Ch 29 - Hide & Seek
Pygmy found Luffy first, clinging onto the bottom of the mast head. He then found Usopp, who had wedged himself inside the kitchen's chimney on the top deck. Chopper was discovered inside the service elevator that was stopped on the kitchen level. Nami was found tucked inside a cannon that was positioned in the aquarium bar. Franky was sneaky and hid behind the stairs of the mast head, where the control room for the Gaon cannon was.
Zoro didn't even hide at all and just meditated in the middle of the Crow's Nest, claiming he didn't think Pygmy could go north. Nana interpreted that as Zoro speak for "up" and reminded him that she was following behind Pygmy so had climbed up the ladder carrying her pet when he indicated to her to go up.
The only two people left to be discovered were Sanji and Robin. Pygmy was stumped. He sniffed around the entire ship and did not bark at all. After Nana and Pygmy looked through every room for the third time, the dog sat defeatedly in the middle of the deck and lowered his head.
"Are you giving up?" Nana asked.
Pygmy whimpered and then lied down on the grass. Nana's eyebrows raised to the top of her head. She pulled out her megaphone and held it to her lips. "Okay, Sanji! Robin! Pygmy gave up! You can come out now. You guys won."
The doors to the men's quarter was soon flung open and the cook emerged victorious, while Robin climbed down from the gaff. "Yes, Nana-chwan!" he cheered, "I can receive something precious made by your delicate hands. Are you impressed by my cleverness? Are you not falling in love with me?!"
"It would take more than a game of hide and seek," Nana shot back and then looked up at Robin, "You hid behind the sails so that the wind would take away your scent? Amazing!"
"Thank you, Weaponsmith," Robin said with a grin.
Nana then looked curiously at Sanji, "But I have no idea how Pygmy didn't find you. We went into that room so many times. Where were you hiding?"
Sanji lit his cigarette and walked down the steps to the deck. "I wasn't really, Nana-chan. I was sleeping in my bed."
"What?!" Nana gasped, "How did Pygmy not find you?"
"My guess is because since our beds already smelled like us, Pygmy ignored it," Robin mused.
"But...why didn't we see you? Surely Pygmy would've noticed a bump in the bed spread," Nana wondered.
"I sleep in the top bunk, Nana-chan," Sanji replied as he smoked, "It would be too high for you and Pygmy to see it."
"How did you know to hide in your own bed?" Usopp marvelled.
Sanji gave a confident grin as he lifted his cigarette delicately between two fingers. "The most dangerous place is always the most safest place." He then turned to Nana and smiled sappily at her, "Now what do I get from you, Nana-chwan? What are you going to make me? Oh! Anything you make, I will treasure forever!"
This guy has many sides to him, Nana thought with a raised eyebrow. "You're a very complicated man."
"Love is a hurricane, Nana-chan," he shouted, balling up a fist in front of him to show her just how serious he was about that statement, "It is a complicated whirlwind!"
Nana scoffed as she headed down to her room. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say, Prince Charming. I'll go make you and Robin's reward now."
"What are you-"
"You'll see," Nana called back just as the latch that led down to the lower decks closed behind her and Pygmy.
Thwack! Clang!
Nana held up the burning piece of metal in between the fingers of her thick, heat proof gloves. She examined it closely, as if appraising a precious gem, and then set it back down on the anvil before pummeling it even more with her hammer.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
She lifted it once more for inspection and then nodded in satisfaction. She dunked it into a bucket of cold water next to her and watched the steam flow up from the surface of the water. She laid her product back down on the anvil and set her hammer down on the floor. She took off her gloves and pulled out a engraver from her pocket.
"Okay, what should I engrave on this? Sanji? 'Black Leg'? The Straw Hats jolly roger?" she asked as she looked over at Pygmy.
Pygmy barked and wagged his tail in response and Nana frowned. "Yeah...terrible…" she looked down at the metal, "Oh! I know!"
