Disclaimer- I don't own anything except Reia.
---Chapter Eight---
Chopper cocked his head and the sound of many feet thundered in the cavern.
"Between a thousand or two are entering," he stated. Nami tried to peer about.
"Chopper, where are the exits?" Nami asked.
"What are you TALking About?!" Luffy cut in.
"We can handle this!" He stretched his arm. Nami shook her head.
"They're armed with sea-stone guns. I don't want to risk it," she told him.
"Let's run for it, OH GOD!!!" Usopp screamed.
"Who cares about sea stone? Let's go!!" Luffy exclaimed. Nami sighed.
"Sanji, can you bring him with us?" she asked. He jumped and gripped Luffy.
"Only for you, Nami-San!!" Zoro rolled his eyes, and Nami gestured to Chopper.
"Lead the way."
The Straw Hats took to a run, racing forwards from the ravine. Bare fruit trees streaked past them, and Chopper galloped steadily. Soon a bright light came into view. They ran out onto open grass and paused. They were out. The breeze smelled like the salty sea.
"AAAAH!!!" Nami shrieked. She backed off from the edge. Zoro peered over and grimaced.
They were on a cliff above the sea. Waves crashed onto the deadly rocks below. They looked so puny from the crew's height. Usopp braved a glance and also screamed.
"GOD SAVE US!!!"
Reia swallowed nervously.
"So how do we get off?"
The distant thunder of footsteps grew louder. Sanji deposited his cigarette in its case, and Luffy cracked his knuckles.
"We don't."
In less than half a minute and the thundering was a roar. Usopp shook.
"H-here we g-go…" he said shakily. Reia bit her lip nervously. Even if they did win the fight, how would they get off? Her thoughts raced.
Jumping? Climbing down? Flying? Flying…It clicked! Reia suddenly felt very dumb.
"Oh, I'm so stupid!" She emphasized that statement by a smack on her forehead. The Straw Hats looked at her. Then the soldiers' heads came into view.
"I know a way to get us off!" she cried out. Luffy looked back at her, his arm stretched behind him.
"Wha--?!" he yelped and his arm rocketed up and missed the soldiers, andthen whammed into the rock overhang. A large rumble began, and rocks started to fall on the soldiers, who were shouting in pain.
"Nice," Usopp muttered. They all looked at Reia expectantly. The cliff started to shake.
"H-hold h-hands ev-eryone!" she said shakily as the ground buckled. They did, and she grabbed Zoro's on her left and Nami's on her right. She screwed her eyes shut and went "pop.
"Ooooh my Goooddd," Nami murmured in wonder. Reia opened her eyes and looked down just in time to see the cliff crash into the sea.
A wave of weakness hit her. She had transformed six beings! Her head throbbed and she pulled them all forward. They floated to the left side of the island where the port was.
"Shiiiit," Sanji said in a strangled voice. He looked up quickly.
"OOOh God, OOOh god, OOOOh God..." Usopp moaned, his eyes shut tight.
"Shut uppp, wusss," Zoro said to Usopp, who paid him no heed.
Reia grinned, but it was wiped from her face as her head began to swim. She needed to keep them transformed to float, but it was draining her strength…
The port came into view. She saw the Going Merry and aimed at it. They were about fifty feet above the port. The ship started to blur, and her vision fogged up. The Straw Hats started falling.
Reia's hair streamed, and Luffy held his hat with his free hand.
"Shitttt!" Sanji exclaimed.
"Reiaaa! Reiaaa!!!" Zoro yelled loudly. He jerked his arm violently, and her head lifted. Her eyes opened a slit, and then widened slightly when she saw him. While her eyes closed her head lolled and rested on his shoulder. Nami screamed, and the Straw Hats closed their eyes at the nearing cobblestones.
They hit the ground. None perished.
"Why aren't we hurt?" Chopper asked as he rose shakily. He examined the crew for bruises.
"I felt a split-second pause, then we fell about eight feet," Usopp stated. Sanji made a disbelieving noise.
"Your eyes were closed. How would you know?" Sanji scoffed. Usopp started to reply when Nami suddenly screamed.
"Reai!!!" she cried out.
Reia slumped forward. Zoro caught her willowy body before she hit the ground. He held her carefully while Nami tried to revive her.
"What happened?! Chopper!!" He rushed over to Reia's limp form and examined her carefully. Zoro studied her face, and it was strangely serene. He glanced around, and then gently brushed a hair out of her face with his rough hand. Chopper finished and stood up.
