Alright, time to tell you the game plan for this upcoming saga.
The only filler arc I'm going to do before we get into Jaya is the Rainbow Mist arc, not Zenny. I'm sorry but I watched it through and honestly, there was nothing for Pika-chan to benefit from in that arc as a character or a fighter. That's how it's gonna be for this story. If the arc is super short AND doesn't impact Pika-chan at all, I'm skipping it.
HOWEVER, this is exactly what 'Perks of the Smallest' is for. If I skip a filler arc in the main story and you REALLY want to see it, that's most likely where it will end up. So just let me know if you want to see it and look for it in that story!
Also, Jaya is going to have some BIG transition changes in order to fit Movies 4 and 5 into the main story timeline, but I'll warn you about that when we get to it. Anyway, it's time for the debut of the newest Straw Hat Pirate! Enter: Nico Robin!
I hate Marines. Have I mentioned that before? I hate them with a burning passion! Granted, I'm sure all pirates hate them, and Sword Girl and Smoky are kind of in the grey area when it comes to my hatred, but that doesn't change the fact that they're annoying as hell!
About a day after leaving Crown Island, the Marines caught up to us, and to make it worse, they were firing those annoying harpoons at us again! While I'm glad that they aren't surrounding us like they did in Alabasta, that doesn't change the fact that these things are hard as hell to dodge!
At least, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and I can deflect them with relative ease...when the former three aren't tripping over the harpoons we're collecting for some reason.
"Usopp said we should hold onto them just in case." Nami says.
"But they're in our way!" Sanji protests.
"I'll get rid of them." Luffy says simply. One Gum Gum Slingshot later, and the Marine ships are smoking and sinking, full of their own harpoons. That was easy.
"Now's our chance!" Zoro says. "Full speed ahead! Shake them off!" Since the wind's not at our backs at the moment, the boys break out the oars while Usopp works fixing any damage the harpoons may have caused. Luckily after a while, the wind picks up again and soon the Marine ships are out of sight.
I jump onto Zoro's shoulder as we look to make sure they're really gone. "Looks like we lost them." He says.
"Pika." I agree. The others respond with soft groans.
"That's good news!" Zoro says irritably. More groans. What the heck?
Zoro and I look at our friends to see that they're all on the ground, their arms hanging from the railing, their faces droopy and depressed. "What's with the pathetic groans?" Zoro asks.
"Pika?" I ask, tilting my head.
The group all looks to the side, tears forming in their eyes. "I miss her!" They all whine.
Man, not this again! It's been almost three days since we left Alabasta and they're still having these episodes about her... I can't help but smile in sympathy, I can understand why they're upset; that girl was one in a million. "Pika pi." I say, waving my paw. 'C'mon, I miss her too, but Vivi wouldn't want you to be sad!'
"If you wanted her to join so bad you shouldn't have let her leave." Zoro remarks making me look at him in shock. Dude, that's cold!
"You savage!" Chopper exclaims.
"Blockhead!" Nami yells.
"Idiot." Sanji mutters.
"Three Sword Style." Luffy mumbles.
"That's not an insult Luffy!" Usopp says.
"...Four Sword Style?" Luffy tries.
"No! An effective insult involves some personal detail about the person who's rude or disparaging!" Usopp exclaims. Zoro turns away but my ears twitch as the door to storage opens.
"Looks like we finally escaped the firing squad." My ears twitch; I know that voice. I turn around and my eyes widen to see Ms. All Sunday standing in the doorway. I give Zoro a frantic tap making him turn around and the situation finally makes itself known.
The rest of the group bang their heads on the railing from the shock and I leap off Zoro's shoulder, sparks flying from my cheeks. Zoro puts his hands on his swords while everyone else goes crazy. Nami, Usopp and Luffy eventually join Zoro and I on the ground while Sanji and Chopper watch from the stairs, Sanji with his heart eyes on. I'll deal with him later, we have bigger problems right now!
We watch All Sunday as she starts to move across the deck. Arms suddenly appear and knock Nami and Zoro's weapons away and I gasp as I'm lifted into the air. I'm passed through the air by hands until I end up in All Sunday's grasp in a sick sense of Deja Vu.
"Didn't I tell you?" All Sunday says. "Don't point such dangerous objects at me." She strokes my head and I tense up. Her whole aura is still super mysterious and it's freaking me out! I can't believe she's holding me hostage again! Luckily, it breaks Sanji out of his love eyes, so there's that.
"How long have you been on our ship?" Nami demands. "Quite a while." All Sunday answers. "And these are your clothes right? I'm borrowing them." Wow, she's blunt.
