a/n: sorry I haven't written in forever! please go back and re-read from the beginning of the story until now, because I've edited it quite a bit!
Please enjoy and review!
I sighed with annoyance, trying to block out the myriad of voices around me loudly arguing with one another. Nami, Zoro and the three boys had been trying to figure out where Luffy was for the past ten minutes, and their voices had steadily gotten louder. The discussion wasn't getting anywhere, and my patience was basically gone. Everyone continued walking down the path, Nami and Zoro shouting over each other while the three boys had their own discussion.
I let everyone pass me, watching them walk on, and plopped myself on the ground. I closed my eyes and tried to hone in on my captain's energy. A minute passed, and I was unable to fully block out the sound of everyone's voices. Growling, I opened my eyes and snapped out, "Can everyone just shut the hell up?!" Blessed silence washed over the area as the five bickering humans turned around to stare at me.
"If you guys gimme a second, I can find him," I continued, voice down to a normal volume now. "How the hell.." Nami started, scowling at me, but I merely shushed her. Closing my eyes again, I blocked out everyone's presence around me, and concentrated on the multiple energy sources I was feeling.
I was always able to feel energy. It was beyond overwhelming to me at first, especially right after I'd eaten the fruit. I'd become so bombarded with everyone's aura that I'd started screaming, holding my head and crying out like a person possessed. Brother had panicked and knocked me out, not knowing what else to do. I was 10 when I'd discovered and eaten the fruit, so by now, I'd had 6 years of practice. The presence of energy was so natural to me now that it became background noise so to speak.
I concentrated on Luffy's energy, thinking of his personality. Optimistic, energetic, hopeful, sunny, warm….My eyes shot open.
"Got him," I announced and shot up from my sitting position. "He's at the bottom of a cliff. There's a single tree sitting on top of the cliff, and it's overlooking the shore," I offered the information to the boys, hoping they would know the location I was talking about. The three boys stared at me in amazement, then looked at each other, nodding. "We know where that is!" they said at the same time, and I grinned.
The boys led us to a cliff overlooking the shore. It was on the opposite side of the island that we'd docked our ship at. "Our Captain always comes here to think," one of the kids said, scattering around the small cliff's edge. "I don't think that Straw Hat guy is here," one of them said, frowning.
"No, he's here," I said confidently, and kneeled down at the very edge of the cliff, peering down. "Aela, be careful,' Zoro advised, and I waved him off, searching. Sure enough, directly under the cliff was our captain. I gasped when I spotted him, and frantically shouted to the others, "I found him!" They surrounded me and looked down for themselves, all of them gasping as well at the sight. "Luffy!" Zoro shouted, worry filling his voice.
We hurried down the slope that would lead to the shore. Upon seeing his body up close, panic shot through me. Luffy's head was smashed face first into the ground. His body was twisted into the weirdest position, even for a rubber man. His back was on the sand, but his legs were thrown over his head. He resembled an actual pretzel.
"How did this happen?!" Nami's voice was notably upset. Normally I would've teased her for it, but this wasn't the time.
Is he…. I started in my head, but mentally punched myself. This is Luffy. There's no way this is gonna take him out. "Forgot for a second that he was a rubberman…" I said quietly, and Zoro grunted in agreement, shoulders relaxing just a tad. Looks like he had as well.
I walked towards Captain, holding my breath in anticipation. He can't be dead. When I got close enough, I slowly kneeled down towards him, my eyebrows furrowing when I heard something that sounded like…
"Snoring," I breathed out, sitting back on my heels. "He's snoring." The others were understandably confused, until the confirmation of my words appeared in the form of Luffy letting out a very loud snore, making me let out a snort of laughter. "He must've knocked himself unconscious when he fell," I speculated, looking up at Brother and Nami with a grin.
"Lazy ass," Zoro smirked, looking relieved. I turned back to the rubber man to try and wake him. "Captain.." I shook him roughly. Nothing. I puffed my cheeks up for a second in thought, and then a very dangerous thought hit me.
