk was then immediately followed by a loud and solid 'thud' on one of the sleeping quarter's windows.

Oregano, startled from this rude awakening sprang up quickly to see what the ham was going on. This sudden movement that he made however was a terrible decision on his part, but since he had been sleeping and just woke up he wasn't thinking clearly. The sudden movement he made triggered a shockingly painful jolt that ran all over his broken leg.

"Ayeeeeeeeee!" Oregano hollered out in pain as he readjusted himself to stop his leg from aching and tried to catch his breath from the intense pain currently running relay races throughout his entire body.

Polen, who was not awoken by the 'thud' on the window due to him being such a heavy sleeper had been unaffected by the whole situation until he heard Oregano scream out in pain however, which upset the little koala to no end. Quickly springing himself out of his bed Polen soared through the air and landed on the face of his master and began to chomp down on Oregano's nose.

"Gheeeee! Poleeeen! Cut it ooooout!" Oregano shouted in quite a funny voice because his nasal passages were currently blocked off by vicious koala teeth. As he struggled to pry Polen off of him his leg was killing him more than ever due to the jerking movements from wrestling a koala.

Finally with one fluid push Oregano sent Polen flying back onto his own bed and threw his hands up. "Whew buddy, remember I have a broken leg I can't do too much physical activity." Oregano calmly uttered as he desperately reached for his crutch beside his bed. He took hold of it and pushed down hard on its top to help himself rise out of bed.

"Sorry for shouting and waking you, but something slammed against this window here causing me to move wrong and it hurt my leg." Oregano started to explain to Polen as he made his way to the window to see what he could see. When he looked back to see if Polen was cool with the situation now he saw a sleeping koala sprawled out on the bed.

"Goodness Polen how in the world do you manage to go from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds?!" Oregano laughed as he wobbled over to the window using his crutch.

When Oregano finally made it to the window after a good amount of wobbling he peered out through the glass and looked down at the windowsill on the outside of the window. What he saw on the other side was a seagull lying on its back with a dazed expression on its face. The seagull was a very pure white color but it was not solid white for it had three light blue stripes marking all the way around its neck.

Its feathers were all extremely rustled and messy, and that is when the strong wind outside became evident to Oregano because as he inspected the bird, its feathers were getting blown about in many different directions.

"Ah wow! So you are what woke me up huh little guy?!" Oregano questioned as he continued to look out at the seagull. "I can only imagine how hard flying would be in that rough wind outside!" He added as he began to feel sympathy for the practically knocked out bird on his windowsill. He could tell it was out cold and feared that if it stayed in the windy condition on such a small ledge as this windowsill it could be blown out into the ocean and drown.

So he then quietly unlatched the window lock as to not wake up the sleeping Polen that had already tried to rip his nose off this morning, and he gently scooped the passed out and limp seagull into the room and latched the window back as softly as he could.

"Alright seagull, you can stay on my ship until you regain consciousness!" Oregano whispered as he hobbled out of the sleeping quarters with his crutch under one arm, and a knocked out seagull held tightly in the other. His destination was the upper deck so that the seagull wouldn't make a mess of things inside the cabin and would be free to fly away once he snapped back to reality.

Oregano waddled through the living area of the Cherry Maria and ultimately found himself face to face with the stairs to the upper deck standing before him ominously. He took a deep breath and gave a determined head nod as he picked his crutch up off the ground and set it up on the first step.

Last night going down these steps from the upper deck proved to be quite a challenge for him, and now that he had both hands full he knew that going up these steps would be even worse. This was going to be extreme for sure!

"Here goes nothing Tompkins!" Oregano muttered to the seagull who he had just named on a whim because he was beginning to feel a close bonding moment between them develop so he felt it was only necessary for his new birdy friend to have a name.

Putting his weight forward on the crutch that he had placed on the first step, he hesitantly eased himself forward. As his body slowly shifted upward he swiftly regained his balance and swooped his back leg up onto the step. He had made it to the first step. Oregano let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the flight of stairs staring back at him. "One down! This is going to be cake!" He laughed as he began his preparations for the next step before him…

20 Minutes Later

After hobbling up the stairs with the utmost degree of carefulness that he could muster, Oregano had finally managed to make it to the second to last step from the top. "We're gonna make it Tompkins!" Oregano bellowed in a way too overly dramatic fashion with a ridiculously fake deep voice.