"Just who the hell do you think you are, lady?!" Nami demands. Has she was on the ship ever since we left Alabasta? Even through that whole Crown Island fiasco? How do we never notice when people sneak on our ship?! She's been here for three days and no one suspected anything?! Seriously, how?!
All Sunday holds me in one arm while she gets a deck chair and moves to an open spot on the deck. "Monkey D. Luffy." she says, looking at him while she walks. "It hasn't been so long that you've forgotten what you did to me, has it?"
I look up at her in confusion, knowing she must be talking about the temple; what are you talking about lady, he saved you!
"Luffy! What the hell did you do to her?!" Sanji demands, shaking Luffy by the front of his vest.
"Stop lying, I didn't do anything to you!" Luffy protests, ignoring Sanji's assault.
All Sunday sets up the chair with some more extra arms and sits in it, leaning back and still holding me. "Wrong." she says, "And what you did was unbearable; admit it." Okay, this is really getting weird; did Luffy do something I didn't see? I was the last one to leave the temple after all.
"You're not making any sense." Luffy says. "What do you want me to do?"
All Sunday smiles and gives another gentle stroke, "I want...to join you." Well, this just got complicated.
"WHAAAAT?!"
"Back at the temple, I wanted nothing more than to die at that very moment." All Sunday explains. "But you forced me to live. That's your crime." You're saying that like it's a bad thing… I wince as she scratches me behind the ears, "There's no place for me to go or return to, so I decided to join you."
"I see." Luffy nods. "Then I guess there's no other choice; welcome aboard."
"LUFFY!" Nami, Zoro and Usopp yell indignantly. Well, that was fast.
Luffy just grins, "There's nothing to worry about, she isn't a bad person; trust me."
I grimace and look up at All Sunday only for her to give me serene smile. This is going to be one of those days…
A few moments later, Usopp has a table set up for an interview. I still sit in Robin's lap, her hands gently stroking me while she creates extra hands to entertain Luffy and Chopper.
I'll admit, this isn't as bad as last time on Whiskey Peak since she isn't holding me hostage, but her demeanor is still a mystery. I can't get a read on her at all, and it's not because I don't have a bond of trust with her. Even with strangers I can at least pick up little tidbits of basic emotion, but for her, I've got nothing!
"Alright, I want some straight-up honest answers!" Usopp says. "First; what's your name." He then pauses and bows his head. "My name's Usopp." Of course, manners come first.
"Nico Robin." All Sunday answers. So that's her name; Robin.
"So, what's your occupation, Nico Robin?" Usopp asks.
"Archeology." Robin answers. My ears perk up; that's certainly something I didn't expect. "Archeology runs in my blood; I come from a long line of them." Well, that's certainly a job we could make use of. If we come across any treasure maps, maybe she could keep us from having jump through flaming hoops in space.
Usopp scribbles stuff down on a notepad, "Go on." He urges.
"I decided to pursue archeology when I was eight years old." Robin continues. "Shortly after, I found myself wanted by the World Government, and I've spent the last twenty years hiding from the world." My eyes widen; seriously? The Marines deemed her a threat when she was freaking eight?! "I decided to travel on the sea, but there's no easy way for a child to survive alone on the water; I managed to survive and work towards my goal by working for various rogues, and here we are."
Wow, I'm definitely itching for details on what her life was like! Surviving on the ocean by working for criminals for twenty years? That's insane!
"And I'm guessing you incorporated Crocodile into your gallery of rogues." Usopp states.
"Of course." Robin answers stroking my back. "I used him to find the Rio Poneglyph." Rio Pona-who? "I'm good at getting past obstacles to achieve my goal; I'd be a great asset to you and your friends."
Usopp frowns, "You're very confident; what's your specialty?"
Robin gives another scratch and smiles, "Killing." Wow, did I just feel a chill?
"Luffy! My investigation has concluded that she is way too dangerous!" Usopp cries. Unfortunately, Luffy and Chopper are on the ground, having the time of their lives with Robin's hands tickling them and playing with them. I have a feeling they aren't going to be persuaded anytime soon.
I flinch as Nami stomps her foot, "I'm disappointed; you two are pathetic." She says, walking down the stairs. "Until recently she was the vice president of a crime syndicate and you really think she should join us?" Nami smiles but Robin doesn't seem at all bothered. "You may have fooled these idiots, but I'm not convinced." Nami continues. "You pull anything and I'll personally kick you out!"
Wow, I forgot how much of a backbone Nami can have in situations like these.
"I'll keep that in mind." Robin says before reaching into her pocket. "Oh, and I just remembered…" She takes out a bag and places it on the table with a decent jingle. Oh dear… "I brought along some of Crocodile's jewelry with me."
A split second later, Nami is right next to her, money practically shining in her eyes. "Wow, I love you sister, you're the best!" She squeals.