Suddenly, Zoro's voice called out from the intercom up in the corner of her ceiling. "OY! Something's floating on the water!"
Nana looked curiously at Pygmy. "What do you think it is?"
Pygmy tilted his head and then rested his head back down. Nana nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's finish first and then go up. I'm sure whatever it is, Luffy and the others can handle it."
By the time Nana and Pygmy came back up to the lawn deck, she saw that the rest of the Straw Hats had already gathered. There was a barrel standing at the center with a red flag tied tied to the top. The words "Offering of Treasure for the Sea God" were written on the top.
Robin was in the middle of explaining the flag to the crew."'Offering of Treasure' means it's a gift to the god."
"That bites!" Usopp complained, "So we can't do anything with it?"
"Well, since we picked it up, let's drink the booze!" Zoro suggested.
"Idiot!" Usopp squealed, "The god'll get angry at you!"
"You can drink it as long as you pray first," Nami said.
"I don't pray to any gods," Zoro growled as he walked up to the barrel.
"I've heard that booze is extra good after it's been floating on the waves," Nami said with a greedy grin.
Franky grinned. He left Nana's side and went towards the barrel. "Then let's try some then!"
"It's custom to refill the barrel with fresh offerings after you've emptied it," Robin said.
Franky put his hands on the top of the barrel and began to rock it. "Alright! Let's open this then."
There was a faint clanging noise that came from the barrel and Nana snapped to attention. She closed her eyes to listen more intently, then her eyelids flew back up. "Franky! Luffy! Stop!" she gasped, making a dash towards them.
"Oy, God!" Luffy shouted to the heavens at the same time and he loosened the top of the barrel, "I'm taking your snacks! Shishishishi."
"Luffy!" Sanji warned as he ran down the steps to stop them, "I think Nana-chan-"
A bright red flare shot out and exploded into the sky. It casted a giant light over the ship and turned the sky a fiery red.
"What was that? What does it mean?" Nami asked as Nana raced over, knocking Franky to the side, just as Sanji approached the other side of the barrel.
Nana peered over the edge of the barrel and saw a small metal cannon with a now detached trigger. "That's what I thought…" she muttered and glared at Franky, "How did you not hear the metal trigger rattling inside?"
"Ow! Nana-brat, no one is more sensitive to the sound of metal than you!" Franky said defensively.
"The booze flew out and exploded!" Chopper screamed.
"Not the booze…" Nana replied with a frown.
"What was it, Nana-chan?" Sanji asked.
Nana tilted a barrel towards Sanji so that he could see inside. "It was a flare...The rigging inside was done crudely. Very crudely. It could just be someone pulling a simple prank but...just maybe…"
"Just maybe…?" Chopper and Usopp gulped.
"It might be a trap," Robin finished, "Someone may be coming after our ship."
"AHHHH!" Usopp screamed, "It's the 'Open this barrel and inform us of your location' trap?!'"
"Like I said," Nana replied as she dumped out the contents of the barrel so she could repurpose the parts, "This was done roughly and quickly...So there's still a possibility of this just being a halfhearted prank."
"Or the curse of God," Zoro snorted.
"Chopper!" Usopp ordered, not taking any chances, "Check the perimeter!"
"I'm on it!" Chopper answered.
A strong wind blew towards them and Nami's eyes widened and she raced up the stairs. "Everyone, take your stations! We're escaping to the south-southeast. A huge storm will be here in five minutes!"
"I don't see a storm, but if that's what she says, I bet it'll suddenly hit," Luffy shouted, "Nami, where should I steer the ship?!"
"Head straight for 2 o'clock!" Nami answered.
Within five minutes, dark clouds swarmed over the Thousand Sunny and heavy rain came pouring down. Thunder and lightning crashed all around them and the ship was swaying violently in every direction.
"Crap! We're getting hit by the head winds!" Nami exclaimed, "They're going to push us back!"