Now that the two were so close to their destination Oregano quickly positioned his crutch up and forward onto the next and final step. Then immediately switching his attention to his casted left leg he pressed down on the crutch and simultaneously let his foot off the back step. With his weight completely on the crutch a sudden sensation of sliding was felt as the crutch did not hold steady.

A feeling of complete vulnerability was cast over him as he started to fall backwards. His eyes desperately darted around looking for why this was happening. They finally met with the culprit of this misfortune. Underneath his crutch on the final step, Oregano had unknowingly placed the end of his crutch on top of a soggy Eucalyptus leaf sushi roll that had been left out all night!

"Nooooo!" Oregano cried out as he slipped and finally lost balance completely. He realized he was now completely midair and falling backwards down the stairs.

Desperately bracing himself for impact Oregano maneuvered Tompkins with his limp body above his own so that the bird wouldn't get squished or harmed in this tumbling that was about to occur.

A loud and repetitive series of crashes soon echoed throughout the Cherry Maria as Oregano let out many yelps and shouts of pain. Eventually the bottom step was reached and Oregano could feel his broken leg throb with an unimaginable amount of pain. Not to mention the rest of his body was now beat up and bruised. He had his eyes clamped tight from the pain but managed to slowly peak one eye open to look down at Tompkins lying peacefully on his chest. "Whew at least I didn't squish you Tompkins. You owe me big time man." Oregano laughed but quickly made himself stop because the shaking his body made from laughing was making his entire body ache even more.

A sudden scurrying was then heard by Oregano that made him smile with great joy. "So Polen is coming to check and see if I am alright huh? Gah what a stellar friend he is! I could really use some comfort right about now that's for sure!" He whispered lightly as he slowly turned his head towards the door to the sleeping quarters in the distance. The one eye he had managed to peak open scanned the area past the living quarters and finally spotted the fuzzy koala sprinting towards him.

"Awww come here Polen I'm hurt pretty badly my main man!" Oregano called out expecting an affectionate hug from his koala.

Polen on the other hand was thinking nothing of the sort because he had been woken up by this load crashing down the stairs that shook and rattled the entire ship. This was twice that Oregano had awakened him from his slumber and he was going to extract his revenge. Pouncing from halfway across the living quarters to the stairs Polen headed straight for Oregano with his claws! This was beginning to become an everyday occurrence.

Finally on the Deck of the Cherry Maria

After all the hustle and bustle that had occurred a short while ago on the stairs leading to the top deck was over, and of course after recovering from even more koala inflicted injuries, Oregano had finally made it to the deck with Tompkins still safe in his arms.

Oregano was aching like nobody's business as he delicately made his way step by step to the center of his ship. He set Tompkins down on the deck and piled up a few twigs and branches that were still scattered about from being docked under the trees back in Plisboro Cove into a nest around the bird.

"Hah, good thing I haven't had time to clean this deck. Now you get to rest in a cozy nest!" Oregano softly laughed as to not jar himself too hard to increase the pain his body was already feeling.

He then straightened up after bending over to make a nest for Tompkins and looked up to the sky. Unlike yesterday which began with rain, today's weather was bright and shiny with many fluffy white clouds floating by peacefully in the sky. The harsh winds that he had seen earlier that led to Tompkins crashing into his window must have finally passed because the air around him was now incredibly stagnant.

"Ahh wow you really just picked an unlucky time to be flying today Tompkins!" Oregano muttered to the unconscious bird beneath him as he scanned the ocean around him. "Well at least we have a calm day now after what happened yesterday." Oregano continued as he made his way to the front of the ship. "I can only imagine how long this will last though!" He chuckled.

Then peering out in front of him he began to see the outline of an island in the distance. Unlike Yortori Rise this one was massive from the looks of it. The harder he looked at the outline the further the island seemed to stretch along the horizon. "Wow that has to be it! It's Oion!" He shouted with a laugh. Then, he quickly gripped his ribs that started throbbing from his diaphragm's expansion from the shouting and laughter. "Gosh I really laugh a lot! It only took getting beaten to a pulp to realize it!" Oregano muttered.

Once the pain died down a little he looked up over the island in the distance once more and estimated that they would arrive within the next four hours. This was the roughest of all estimations since Oregano knew very little about sailing and had only been out at sea for two days now - But he felt four hours was a fine guess none the less.