I snatched Luffy's hat off his head, and spoke in a deep, gruff voice. "This is a nice hat here...I could probably sell it…" Suddenly, I had a hand wrapped tightly around my wrist. I winced but then grinned when I noticed Luffy's eyes had shot open.
"Hat?" he spoke, then it registered who was in front of him. "Aela?" "Hey Cap!" I greeted, smiling cheekily. "Welcome back to the land of the living!" "Why'd you…" he started, grabbing the hat when I offered it to him, putting it back on his head. I interrupted, knowing what he was asking. "You weren't waking up, and I had a feeling that would work. Sorry for scaring you."
He nodded in acceptance and stood up, reaching a hand down for me. "What am I doing down here?" he asked, looking around. "Last thing I remember, Usopp and I were up there," he pointed at the edge of the cliff. "And we saw that butler guy with the really weird dude."
"Weird guy?" Nami echoed. "Must be the hypnotist," Zoro confirmed and I nodded. He'd definitely fit the bill. "That explains why Luffy was asleep down here," Nami finished. "You probably fell down, Loof" I filled in.
"Usopp and I overheard this butler and the weird guy talking about their plans to kill the Kaya girl and attack the village," Luffy explained, looking grim. "What?!" I gasped, heart starting to pound. Kaya was in danger?! "Yeah," Luffy nodded towards me. "Apparently they're in a pirate crew together."
"WHAT? They're going to kill Kaya and attack the village?!" the three boys yelled out at the same time I shouted, "Pirate crew?!"
"That's what they said," Straw Hat confirmed, "No doubt about it." "Kaya is in danger…" I trailed off, looking at Nami and Zoro. "That's why Usopp ran off like that." "He's probably gone to warn the village," Nami said, waving her hand. She turned to the kids. "The village is probably preparing to run to safety. You guys should go too."
"Yeah we should go!" they agreed. "Yes, we need to get all of our belongings!" Onion exclaimed. "Our treasures!"
"My books!"
"My piggy bank!"
"My toys!"
They all looked at each other and shared a firm nod, suddenly darting off towards the village.
"Be careful!" I shouted after them, worried. What if they get into trouble? "Shishishishi," Luffy laughed. "Don't worry about them, Aela. They'll be fi- OH NO!" A horrified look appeared on the rubber boy's face. "What?!" Zoro, Nami, and I shouted, alarmed.
"We need to get to the meat shop before they pack up and run away! Quick! Follow the kids!" he screamed. He then shot off like a rocket, leaving the three of us in the dust. "WHAT?!" the three of us shouted, running after him.
We all quickly caught up with the children. The sun was starting to set and we found an orange glowed Usopp standing in the middle of the road. His head was lowered and he looked very lonely. "CAPTAIN USOPP!" the boys cried, and Long Nose's head shot up.
"LUFFY?!" he gasped, taking in the teenager's appearance. "You're alive?!" "Alive?" the jovial boy responded. "Of course!" he chuckled. "I just woke up!"
"He was asleep the whole time!" Onion reported. "Anyways, Captain! We heard everything!" "Let's hurry and tell everyone about the pirates!" "Tell..everyone..?" Usopp whispered, voice going weak. A dark look came over his face then, and my eyebrows creased in concern. "Usopp?" I said softly, slowly walking towards the taller boy. Before I could make it to him though, he threw back his head and let out a loud laugh.
"Hahahahaha, I'm lying as usual!" he said, and I winced at the fake emotion. "That butler pissed me off so I decided to hurt him by claiming he was a pirate." The kids started to laugh along with their captain. "I see. So you put the straw hat guy up to it too!" they concluded.
I sat back on my heels and studied the group in front of me, stuffing my hands in my pockets. They were all laughing with giant smiles on their faces, but the obviously fake laughter was making my stomach hurt. Just then, the laughter from the children died off and they frowned disapprovingly at their captain as they walked past him. "What?" Usopp questioned, looking worried. "What's wrong?"
