Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece
...
Nami couldn't help the mixed bag of feelings that were going through her system at that moment. First and foremost being that the thirty million beli pirate didn't so happen to be a thirty million beli pirate after all. Sixteen million was still nothing to scoff at but whoever had given Zoro his intel had been off the mark. She couldn't really blame them though. It was difficult trying to recollect the bounties of pirates that were currently active, let alone pirates who had long thought to have been captured.
The positive take out of all this however was that Kaya, the lady of the manor, had offered them the use of a caravel blessed with the name, Going Merry. Nami had immediately fallen in love with the vessel which had brought a smile to both Merry and Kaya. She had scampered onboard to inspect each nook and cranny of the ship before they set sail to their next destination.
Of which they kind of needed Luffy to be there to tell them where to go. Said Marine however had been conversing with the other soldiers last she heard before watching them set sail. It kind of brought a smile to her face with the knowledge of what they had done. Had they not been here then it was a great possibility that the island would have been ransacked and the people slain as everything was taken from them.
That in itself, was only possible because the Warrant Officer was granted more freedom than any other Marine imaginable. He had given his explanation but there were definitely things that he had omitted in his explanation. Considering how casually he had regarded his stay in Impel Down, she doubted that it would be difficult to request more information out of him. Chances were that he would open up to them and tell them whatever it was that they wished to know. It kind of then begged the question, what exactly did they want to know regarding his past and if they started opening up, would she let slip about her own past?
"Wow!" exclaimed Luffy, the Marine showing himself at the top of the nearby hill.
"She is my pride and joy," stated Merry as Luffy practically sprinted down to be on equal footing, clasping onto the back of his head as he stared at the ship before him in awe.
"If she is as precious to you as you say, then are you really fine with letting us have it?" asked Luffy, turning to face the butler.
"Here she delivers a glorious cruise around the island but little more," admitted Merry. "With you however I feel that she will do great things with you and your crew and that is all I could want for her."
"Regarding us and our crew," said Zoro, interjecting himself into the conversation. "Any word whether Usopp will be joining us?"
"I believe Miss Kaya is doing her utmost to get him to voyage with you," proclaimed Merry. "As much as she adores having him around, she knows that remaining here will only hurt him in the long run. It's not fair for the lad to remain here for the rest of his life without knowing just what it is that is out there."
"Reckon she'll convince him?" asked Nami, leaning over the railing of the Going Merry.
"Miss Kaya is an outstanding young woman and she will convince him that this is the best course of action," said Merry, smiling broadly. "I believe her line of thought will be to tell him that if he goes on wondrous adventures he will look forward to what he will tell her when next they meet."
"Well then, we'll be sure to take him on many awesome adventures then," said Luffy, smiling from ear to ear.
"I would like that very much."
...
"This is amazing!" proclaimed Usopp as he leant over the railing, the wind crashing against his face as they sailed across the ocean.
"Glad you're enjoying yourself," said Luffy, clapping Usopp on the back as Nami merely sighed as she steered the boat. Zoro meanwhile had taken the opportunity to have a snooze on the deck.
"On a more pressing issue, do you have any idea where we are sailing to?" asked Nami. "Or is your plan to just literally sail around until we find trouble?"
"Let's go with that one," declared Luffy.
"Well, before all that however we need to figure out how we're going to survive from here on out," said Nami as she stepped away from the wheel temporarily. "Do you know how to cook Usopp?"
"Well, I should let you know..."
"No lies regarding our health and wellbeing," stated Nami sharply.
"I can cook enough to get by," concluded Usopp.
"So you're probably on the same level as the rest of us then," said Nami. "So then our first order of business needs to find a chef to join our crew. As much as we may be able to do enough to 'get by,' we will need variety and somebody to actually manage dietary proportions and such."
"Alright then," said Luffy. "Our next order of business is to find ourselves a chef! Then some manner of entertainment!"
"Entertainment?" repeated Usopp.
"Think about it," said Luffy gesturing to the rest of the ship. "Cleaning the deck along with all the other chores is going to take an hour per day, if that. Provided everyone pulls their weight of course."
Both Nami and Ussop nodded in unison. They had just gotten their hands on the Going Merry, they weren't going to let it become filthy within the first week of sailing.
