I do not own anything within this fanfiction and any names used are purely coincidental with those of the One Piece anime. All rights go to the creators and editors of the One Piece universe and to its writer Eiichiro Oda.
"I guess you could say...it was instinct."
Zoro walked around Timi in confusion, looking her up and down.
"How much are you able to lift?" he asked, expecting a big number. Since she had been here a few weeks, and he knew she worked hard around the ship to help out, he knew she had made significant progress in developing her body's abilities.
"About 200 Kilo." Timi replied, standing still as she frowned as he looked her over.
"Hmmm. Maybe it is time you got one." Zoro said, turning to Timi, looking her dead in the eye. Walking over to his own swords, he picked up his Shuusui. He held out his hand for Timi to take it.
"But, this is..." Timi started before being interrupted.
"I'm not giving this to you, I'm letting you borrow it. You need to learn the full weight of handling a sword and Shuusui will help you do that. Meet me on deck when everyone is asleep. If you don't turn up, I'll wake you just like last time." Timi scowled a little, remembering the rude and sudden awakening when he had hit her on the head with a bokken.
"Fine." She replied, taking the sword from him hesitantly. It was heavy. Much heavier than she had originally thought it would be. Timi left Zoro to train, returning to her sleeping quarters. She unsheathed the sword, looking upon it's black blade. She swung it around whichever way she felt comfortable with at first, getting a handle for its weight. Moving it side to side and bringing it up and then down again.
This is heavy.
She practised with the sword until she couldn't lift it anymore, her body becoming so tired it would no longer listen to her. She turned in early, explaining to the others that she needed some sleep. Sanji understood her, for once not in a perverted manner, and made her a hot chocolate before she went to sleep. She quickly nodded off for once. Since she was a natural insomniac and sleep usually became difficult to achieve for her, it was a wonder she slept at all most of the time. Sleeping but a few short hours, she found herself awake again. Getting up, she grabbed Shuusui and headed out onto the deck. Looking out over the dark surface of the sea from the front of the ship, she felt a large warm hand on her shoulder. Turning she saw Zoro with no shirt on, his large scar visible to the world and he wore no shoes. Holding a sword in each hand, he held both up both up by the handle, making the holsters fall off, revealing the flawless and shining blades underneath. As the sun rose, they began their duel.
Two Sword Style versus One Sword Style...if my crude sword swinging could even be considered a style.
Her technique bettered the more she studied Zoro's movements, identifying his strengths and points of weakness (though few) and improving to the point that she could launch counter-attacks towards him. Though they duelled for only a short 10 minutes, it was fast paced and over as quickly as it had begun. Both Timi and Zoro stood panting, their sweat drops shining on their skin with the rays of the morning sunrise. Sheathing Shuusui, Timi felt herself stumble a little. Making her stance wider, she stopped herself from falling. Sheathing his own swords, Zoro rushed forward, placing his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him in disapproval.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" She asked, glaring at him slightly. He took his hands off of her shoulders, immediately noticing her change of mood. As she went to turn, she saw her vision darken. Catching her unconscious form, Zoro returned her to her bed. Taking a short shower, he put on a shirt and relaxed-looking baggy trousers, noticing that Luffy had been watching from the kitchen balcony the entire time.
"She's getting better." Zoro said indirectly, not making eye contact with Luffy.
"Yea. She's cool, but she's not as good at handling a sword as you yet though." A huge smile crossed Luffy's face, happy at her progress, his first mate's willingness to train her and his decision to let her join his crew.
It was a few hours later when Timi finally awoke to the sound of grinding. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw Chopper grinding some herbs into a powder. She rose slightly from the bed, immediately regretting it as her lungs suddenly refused to take in air and she ended up coughing to intake more oxygen. Noticing her change, Chopper stopped grinding and turned around. Transforming into his Heavy Point form, he helped her body up into an upright position as she started sweating heavily.
"Hey. Take it easy. You put your body through an arduous ordeal. It's still trying to cope with the oxygen demand. Here. Drink this." Chopper said, handing her a small bottle of white, foul smelling liquid. Taking it without hesitation and downing the contents, she soon regretted it as she grimaced at the taste as it made it's way down her throat. As Chopper went to help her back into a lying position, she tried to push his arms away.
"You need your rest, Timi. Your body is still exhausted." Chopper said, doing his best to be forceful with his patient whilst at the same time, sounding nice.