"I think less of you now," one of the kids answered, and I winced. How hurtful. "Even if that guy is a jerk, I never thought you'd actually go and hurt someone," another added with a shake of his head. "I'm going home."
"Me too…" "Me three." Usopp's face closed off even more, and the tense atmosphere made me take steps back until I was standing between Luffy and Zoro. Usopp watched as his three followers walked off, abandoning him. "Luffy…" he spoke then, forcing another smile on his face. "Just forget what you saw okay?" he requested, looking at my captain. "Just leave this place and pretend nothing has happened. This has nothing to do with you guys."
"Nope," Luffy immediately replied, and Usopp's smile twitched. "What do you mean no? I'm saying that this problem doesn't concern you. We can't get you a ship and there's nothing in this town for you anyways so you might as well go."
"Nope," Straw Hat repeated again, and this time, Usopp's smile wiped off his face. "OY!" he shouted, storming towards us. Zoro made to pivot in front of me, but I'd had enough.
"Stop lying," I scoffed, and he jerked, turning towards me. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and looked at him, anger showing very clearly on my face. "What did you.." he argued. "Stop. Lying," I repeated, and my face turned fierce.
"We know you don't really want us to go, Usopp" I continued, taking a step towards him. "You're lying to protect us and you lied to your crew to protect them. "That's not true," he scoffed, turning in my direction, walking towards me until we were nose to nose...well, we would've been nose to nose, but I was short, so he just towered over me. I looked up at him though challengingly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zoro tense and make as though he were going to move, but a head shake from Luffy stopped him. The swordsman rocked back on his heels, jaw tense.
"You're a shit liar," I spat, and the curly haired boy's fists tightened. He opened his mouth to retort, but before he could say anything, I grabbed his left arm, holding it up for all to see. Usopp's wrist guard had turned red with blood from what I assumed was a gunshot wound. Usopp hissed in pain, glaring down at me even harder. I glared back for a second, but then my look softened. "Tell the truth, Usopp." Let us help you, I finished in my head, and my eyes looked up at the boy pleadingly.
It was completely silent for a few seconds, Usopp's fists tightening even more and beginning to shake. For a second I thought he was going to punch me, but then…
"I...I don't know what to do.." he said in defeat, head hanging low; his body became limp as the aggression dropped out of him. I breathed a sigh of relief, letting his arm drop and taking a step back. "Shishishishi," I heard, and looked over my shoulder. "Lean on us," Luffy answered simply, jumping into the scene, and Usopp stared at Captain. "We're friends, right?" Luffy finished, and I looked back at Usopp.
A slow smile grew on his face, tears built up in his eyes but didn't fall. He nodded sharply, and I gave him a wide smile. "Come on," Luffy said, "Let's go talk on the shore." "Okay…" Usopp agreed, and we began walking.
Nami stood alone for a second, looking at me with a very weird expression on her face. Her face was completely closed off, and I gave her a concerned look. Her eyes spaced out for a second, and then she physically shook her head a little, looking at me one final time before hurrying after Luffy.
"Hey." I turned around at the grunt. My brother was peering at me with approval. "Good job, brat," he said, nudging me gently as he passed me. I stood there staring after him for a second, pride filling me. I shot a giant grin towards his back, trying not to do a little happy dance. I couldn't deny that it felt good to know my brother was proud of me. I looked up to him after all. "C'mon Aela!" he called, and I jumped. "Coming!"
"Who shot you?" I asked immediately as soon as we'd gotten settled by the cliffs. We stood around Usopp as he sat on a rock, staring darkly out at the sea. The sun had completely set, and the moon was slowly beginning to rise in its place. Usopp glanced at the 4 strangers that stood before him. These...pirates...that were willing to hear him out when no one else would.