"Hmm Polen is back to sleeping and Tompkins is still out for the count. I suppose I can start cleaning up this mess up here on deck that Tompkins isn't using for a nest at the moment...and then I can make a nice breakfast for us all…" He was then cut off mid thought by a News Coo dropping a News Paper next to him from the sky above.

"Aha the morning paper! I reckon I could let this mess stay here for a while longer. Let's see what is happening in this crazy world today! Then I will get right onto to breakfast! … Hopefully I will be able to make it down those stinkin' stairs without any trouble this time!" He added with a sigh as he propped his back up against the mast of his ship and unfolded the paper in his hands.

Meanwhile Back on Yortori Rise

"What in the world do you mean you still can't get signal to Oion?" A frustrated and incredibly flustered Mayor Dimblanté screeched towards her underlings. She was pacing back and forth in her office frantically spitting and sputtering in disappointment. "You have had since last night to fix this blasted problem and still nothing! What am I paying you for?! My reputation is on the line! I must report that blasted Oregano bastard to the marines!"

The mayor's underlings all held their heads low as one muttered under his breath. "Our Den Den Mushi just aren't responding mayor, they have been sleeping the entire time and nothing seems to wake them up."

Mayor Dimblanté's face grew red with anger as she stomped her foot on the ground. "You bozos won't have jobs for long if you don't get a response out of these blasted snails before noon!" And with that the mayor briskly left the office with a loud and agitated sigh.

Elsewhere on a Ship Floating in the West Blue off the Coast of Yortori Rise

"Eh Captain?! Are you sure that batch of herbal powder will keep those Den Den Mushi quiet long enough for Oregano to get to Oion safely?" A worried voice whispered out of the side of his mouth.

"Ha am I sure?!" A voice boomed in response. The man the voice belonged to firmly pressed his fingers into his forehead as he continued. "I Barnaban Nooseclef guarantee that my special snail sleeping powder will work splendidly on those Den Den Mushi! "

Barnaban and his crew were currently sailing on a small ship that they had successfully swiped and pirated from the Sukini Docks. Before doing so however, they had secretly sabotaged the mayor's office before escaping the island themselves with sleeping snail herbal powder that Barnaban had made himself.

Barnaban's crew laughed easily after hearing their captain's confident response and their worries towards Oregano's safety left there minds.

Barnaban then gritted his teeth as he grinned, fingers still pressed tightly to his forehead as he spoke. "After realizing that I so carelessly shouted his name for all to hear as he departed Yortori, I really owed him this extra bit of time. Luckily being an avid botanist I had just the herbal remedy to help out in this sticky situation."

Shaking his head he continued "I know that that mayor will want to alert Oion and Difetto of who the man who held them all at gunpoint was and where he is now heading as soon as possible. This could prove incredibly dangerous!"

Barnaban's crew members all nodded in agreement as their captain spoke.

"How long do you think those snails will be out for captain?" A crew member piped up with great curiosity in his voice.

"Ahh let's see…" Barnaban murmured as he began to calculate the amount of powder used, how many snails the office held and how long it had been since planting the powder in the office.

"I would say they won't be waking up until about 3:00 today. That should be enough time for Oregano to make it to Oion already and hopefully blend in. He said he wanted supplies and to maybe find some possible crew mates for his journey. I hope he realizes he is pressed for time and makes this trip as fast as possible. Oion holds a military presence on it that is no laughing matter!"

Barnaban then gulped as he thought about what Oregano was up against.

"He sure made an assortment of enemies quickly. He has the likes of the Plisboro security department, the marines, the mayor of Sukini City and '8-Fold' Remey as well!" Barnaban then slapped his knee hard at the mentioning of Remey. "Blast it! I forgot to warn him of Remey's power! I got too caught up in the 'Unforgivable Path' yesterday! Remey and his Rascal pirates will surely go after Oregano the next chance they get!" Two days out at sea and you already have all this on your shoulders Oregano...Be careful my friend!"

"Be careful my friend?! We should go help him out and warn him…" A crew member frantically chipped in but was cut off by Barnaban who was holding his hand up quickly in response.

"Oregano is a man of adventure, this is the life he thrives on, we must not interfere. We will meet him again if and when fate allows it... Until then… he lives in this wild world like the adventure seeking lunatic he is. Let's just hope he can find himself a strong crew to balance out his unlucky tendencies. That koala of his is spunky but he won't cut it after this point."