"So, that's a lot of time where, while one person is manning the wheel, multiple crew members are going to be idling about," continued Luffy. "As you may have guessed from our little practice session back near Syrup Village, we will be using some time to train and become stronger. We need to be prepped and ready to repel any assault that is sent our way. That, again, will only take so much time each day. If you keep pushing yourself and burn out, I will show no sympathy."
"So between cleaning and training, you believe we need to keep entertained," concluded Nami. "You feel that in doing so you keep morale up and prevent us from getting agitated at one another."
"I'm not going to pretend that everyone will get along," said Luffy. "I mean it would be great if we do but if there's some sort of issue between crewmates I feel it is better to air it out before it stews into something more troublesome. Laughter is a good medicine."
"Umm, the saying is 'Laughter is the best Medicine," commented Usopp.
"As much as I'd like to think so, laughter can't cure many ailments out on the sea. Which reminds me, we should get ourselves a doctor as well," announced Luffy as if he was having a light bulb moment.
"That should be a higher priority!" shouted Nami, smacking Luffy across the side of the head. "If you think for a moment you're going to reprimand me for striking you you've got another thing coming."
"Don't worry," said Luffy, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I'll expect you guys to help keep me in line, just like how you'll trust me to keep you in line if need be."
Usopp smiled at that. He wished that his father was on a pirate ship with the same sort of mentality. It may have been a different path he was taking, but one day he truly wished to see him on the open seas.
...
"..."
"Nami, swing us towards that outcrop," ordered Luffy, pointing towards the rock breaching the surface of the ocean.
"Why?" asked Nami, uncertain why they needed to change their course.
"I heard a cry for help," explained Luffy.
"A cry for help?" repeated Usopp. "But I didn't hear anything."
"Is this one of those, you've achieved a ridiculous level of technique that we can't access?" asked Nami.
"Well if you guys can't hear that, then maybe?" said Luffy, uncertain as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright then," said Nami, turning the ship with a slight adjustment to the wheel.
"Wait," said Usopp, looking from Luffy to Nami. "You told us before that you would trust us to keep you in line. You sending us off on different paths because of voices you heard in your head feels like one of those things that we should be telling you not to do."
"I don't know, it's just that I feel someone needs our help," said Luffy.
"Follow the order," declared Zoro, the swordsman standing on the side of the ship with his eyes focused on the outcrop. Considering what he had seen from his commanding officer thus far, he had no reason to believe that what he was 'hearing' was not the truth. "If it turns into a bust, it just means that Luffy needs training more than we do."
"Trust me, I'm aware that I need to get stronger," said Luffy as they approached their destination. "My level at the moment is..."
Luffy allowed his voice to waver out and was thankful that none of his crewmates questioned him on that. Breaking the silence, Usopp cupped his hands across his lips and shouted out. "Oi! Is anyone there?"
Several seconds awkwardly went by. Usopp stood there, lowering his hands in defeat.
"Help!"
"What do you know, he was right," said Zoro, sending a cheeky smirk towards the marksman.
...
Johnny and Yosaku; head towards the Baratie 2 to 3 day travel.
"Now that you have healed me, allow me to introduce ourselves," declared Yosaku boldly, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Scurvy does not heal that immediately," shouted Nami, gripping him by the ear, much to his agony. "What you're going to do is go downstairs and get some rest and you will stay there or I will tie you to the bed myself!"
Johnny could do nothing as he watched his compatriot get dragged away by the very one who had saved his life. Let it be known that while Johnny may not have known what scurvy was or how his fellow bounty hunter had contracted it, he did know better than to cross an angry woman.
His mother taught him well after all.
"As Yosaku is, wisely, taking the advice given to him," said Johnny, trying to get some manner of momentum back, "I feel it is up to me now to introduce the two of us."
"They're a couple of bounty hunters," said Zoro, stealing Johnny's thunder.
"Oooh," said Usopp with a hint of surprise. "The two of you take down any big names?"
"While at one stage we boasted the same strength as big brother Zoro, we...ummm...unfortunately...have kind of...you know..."
The way Johnny trailed off made it obvious to all those listening that the bounty hunter may very well have only been a professional in name only. "So who are you targeting next?" asked Luffy, trying to uplift Johnny's spirits.
"Well, thankfully there's no shortage of pirates in East Blue," said Johnny as he pulled out a bunch of wanted posters from his back pocket. "We figure that we should be able to take down one of these guys."