"Was it Kevin?" I continued, and everyone stopped and looked at me strangely. "Who the hell's Kevin?" Zoro questioned, and I looked at him disappointingly. "The penguin looking dude from before! The butler!" I finished, shaking my head and tutting. "You need to pay more attention, Brother," I shook my finger at him like a disappointed mother. "THAT'S NOT HIS NAME, BRAT!" he shouted, grabbing me in a head lock and grinding his fist into my skull, making me cry out and grab onto his arm.
"Klahadore didn't do this," Usopp's voice broke through brother and I's….conversation, and the two of us stopped fighting. Zoro released me and I stepped away from him, huffing and fixing my hair back into place. "It was Merry, Kaya's other butler. He was trying to protect her from me...They thought I was lying, and when I tried to take Kaya away, they accused me of trying to kidnap her." I winced as a feeling of betrayal and heartache ran through me. Poor Usopp..to have no one believe you…
"I tried to warn everyone," he continued. "I told them exactly what I saw, but none of them believed me. Not even Kaya…" he finished, giving a self deprecating snort. "It's because I'm a liar. I should've known.."
"Okay, but the facts are still the facts…" Nami cut in. The orange haired girl understood why no one believed him. The fact of the matter was that Usopp did lie quite often, and the truth that he wanted people to believe was a hard pill to swallow, even if it came from someone much more honest than the curly haired man. "Pirates are really coming, aren't they?"
"They're coming all right," he confirmed. "But no one will believe me! They all think tomorrow is going to be another peaceful day…" Usopp grit his teeth in anger, rising from his rock. "That's why I'm going to stop the pirates at the beach tomorrow and make sure this stays a lie! I'll meet those pirates and fight them off! Then I'll have a real tall tale to tell! I may be a liar, but this time my tale will come true!"
He held up his wounded arm then, as if taking an oath. "Even if I get shot in the arm, or chased off with brooms, this village is my home and I'm going to protect everyone! I've got to protect my neighbors!" As strong as the boy sounded then, it was obvious he was terrified, for in the next second, his voice started to shake. "There's not much time to plan...but I refuse to let everyone get murdered!"
The crew observed the curly haired teenager in front of them. He had fallen back down to sit on his rock, tears flowing down his cheeks, and his shoulders were shaking as he tried to hold in his sobs. Even after being called a liar, being betrayed by those he loved, being shot by those he trusted….he was willing to sacrifice himself for his village. The four of us looked at each other, and without having to say anything, a decision was made.
"You're a pretty cool guy, Long Nose," I spoke, and his head shot up towards me. "Even if you are a shitty liar," I giggled. "Hey!" he gave a weak protest, but Zoro cut in. "Pushing your henchmen away and going into battle alone," he said approvingly, adjusting the swords at his side.
"Just so you know," Nami cut in sternly, "I call dibs on the pirates' treasure."
"We'll help you out," Luffy grinned, cracking his knuckles and winding up his arms. Usopp stared at them all, dumbfounded. "Wha….You guys...you're willing to fight beside me? Why?"
"Cuz you'll lose by yourself," Luffy said, just as blunt as ever. "You're hopelessly outnumbered." Zoro eyed the sharp shooter, noting his shaking legs and voice. "You also look pretty scared."
Usopp shot up from his seat, outraged at the accusation. "Me? Scared?! HA! Th-that's a lau-laugh! I'm perfectly okay with bad guys, outnumbered or not! I'll be completely fi-fine! I'm Captain Usopp, brave warrior of the sea!"
"More like not able to hold in your pee…" I muttered, sending a pointed look down at his knees that were knocking together as his legs trembled with fear. "Oy!" Long Nose shook his fist at me. "These are Klahadore's pirates we're dealing with!" he snapped. "Of course I'm scared! I don't want your sympathy! You guys can leave! Leave!"
"Pipe down Pinocchio!" I shouted back, tick mark popping up on my forehead. Ignoring his remark, What'd you call me short stack?! I continued, "Who said anything about sympathy?"