Barnaban and his crew all shook their heads as they all muttered to themselves about how ridiculous Oregano was to live the way he did. It was in a way incredibly refreshing to them however. Cruel pirates were becoming more and more frequent in this world, and the sight of one who simply wanted to explore the world and what it had to offer kept their thoughts on him at ease.

Now an Hour Later Back on the Cherry Maria

The Cherry Maria was now just off the coast of Oion. Oregano had managed to make himself and Polen some breakfast after he had struggled down the stairs when he finished reading the newspaper. He had taken some of the pain medication Barnaban's doctor had given him as well and the effects were starting to kick in from what he could tell.

He was now fully dressed and ready to see what Oion was going to have to offer them. Polen was busy looking after Tompkins who he noticed for the first time while doing his daily scurrying all over the top deck. It was his way of making sure his territory was safe. The koala hadn't even noticed the bird in Oregano's arms when he had fallen down the steps earlier, so he was very interested in him and what he was doing on the ship. Oregano had given him a bowl of food to set next to the bird for when he awakened and Polen was happy to help out. He loved feeling like he was a big help, and in this case he really was because Oregano really couldn't handle going up the stairs so many times even with the pain relief from the medication.

Oregano had just tucked his pistol into the front of his shorts as he saw Polen hopping joyfully down the steps.

"Is he all set up there buddy?" Oregano questioned his koala. Polen nodded at his remark and once he saw Oregano all dressed and ready to go, he hurried into the sleeping quarters and nabbed his baseball cap and his 'cool' shades. He was now ready to go.

Oregano motioned to Polen to head on up to the deck and the koala happily trotted past him to check on their progress. He was the lookout after all. Oregano wobbled over to the stairs, much smoother than earlier because of the pain medication taking full effect. "Alight awesome this stuff has really kicked in nicely!" He exclaimed as he double checked his pocket to make sure he didn't forget to bring the bottle of pills with him. A rattling of the pills against the plastic bottle reassured him that they were there and he headed up the stairs with only a little bit of trouble this time.

When Oregano reached the top deck he made his way over to Tompkins and saw the bird was still out cold. Then looking up at the crow's nest he saw Polen holding a telescope and scanning the bay before the ship.

The koala then put the telescope down and looked down towards Oregano who was holding his hand up to his face to keep the sun out of his eyes.

"What's the scenario Poleeeen?" Oregano called up to Polen anxiously waiting for a response. The koala looked at the island before him and with his scruffy little arms he motioned towards the right.

"Aye-aye my faithful lookout!" Oregano laughed as he steered the ship to the right. As the Cherry Maria continued towards Oion a small inlet caught Oregano's eye and he figured this must be the area Polen had seen. It was from the looks of it a relatively calm spot. A simple dock reached out into the sea, and a few houses were scattered here and there along the coast. This would be a nice spot to dock the ship for sure.

As the Cherry Maria neared the dock a man in an all-black track suit came running out from one of the nearby houses. His feet pattered hard on the wooden dock as he then slammed his feet down to a sudden and desperate stop before running straight off the end.

The man was a little overweight and Oregano was surprised he could run with such finesse at his size, but this was beside the point. The man had a pompadour hair style that ended with a greasy curl at the end. His face was very oval in shape and his eyes were narrow and glaring. His eyes were really giving Oregano the creeps and this led to an awkward silence falling upon the scene.

"Um sir could you…" Oregano tried to communicate with the man to end the silence but was immediately cut off.

"You don't think I will do it huh?" The man yelled at the top of his lungs.

"What?!" Oregano responded in a puzzled tone but was cut off again by the man.

"You pirates! Always thinking you can do as you please! I will contact the marine base in a heartbeat! I Fletcher Oilybarke am the self-proclaimed protector of this coast!" The man then tightened his fist as he stomped his foot down loudly as he screamed. "What do you plan on doing pirate? I hear Lieutenant Commander Difetto came back to our Marine base in a terrible mood and was extra furious about some pirate so I won't hesitate to contact him!"

Oregano took a good look at the man as his ship finally made it next to the dock. Not looking behind him he held his arm backwards and pointed down and Polen came running up and climbed up Oregano's arm and propped up on his shoulder. Then grabbing a rope connected to his ship in one hand Oregano threw over the ships ladder with his other arm.