"No kidding," said Usopp as he took one of the posters. "It's hard to take this guy seriously as a pirate. I mean what kind of pirate has the nickname, 'The Clown?'"
"You mean Buggy?" asked Luffy.
"Yeah, how did you know?" asked Usopp in return.
"We've already encountered him terrorizing a town," stated Zoro.
"You caught Buggy the Clown!" exclaimed Johnny in shock.
"...we saved the town," said Zoro after several seconds of pause. Thankfully, both Usopp and Johnny took that at face value and didn't follow up on the topic.
"Huh, this is interesting," said Luffy, taking one of the posters.
"Him?" said Johnny. "What's so interesting about him, outside of the obvious of course."
"Well, as far as I know, Fishman Island is directly below the Red Line on the complete other side of the Grand Line. I just find it odd that Fishman have located themselves so far from their home," stated Luffy.
"What are you guys looking at?" asked Nami, resurfacing after having forced Yosaku into bed.
"Couple of bounty posters," said Luffy, flashing the poster he was holding at Nami.
It was a split second after Nami had witnessed what was in Luffy's hand that their eyes met, his gaze focused before relaxing into normality. Part of her fully believed that she had just imagined the look that he had sent her way. If anything she truly hoped that she did imagine it.
"Whatever," she said, waving her hand back and forth. "Johnny, you seem to know your way around here somewhat. Any idea where we might find ourselves a chef to help us on our journey?"
"You looking for a chef? Well then, you might struggle to get anybody off of it but you can't look past the Baratie!"
...
It had been a two day sail to reach their destination. Two days which included an hour of rigorous training in each. Nami, Usopp and Johnny were somewhat miffed with Yosaku and annoyed that he had successfully avoided joining them in their suffering. Understandably though, he was still recovering but that didn't mean that they couldn't still hate him for it.
"There she is!" proclaimed Johnny boldly, pointing off into the distance.
"Looks like we're not the only Marines heading there," stated Zoro, looking out towards the horizon.
"That's...odd," said Luffy.
"What makes you say that?" asked Nami.
"A full Marine vessel of that calibre would have no fewer than fifteen chefs on board," explained Luffy. "They restock at almost every island they visit so I wouldn't see why they'd need reason to actually go to a floating restaurant."
"Could they be using it as a meeting place?" suggested Usopp. "Meeting up with an informant or something like that."
"Maybe," said Luffy, scratching at his chin. "It doesn't seem likely though."
"Why are you worrying about this?" asked Johnny.
"It just seems...off," proclaimed Luffy before turning his gaze onto Nami.
"What are you thinking?" asked Nami, looking him in the eyes.
"Well, I'm thinking that I need someone to join me for lunch, preferably at a table close enough to listen in to whatever conversation is going on," said Luffy.
Nami nodded in understanding, figuring out where Luffy's train of thought was going. The Warrant Officer didn't believe that whoever was leading that ship was meeting up with someone for a casual chat or to gain some manner of information. They were here to do something far shadier. Had she not survived on an island where a Marine vessel didn't regularly accept bribes she wouldn't have even thought of that as an option. Her experience however made her more than a little skeptical when Luffy had put it the way he had.
She only wished she had fancier attire to wear.
...
"Well, this is highly disappointing," said Nami, leaning her chin on her palm, elbow planted against the table.
"I have to agree with you there," said Luffy.
"I mean, who takes a naval vessel to whatever island to pick up a girl to take on a date," complained Nami. "It's not even that romantic."
"I'd have to look into the rulebook to see if that's even allowed," said Luffy.
"Report him for wasting time and resources on personal activities," suggested Nami.
"Possibly, I was more thinking of knowingly endangering the lives of a civilian," said Luffy. "I mean if they saw a pirate ship, do they actively just not chase them because she might get hurt?"
"You do have a point there," said Nami. "Well, if we've lost all interest in your Marine friend over there, I guess we'll have to think of some other topic of conversation to entertain ourselves with."
"Alright then, I've got a question for you," said Luffy, leaning in slightly.
"Oh, and what would that be?" asked Nami coyly, wondering what the Warrant Officer was going to ask of her.
"Why are you afraid of Arlong?"
Understandably, Nami's face fell.
...
Hope you enjoyed.