I sigh and my ears droop; that's three down. Actually, scratch that, make it four; my Sanji alarm is going off.
Sanji twirls around carrying a slice of cake and a cup of tea spouting some cheesy poetry before presenting the food to Robin. Robin calmly thanks him, which I must admit, is pretty new. But that doesn't mean that he's not going to get a shock for it if this keeps up. We're way behind on his therapy!
Usopp is the next to fall victim to Robin's charm as he gets into how her much fun her extra hands are to play with. Man, she's got us all down pat! Zoro sighs and moves to the back of the ship. Robin stands up, placing me gently on the table near Sanji who's still got his heart eyes on before she follows Zoro.
"She's amazing and with an adult charm!" Sanji swoons. "Much different than Nami!"
And our therapy resumes now. My tail touches Sanji and I give him a shock.
I need some quiet time; this day has been one disaster after another! I trot to the front of the ship and leap onto Merry's head, lying down and soaking up the sun.
"That band...that belonged to Decimal, did it not?"
I shoot up at Robin's voice and turn to see her standing behind me, staring at the band wrapped around my tail. I forgot I still had it on; I'm already that used to the feeling. I give her a wary look and nod; I only wish I could tell her that his name wasn't Decimal.
"Decimal was a very loyal companion," Robin says. "I saw how you worked together to fight Crocodile." My eyes widen; so she did see. Robin glances at the band, "I'm sure if he was still with us, he would've joined you on your quest as well; I could tell how much he trusted you."
I lower my gaze as a lump starts to form in my throat; I know that's true without a doubt. Luffy would probably accept him just as easily as Robin, though I'm sure Sanji would need some special convincing if that were the case.
A sad smile comes to my face and Robin gives me a soft pat, "Know that you aren't the only one who will truly miss him," she says, giving me a sincere smile. "He may have been Crocodile's most trusted, but I still considered him a good friend." I stare at Robin; I never expected her to be so profound, especially when it came to Sandy.
"I know you'll put that band to good use." Robin says, starting to walk away. "I can already tell that his spirit resides in you."
I watch Robin go, unconsciously touching my band. Sandy's spirit resides in me...yeah, that sounds about right. Even now...I can almost feel him next to me. I watch as Robin sits back in her chair on deck and stares out at the sea, a small smile pulling at my face.
Maybe having her onboard won't be so bad.
The next day, we stop at another island, this one thankfully uninhabited. It looks like a giant pineapple, and as to be expected, it's full of pineapples. I'm already looking forward to dinner; I wonder what kind of food Sanji can make with pineapples?
Chopper and I are left in charge of the ship while the others go off to either collect pineapples or help Nami measure the island so she can add it to her map. It's the first time I've really seen Nami giddy about something that isn't related to money. I kinda reminds me of when Sanji talks about the All Blue.
I'm not expecting anything dangerous to come along and neither is Chopper so he's not too worried about being left here. "Hey, I'm gonna make some more Rumble Balls, okay?" Chopper says, heading inside.
My ears twitch and I follow; I forgot that Chopper is the one invented those things. He looks at me when he notices me following and I point to myself, "Pikachu?"
"You want to help?" Chopper asks, understanding the simple question. I nod and Chopper smiles, "Okay, c'mon!"
We go inside and Chopper gathers all the necessary ingredients. I watch intently as he carefully measures out the right herbs and medicine to ground up before forming them into those familiar Rumble Balls.
"This takes me back…" Chopper says wistfully. He then tells me how he created the Rumble Ball purely by accident. He was playing around with Doctorine's medicines and ended up putting a whole bunch together when he got caught. That sounds like something Chopper would do. "I got a good scolding from Doctorine that day." He says. "I wonder how she's doing? Maybe I should write her a letter."
"Pika!" I agree with a nod. I think she would really like that.
Just then, Chopper's nose twitches as well as mine as the scent of coffee fills the air. We turn around to see a familiar figure sitting patiently near the back of the room. Looks like we both forgot about one tiny detail: Robin is on the ship too.
Seriously, she's so quiet and reserved it's actually hard to remember that she's technically a part of our crew now. But then again, her being here is like a breath of fresh air. She's not a crazy or cowardly lunatic like Luffy, Usopp or Chopper, or a hothead with weird quirks like Nami or Sanji. She's the most calm and serene person I've ever seen; it's like she doesn't have a care in the world.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that she's been a wanted criminal since she was a kid. Having a life like that would probably desensitize you to a lot. She may not be big on the trust meter with most of us right now, especially with Chopper and Zoro, but I don't think we have anything to fear.
If she wanted to kill us she would've done it already, and she made it clear that she owed Luffy for saving her back in Alabasta. And, well...she was Sandy's friend. That's reason enough for me to at least give her a chance.