"She's in shock," he said urgently. "We need to get on the ship right away and go." Luffy was watching quietly nearby.
"She'll be all right, won't she?" Luffy asked Chopper. Chopper shrugged.
"It might take half a day or one week. It all depends on her strength," Chopper said sadly. Luffy nodded with understanding, and then jumped up.
"What are we waiting for?! Let's go!!" He jumped in the ship. Nami looked back at Reia, and then climbed up. Sanji followed quickly, and Chopper right after him. Zoro placed Reia's body in front of him and held her with one arm while climbing up. He reached the top and saw Chopper beckon into the women's quarters. Zoro hesitated and then shrugged. He followed Chopper in. Nami was waiting.
"Lay her on the couch," Chopper instructed. Zoro did so, and stepped back. Her hair spilled onto the pillow and she breathed steadily. Suddenly, her eyes flickered. Zoro and Nami looked at her intently.
Reia sniffled. A tear made a trail on her cheek. Nami reached down and wiped it away. Nami looked sadly at Reia, and then walked up to the deck, leaving Chopper and Zoro with Reia. They felt the ship lurch.
"When will she wake up again, Chopper?" Zoro asked. Chopper looked up from the medicines he was mixing.
"From a day to a week. Even if she does wake up, that ordeal wasn't entirely the cause of her shock," Chopper said observantly. Zoro looked quizzically at him.
"What was it then?" he inquired, now interested. Chopper shrugged.
"Something. You can ask her yourself after she wakes," he said with finality. He returned to his procedure. Zoro walked over to the stairs, and then looked back at Reia. He shook his head and stepped up into the storage deck, then out into the present chaos. It was past midnight, but no one was tired yet.
"Reia isn't going to die, Luffy! Calm Down!!!" Nami yelled. Zoro looked wildly for the captain, and then was bowled over by Luffy racing towards the storage deck, the room that held the entrance to the women's quarters.
"Idiot, watch it!" Zoro said vehemently, walking over to his favorite sleeping space.
"Reia! Don't Die!!!" Luffy screamed from below. Muffled shouts and bangs were heard, and then Luffy raced out again, Chopper on his heels.
Chopper bellowed, his head down and antlers right behind Luffy.
"AAAA!" Luffy screamed. Nami sighed from the bow and consulted the map. She looked at it for a moment, and then she walked over to Zoro and leaned on the reail.
"So, what do you think of Reia?" Nami asked innocently. Zoro opened one eye.
"I was just going to ask you the same," Zoro replied in the same tone. Nami frowned thoughtfully.
"Hmm…she saved Luffy…" Nami began.
"Like that's hard," Zoro muttered.
"…she went along with Luffy to go find us…I think she would be a great asset to the crew," Nami finished. She waited expectantly for Zoro to begin. It took a few seconds before he spoke up.
"I haven't seen her in action by herself, but with no weapon, well, I guess she's good. Good reflexes. I think she needs a weapon. If she joins, that is," he added hastily. Nami looked at him.
"So that's all you think about her? How good she reacts in fights?" Nami said accusingly. Zoro shrugged.
"Yeah. What else is there?" Nami shook her head hopelessly.
"Never mind. "What did you mean about 'if she joins'? Luffy wants her to," she said while pointing at a Luffy running about in hysterics about Reia.
"He said something about how the process of getting into shock wasn't due to the thing she did to us on the cliff. It's something else," he told her. There was a silence. The others had retired down to their room.
"It'll take five days to get to the next island. I'm sure she'll know by then, or earlier," Nami said confidently. Zoro shrugged again and closed his eyes. He heard Nami walk away.
"Five days…" he murmured. That would be enough to see how she acts. He suddenly looked forward to that. Perhaps she had enough fighting prowess to match his. He stood up and went down into the men's quarters. He found the others in their hammocks, snoring. He slipped into his, and his last thought was a ghostly figure in a martial art stance, its hair streamed wildly, its body calm.. The soulful blue eyes gazed at him intently, and then sleep took him.
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Nami peered over to look at Zoro's back. Our eager little swordsman, eh? She stifled a laugh and gazed at the rosy horizon. The deck was quiet, and the cold bit her. She went down to her room below and Chopper left to watch the ship. Before he left, he instructed her to take the liquid in the bowl and drop it in Reia's mouth.He also told her that he had left her belongings, which they took before leaving, in the lounge.
Nami pulled down the hammock and lay down. The ship creaked and rocked quietly.