The ship floor seesawed beneath their feet. Nana had one arm around Pygmy's neck and another arm linked to her hammer which was anchoring her to the floor. Luffy and Chopper tumbled by her as the ship tilted dramatically and a strong wave crashed over the deck.
"Oy, Franky!" Nana called over to the shipwright, "Channel 0?!"
"Ow! Good thinking, Nana-brat! It's time we get out of here," Franky shouted.
Nami blinked and then she realized what they were saying. "Everyone! We're bringing out the paddles!"
Nana gritted her teeth and looked at Pygmy. "Ready, Pyg?" she asked as she lifted her hammer.
"Woof!" he barked as Nana leapt onto his saddle, put her hammer on his back, and he ran forward just as the ship started to tilt the other way. They ran to the steering wheel and Nana grabbed onto it.
"The main sail is set, Nami-san," Sanji called.
"I took in the foremast!" Zoro shouted.
"Nana! We're ready!" Nami shouted.
"Okay! Soldier Dock System," Nana said as she rotated a dial in the center of the wheel, "Channel 0."
The dial clicked into place, revealing the number 0 on both sides of the wheel, and she pulled the lever. "Nana Special! The steam powered paddle…"
"OW! It's the Paddle Ship Sunny!" Franky called out.
"Stop bragging and help already!" Nana yelled.
Steam started to shoot out from behind the ship, right below the Coup de Burst cannon. Large, circular paddles emerged from the each side of ship and it started to spin faster and faster. The ship plowed forward with incredible speed. Soon, they had sailed past the rain and the winds started to die but the dark clouds still loomed overhead and there was a thick dense fog all around the ship.
"Whew...we survived," Nami sighed.
"Yeah...It's nice we pulled through," Zoro growled, "But what's with this sea? It isn't night yet, but with this thick fog...it's creepy how dark it is."
Nana walked away from the steering wheel and rejoined the crew. The temperature had dropped and it was quite chilly. Nana rubbed her hands over the sleeves of her blouse and shivered a little. The dark and cold night created an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Do you think we stumbled into that sea...the one Granny Kokoro was talking about?" Nami asked nervously.
"Oh Fishman island? Are we there already?" Usopp cheered.
"No...It's not that sea...There's a sea before that…" Luffy said with a mischievous grin as he decided to prey on the unknowing Usopp.
"Don't tell me…" Nana gasped and she pulled her aviator helmet tighter around her head. Granny Kokoro used to tell her horror stories about the haunted sea by Fishman Island, whenever Nana came by her train station. It terrified her as a child and it still terrified her to this day.
Franky caught the look on Nana's face and he couldn't resist messing with the brat. "Don't let your guard down...From the looks of it, we're already caught in the infamous…Florian Triangle!"
"No...no...no…," Nana murmured shakily as she stumbled towards the aft of the ship.
"Oy, Nana! Where are you going?" Luffy shouted after her.
She opened the hatch that led down to the lower decks. "I forgot something...in my room...Let me go get it," she muttered. She jumped down without another word with Pygmy dutifully followed closely behind.
"Ow. I'll go-" Franky started to say but then Sanji put a hand on Franky's shoulder and pulled him back.
"Allow me," Sanji said as he went after her.
He headed straight to her room and found her squatting in front of her furnace with Pygmy sitting unusually close to her. "Shit shit shit shit shit," she kept saying while poking the flames continuously with a metal rod.
"Nana-chan, are you-?"
Nana screamed and jumped a foot in the air. She thrusted the red hot poker in his direction with one hand while covering her eyes with another. "Stay back! Stay back!"
Sanji quickly sidestepped to avoid getting burned and punctured at the same time. "Nana-chan, it's me! I just wanted to see if you were alright."
The ship swayed from the motion of the sea and a loud moaning sound erupted through the wooden panels. Nana dropped the poker as she squatted back down and covered her ears with her hands.