"We're helping because we think you're honourable," Zoro cut in, grabbing the back of my shirt. I sent a confused look back at him, until the curly haired boy's words registered in my mind. "Short stack?!" I growled, making a rush towards the boy, but Zoro's grip on my shirt tightened, and he pulled me back with a sigh. "Can you not rile her up?" he asked, voice tired. "As if we'd put our lives on the line for sympathy," Luffy frowned, actually looking insulted. "Don't be ridiculous!"
New tears began to flow down Usopp's face and I grinned, throwing my hands behind my head in a relaxed stance, allowing Zoro to relax as well, releasing his grip on my shirt. "You're a really shitty liar Long Nose, but your emotions are actually pretty straight forward." He looked at me with a sweet smile, and even though we'd been at each other's throats twice now, I knew that we'd get along great in the future. I argued with Usopp like I argued with Zoro-nii.
Because of that though, I wasn't quite finished talking…. "You could say…" I continued, with a sly grin, "that your heart is as big as your nose!" He anime dropped in exasperation, and I burst into laughter, hearing Luffy join me.
"They call him 'Kuro of the Hundred Plans,' " Usopp explained to us. We were sitting around on the cliff again, and night had fallen completely. I could hear the sea flowing gently in the background, along with chirps, hums, and murmurs of the night life around us. "He was famous for his intricate plans to raid villages that never failed. He was apparently caught and executed by the Marines years ago, but that was obviously just a double or something," he shivered. "Just think...we've lived in the midst of a killer like that for all of these years…"
"He must be a pretty amazing fighter to have a reputation like that," I cut in, and I couldn't keep the slight admiration from my voice. "I heard he could sneak onto a Marine ship and slaughter them all before they even knew what was going on," Nami explained. "And his pirates were called the 'Black Cat Pirates,' " Usopp rounded the conversation out.
It was silent for a bit, all of us pondering their words. "So…" I spoke up softly, voice tense, and looked up to everyone peering at me. "He's a ninja pirate…" I ended, nodding seriously to myself, ignoring the reactions around me. Luffy chuckled while Zoro and Nami sighed. Usopp just gave me a super confused look. "Seriously though," I continued, "seems like our only issue is that they outnumber us. They plan on raiding the village, so we just need to stop them before they get to the village," I concluded.
"You make it sound so simple," Nami laughed a bit and I blushed, grateful for the darkness so no one would see my red cheeks. She was right after all, the issue was obvious while the solution wasn't. I had merely stated the obvious, which everyone probably already knew; I shouldn't have said anything.
"No, Aela has a point," Usopp spoke up then, and my head shot in his direction, surprised. "We just need to come up with a plan to keep them from getting close to the village..and I think I may have an idea for that," he grinned, looking rather smug.
Usopp got up from his rock and began walking down to the beach, the rest of us following behind. "They'll attack from this beach," he told us, coming to a stop at the slope that led up between the two steep cliffs. "This is the route to the village." He pointed up at the slope, showing us the route. "They'll have to come up this pass because everywhere else is just sheer cliffs."
"We'll trap them!" I grinned, and Long Nose grinned back at me. "Exactly!" "Wow!" Luffy laughed. "It'll be super easy then!"
"Don't get too excited," Usopp interjected, frowning now. "We'll have to fight like an army." He looked out at the 4 of us. "What can you guys do?"
"I slice." Zoro.
"I shield." Me.
"I stretch." Luffy.
"I steal." Nami.
"I run and hide." …..Usopp.
"YOU'VE GOTTA FIGHT!" the group yelled at him, and Usopp raised his hands, ducking his head to protect himself as Nami and I bonked him on the head. "I was kidding! I was kidding!" "Nuh uh," I scoffed, rolling my eyes at him. "Actually," Usopp continued after shooting me a glare, "I think I know of something else that could give us the edge in this fight, but I gotta run back to my house to get it."
"Hurry," Nami advised, looking at the moon. "We want to be more than ready for these guys before dawn." Usopp nodded. "Right. Wait here and I'll be back before you know it!"