"Just a minute sir, I have to be really careful." Oregano muttered as he tossed his crutch overboard onto the dock beside Fletcher.

Fletcher was confused beyond belief at what was happening before him. Was this pirate crazy or was he just completely unaffected by his threats. Fletcher had already pulled out his baby den den Mushi, but seeing a crutch thrown over the boat and being referred to as 'sir' struck him as incredibly odd and he somehow found himself watching as the pirate pitifully climbed down the ladder he had thrown over. He saw the cast on Oregano's left leg, and he saw Polen playfully poking at Oregano's armpit trying to make him fall as he clung to the ladder. Fletcher had no idea what to make of this sight. He had never seen a 'pirate' like this before.

Oregano had made it to the bottom plank of his ladder and leaned his 'good' leg backwards and in the most ungraceful manner he hopped onto the deck behind him and managed to stick the one foot landing. Then turning to Fletcher he held out the rope connected to the Cherry Maria.

"Here can you hold this for just a minute please?" Oregano asked with a grin as Fletcher hesitantly grabbed the rope that was being offered to him.

Oregano then turned around and scooped his crutch off the dock beside him. He now had balance and was now ready to talk to Fletcher.

"Hello there Fletcher, my name is Oregano and I was hoping you could watch my ship for me while I explore this island." Oregano calmly requested as he began to hobble towards the land at the end of the dock.

Fletcher was speechless and before he could even respond Oregano was already on the island and was moving out quite well for a crippled man. Then Oregano called out suddenly, adding to his previous statement.

"Oh and I have an injured bird chilling up on the deck, so make sure you don't let anyone lame around my ship!"

Fletcher's state of mind was now flipped all around. Had he just been played? Was this pirate trustworthy? Was this even a pirate? Why in the world was he so calm? And ultimately why was he now finding himself tying this man's ship to the dock? As he thought about all of this madness he was left wondering if he was losing his edge as the coast's protector.

All of these thoughts and more were running through Fletcher's mind as he watched the pirate stagger off past the coastal houses and ultimately onto the main road which led into the city region of the island.

Now on the Road to Oion's City Region

"We made it Poleeeen!" Oregano cheered as Polen held his arms up into the sky in delight at his master's comment. "I can't wait to see what this island has in store! That man at the docks sure was nice to warn us about Difetto too. Plus he is watching our ship. What a guy! I feel like I owe him something. Maybe I will buy him a present in town!" Oregano exclaimed, still not realizing that Fletcher could have easily alerted the marines that a pirate like him had landed on the island.

Oregano had only heard bits and pieces of what Fletcher had screamed at him, he then pieced the words he heard together in his mind and made what he thought he heard him say into ultimately what he wanted to hear. This was a trait that Oregano used quite often, this is due mostly because he has very, very poor hearing, but he was also so excited about exploring this island that that likely played an enormous role in him not paying too much attention to what was being screamed at him as well.

Meanwhile in a Shady Alleyway in Oion's City Region Two Individuals are Plotting Secretly

"So did you make the swap?" a worried voice belonging to one of the men in the alley quietly muttered to the other.

"Yeah I did... they will never see it coming. This stuff doesn't have a scent or nuthin'!" The other man confidently replied as he pulled out an empty glass bottle with an 'x' written on it.

"Whew that's a relief. Alright good, now we just have to wait until the match starts and the plan will be set."

"I hear you there buddy, plus boss was so upset about something so at least we aren't gonna be on his bad side! If we had failed here all hell would've broken loose! He has loads and loads of beli riding on an upset happening today."

"Yeah he can get scary! He would have our heads in a minute! We have to make sure the next step of the plans falls into play at the warm up scrimmage that's scheduled."

"Right, but hey, nothing is going to go wrong. We are all set and our cuts of this massive bet will have us living like kings in no time!"

"Ha you got that right! Well I'm off, see you at the scrimmage."

"Humph of course, see you then."

And with that the two men in the alleyway left the scene one at a time and walked their own paths away from where they had met. A rotten plan had now been thrown into play in this town. Perfect timing of course for the unlucky Oregano to make his visit.

**A/N: Thank you very much for reading this chapter of Oregano - I hope you enjoyed it! Please feel free to comment- I love to read what you have to say!

((Next time! Oregano's Adventure in Oion gets heated!))**