"I'll be fine Chopper, just help me to the kitchen." She said, almost like an order. Seeing the seriousness of her words in her eyes, he picked up her weakened body in his arms, carrying her to the kitchen. Bringing her in, everyone was surprised to see her awake, worried for her.
"Are you ok, Timi? When you suddenly collapsed, Zoro brought you back to your room and told us." Nami said, already up in her face.
"It was no big deal, alright? My body isn't used to the training yet." Timi replied, not caring about her own importance, too tired to even remotely think about it as Chopper set her down on one of the kitchen chairs.
"Would you like some fried eggs on toast, Timi?" Sanji asked.
For once, he used my name properly and in context.
"I'd love some, Sanji. Thanks. One piece of toast will do me fine with 2 eggs, sunny side up please." Timi finished as Zoro then walked through the door.
"So you're awake, huh?" Zoro asked, sitting down opposite to her.
"Yeah. I feel weak though." Timi replied, looking at the floor.
"No surprise. Your body is struggling to keep up with the speed at which it is changing. Hey pervy cook, do me some eggs."
"What d'you say, moss head?!" Sanji shouted back, his hair bushed up similar to how a cat bushes up when it's threatened or scared.
"I could go for some cola, bro." came a super voice from the door as Franky walked in. Seeing Sanji and Zoro letting off the flames of anger, he was about to make his way to the fridge to grab a few bottles of cola but stopped when Timi got up from her chair, slowly but surely approaching the fridge. Pulling out 3 of his cola bottles, she tossed them in his direction. Catching them in surprise, he came up to Timi. "Hey, you ok? You don't look so super at the moment."
"Yeah. I'm gonna go train. Seeya later." Timi replied, leaving the kitchen. As everyone watched as she left, Zoro broke the silence.
"Do either of you guys find her a bit odd?"
"Well she is unique, I'll give her that much." Franky replied, stating his own mind.
"She's so cute. I just can't stop thinking about her! She's one amazing girl!" Sanji said, making his spaghetti dance, hearts flying wildly around him as he secretly fantasised about her.
The majority of the crew, excluding Usopp and Robin, watched as he fantasised to himself. Timi did not smile or laugh as she listened from outside the door. She left and continued her training for the reminder of the day. When the sun was setting, Zoro went to find her, noticing her absence when Sanji called the crew into the kitchen for dinner. After calling her name several times, he finally found her in the training room, fast asleep on the sofa that lined the room. Going back down the ladder, he returned moments later, carefully covering her in a blanket. Once again leaving her to sleep, he returned to the kitchen.
"Wait, where's Timi? I wanted so much to see her panties. Yohohoho!" Brook said in unhappy perversion.
"She'd never agree to something so vulgar!" Nami shouted, taking off a shoe and throwing it at Brook.
"Argh! Nami-san! I think you may have grazed my face. Oh! Not that I have a face anymore. Yohohoho! Skull Joke!" Brook replied in jest.
"Losing our newest member could prove to be a considerable setback. I hope she doesn't die from your training, Zoro." Robin spoke out, always the one to think of the worst case scenario. A sweat drop formed on Zoro's head as he knew such a thing was normally impossible but worried since Robin always jumped to the most unlikely conclusions to bad situations.
"Y-yeah." he replied hesitantly, digging into the buffet of foods Sanji had lain across the table, along with the black hole of his captain that ate everything in sight.
(Sleeping the night away, the sun rises on a new day)
As morning came around, Timi awoke with a large headache. Getting up slowly, folding the blanket that had appeared mysteriously overnight, she heard someone climb the training room ladder. A small fuzzy head with a pink hat and antlers showed itself through the ladder hole.
"Ch-chopper? How long was I asleep? Timi said, vaguely remembering to rub the sleep from her eyes, stretching and yawning out of her sleepy mood.
"You managed to sleep through both last night's dinner and breakfast this morning. We were all worried about you when Zoro told us that he found you fast asleep in the training room." He replied, his voice high pitched and yet cute at the same time, unlike young children which she remembered she despised with a hateful vengeance.
So that's who put the blanket over me.
"Any signs of a new island yet?" Timi asked, turning her body around slowly to look out of the window, seeing Usopp in the crow's nest and Luffy on the Sunny's figurehead.
His favourite spot.
"Not yet. Are you sure you should be moving around?" Chopper asked, sounding like a doctor caring for one of his more insistent patients.