Anyway, Chopper accidently spills all the water we have in a frightened stupor due to Robin's mysterious aura. I know how it feels to not trust people but I feel like this is overdoing it; she was just making coffee after all. And so, the three of us end up walking on the island to restock the water. As we walk, Robin is silent for a good while until-
"What a nice day."
Chopper jumps and nearly topples over; geez, someone's on edge. "You scared me to death!" Chopper accuses. "What's wrong?!"
"Nothing. Just commenting on the beautiful day." Robin answers, not at all fazed by the outburst. I'm starting to think nothing can scare this person. "I've been wanting to take a walk like this for a long time; it's been awhile since I've felt peace like this." Robin continues as we walk on. "In the past it seemed like I was always too wound up from repressing my emotions; I never really had a chance to smile."
Well, I guess having to work for criminals to survive would require you to hide your true feelings. We reach the top of a hill where a giant pond is sitting, sparkling in the sunlight. I jump onto Robin's shoulder to get a better view and she smiles at me. I return the smile and continue looking at the sight; it really is beautiful, especially combined with the weather. This would be the perfect day to go for a swim!
Chopper starts gathering the water and Robin sits on the shore, admiring the flowers. Now that I think about it, Robin kind of reminds me of a flower; elegant, standing tall, and always going with the flow no matter what.
I offer to help Chopper with the water, but he says he can do it. He looks at Robin, "Um, didn't you say that you've been alone since you were eight?" He asks.
"That's right." Robin says, smelling a flower. "I spent most of my youth following pirates and I barely survived." It's like dying is no big deal to her; yeah, she's gonna fit in with the others just fine.
"Alright, your turn." Robin says, looking at Chopper. "Tell me about this Doctorine person you were talking about earlier. Is she your mentor?"
Chopper slowly smiles at the memory of her, "Yeah, sort of; I owe a great debt to her." Chopper goes on to tell us a little about what it was like learning under Doctorine. Apparently it was no cake-walk, as Chopper had to memorize tons of medical books and journals; knowing Doctorine, I'm not surprised that it was rough.
However, the real test came when Chopper had to treat his very first patient, which was Doctorine herself. It was after that that Chopper realized how important and risky the life of a doctor is. The injured and sick place their trust and lives in their doctor's hands (or hooves) and the doctor must do whatever they can to help their patient.
That explains why Chopper is so protective of whoever he's treating, like when Sanji and I were attacked by Wapol and his men.
"No one attacks my patients while they're recovering!"
I smile at the memory; all the humans I hang around really are amazing. Yeah, I know Chopper's a reindeer, but like I said to him back then, I consider him human too, way more human than me. I'm the only non-human in the crew; I accepted that a long time ago.
Once the story is done and the water is gathered we all head back to the ship. The others all make it back around sunset, but only Zoro succeeded in getting any pineapples. Never thought I'd see the day where Zoro did the best job on his chores. Luffy, I expected to screw up, but Usopp? I expected at least something.
Everyone talks and laughs as we eat when my attention is drawn to Robin. She hasn't said a word since the others got back and she's been sitting and reading for hours. I finish my pineapple and slip away from the others before making my way over to Robin. I slowly approach her so I don't accidentally disturb her.
Once I arrive she looks down at me, "Hello." She greets. "Do you need something?" I shyly point to her book and she understands. "Do you want to know what I'm reading?" She asks. I nod and she smiles. "It's about an anomaly known as the Rainbow Mist." She says, showing the cover a bit more clearly. "It's a rare mist that ships have been disappearing into for hundreds of years, and no one seems to know what's inside or why ships don't return from it."
My ears perk up in interest. That sounds really cool. I leap up onto the arm of Robin's chair and glance at the page she's on. On the page is a drawing of a big cloud of rainbow mist, hovering over the ocean.
I smile at the picture and Robin looks at me, "Would you like to join me?" She asks. I look up at her and nod. I move into her lap and Robin points to where she was reading on the page.
We both read the page, almost in synch since we rarely have to wait for the other to catch up before turning a page. It's really not as boring as it sounds since we don't just read in silence. Occasionally, I'll point out something that sounds confusing or interesting and Robin will either explain it the best she can or give her own opinion, sometimes asking for my own.
As the fire still burns brightly in the background, Robin and I continue reading late into the night. I look up at her as I feel a small spot of warmth from inside; a budding bond of trust.
Yeah, I think having Robin as our new crewmate really won't be that bad.
*announcer voice* And today, the maiden voyage of our brand new vessel, the Robin & Pika-chan Nakamaship, finally begins; who knows what kind of interactions this ship will encounter! XD