"Nana-chan!" Sanji quickly rushed over and set the hot poker back in its place before it burned a hole in the ship. He covered his hands over Nana's trembling ones and waited for her to look back up at him. "It's okay. That was just the sound of the ship."
"I know that. I built ships for a living. You think I don't know that?!" Nana barked back, "But my body is just reacting on it's own. God damn it! I hate being scared of this shit. I hate that you have to see me like this. Fuck! The whole reason why I came down here was so that no one would see me in this light."
"I won't tell the others," Sanji assured her, "Your secret is safe with me."
"Yeah, well, dumb Franky will probably blab and rat me out," she muttered. The ship moaned again and she flinched, "I know exactly what he'll say when he sees me. Something along the lines of 'Ow! Nana-brat, if you're super scared of ghosts pulling you into the water, you should just learn how to swim!'"
"Is that what scares you? The idea of being pulled underwater and to the bottom of the sea?"
Nana nodded again and stared at the floor as her mind flooded with images of skeletal hands stretching out through tangled seaweeds and grabbing onto her ankles. "Granny Kokoro said that ships go missing all the time in the Florian Triangles and they reappear with the haunted souls of its passengers. There's even stories about living skeletons."
She gritted her teeth and let out a frustrated sigh. "You must think I'm so stupid and weak to believe stories like that and to be actually afraid of them."
"I never thought of you as weak," Sanji replied, "In fact, I think you're very strong."
"Of course you'll say that," Nana snapped, "You'd say anything to please a woman."
"Yes," Sanji admitted, "But I'll never lie to one."
"Whatever," Nana scoffed.
"It's true, Nana-chan," Sanji insisted, "I'm telling the truth. I think you're the strongest woman I've ever met, fears and all."
Nana's head snapped up and gaped at the cook. "Really?"
Sanji resisted the urge to steal a kiss right there on the spot. The angel was looking at him with such wonder and confusion that it took all of his will power not to just devour her. Idiot! A lady is in need. Focus!
He tightened his hold on her hands, playing it off as a means to reassure her. "Of course, Nana-chan," he replied, "You made it pretty clear that you're the woman who doesn't need saving."
Nana wasn't sure what to say. She felt the same secure feeling she had back in the Water 7 train station. Suddenly, the creaking and moans of the ship didn't seem so scary anymore and her trembling had diminished considerably.
That's right, Mizu Nana. Now is not the time to be a little chicken shit, she thought as started to put her hands back down. She then peered cautiously at the cook, How does he always manage to make me feel better? No matter when I'm sad or scared? Is it because he does this with every woman?
She took a long, calming breath, and then let a smirk pull at the corner of her lips. "Looks like there is more power to your pretty words than I gave you credit for, Prince Charming," Nana quipped, "I'm ready to go back up now."
"Are you sure?" Sanji asked with disappointment. He wouldn't have minded if they just stayed down here forever.
"Can't exactly hide down here now that you've given me such a big vote of confidence," Nana said and then she looked up as if she could see up to the lawn deck through her ceiling, "Besides, it seems we might be heading into trouble."
Sanji rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, that trouble is usually Luffy...so yes, you're right. We should go back up but...are you sure you're ready?"
"No more than I'll ever be," Nana said and stood up. "Thank you, Sanji."
"Anytime, Nana-chan," Sanji said. He offered his arm to her, "Although, now you've gotten me a little scared. Would you mind staying close to me so that you could protect me?"
Nana snorted but she took his arm as they made their way back up to the deck. "Alright, Prince Charming, let's go."
Nana stopped short just in front of the latch and she reached into her pocket. "Oh yeah! I forgot. Here's your reward from the hide and seek earlier."
She held out a silver lighter with a curl engraved on the bottom corner of each side, resembling the curl of his eyebrows. She placed it in his hand. "I hope you like it," she smiled as she opened the latch and climbed out.
Sanji's fingers closed tightly around the lighter. He planned on never letting it go. "No, Nana-chan," he murmured as he opened his hand just to take one more look at it, "I love it."