"I'll be fine Chopper. I slept like a log. I need some food though, I am starving." Timi replied, following him down the ladder. Returning to her bed, she changed clothes. Now in a ripped design pair of black jeggings and a red sleeved, black torso tee, she proceeded to find the pervy cook aboard the Sunny. Once again finding him giving late morning drinks to Nami and Robin, she decided to surprise him, laying a hand on his shoulder. She soon regretted her actions as he broke out in a nosebleed which then proceeded to send him flying overboard.
"I'm not fishing you out, curly-cook! Just thought you ought to know." Timi shouted as Sanji floated on the surface of the sea, the blood streaming in rivers out of his nose. Her attention was focused to Usopp as he yelled from the crow's nest.
"Hey! Guys! There's something falling towards the sea. I can't make it out fully but from here it looks like a skeleton." He shouted down to the deck, squinting through the long slender spyglass as he concentrated the lense.
"Wait. Let me see, Usopp-san." Brook shouted up. He leapt up into the crow's nest in one jump, landing with ease on its edge. Taking the spyglass from Usopp and looking in the direction that he pointed, his jaw dropped a little in surprise at what he saw.
"Well I'll be damned. Yohohoho! Let's not just stand around here like idiots now." Brook said randomly and to no one in particular. He jumped overboard, skimming across the surface of the ocean like a lizard. Approximating the point of impact of the falling, plated skeleton with the ocean, he began to run in circles with his arms outstretched. His efforts were for nought as he missed by mere inches. The plated skeleton hit the ocean, immediately sinking like an anchor.
"Oh dear, it seems I missed. Yohohoho! Oh, I stopped running..." was all Brook said as his idiotic actions led to his own sinking feeling. He proceeded to half drown but was soon rescued by a muscle-bound hand that could only be Zoro's. Being thrown onto the main deck face down, he spat out a mouth full of grass. "That was uncalled for Zoro. I'm the oldest one aboard. At least have some respect for your elders."
"Oh sorry...grandpa." Zoro replied nonchalantly.
"Who are you calling grandpa?!" Was all Brook managed to say before being kicked in the face by Sanji.
"Stop making such a racket ya bag o' bones. You're being too noisy when Robin-schwan is trying to read." He said, the intense love evident by his love-swamped kitty face.
"Ah, my poor bones. They feel like they've had the skin torn clean off them from this beating. Ah! Not that I have any flesh...Yohohoho!" Brook laughed. shaking off the beating, drowning and face grounding he had just received .
"Want me to throw you back overboard, grandpa?" Zoro asked, still cool about the whole thing as he wrung out his wet top.
"How nasty." was all Brook was able to say before being chucked overboard. Luckily, he was caught by Luffy before he found out what it was like to be a breadstick. Smacking his head on the side of the ship as Luffy pulled him in, Nami and Robin came to see what had been pulled from the water. Taking one look, Nami jumped back in terror.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" she screamed "Throw that thing overboard! Don't you know it's disrespectful to disturb the dead!"
Hearing the commotion, Chopper came racing down the stairs, having almost exactly the same reaction as Nami did.
"Aaaaaaaaaah! Skeleton!"Chopper yelled, only he wasn't scared of the skeleton that now lay unconscious on the grass as he just screamed at Brook's seaweed covered sodden form.
"Eeeeeeeeeh!" Brook was spooked by Chopper's sudden reaction. They stood there screaming at each other for a good few minutes until they both finally ran out of breath, both collapsing onto the deck as they gasped for air. Robin kneeled down, taking a sharp breath as her hand felt long silent breaths coming from the plated skeleton.
"It's...breathing. This thing, whatever it is, is alive." Robin said, removing her hand from above the bony mouth.
"Well now, I wouldn't go that far." The plated skeleton replied, floating up into a standing position.
Everyone leapt back in shock with the exception of Zoro and Robin, with Chopper and Usopp jumping overboard. As they floated away from the ship, a few barely legible words escaped their mouths.
"N-n-n-not another one."
Note to readers:
Hey guys! It's been a while since my last upload so I think I should offer you my reason for not uploading. My laptop recently went through some technical difficulties which eventually resulted in the loss of my hard drive. I replaced it, so it's all good. But anyways, I had fun thinking about what to wright next and I hope you got the subtle puns I put in this chapter. I had a good laugh when I wrote those. I guess I'll be back with more next time. Peace out!