He was drowning!
Strong arms flailed about himself, desperate to snag or catch at anything that wasn't water. But there was nothing of use to be felt. Only suffocation and the deafening, distorted roar of the ocean's rage were in his company. His body had become nothing but a mere rag doll in the face of such an awesome, frightening power.
Usopp knew he was going to die.
He saw himself being sucked under the ship's hull, never to be seen again until he was nothing but a soggy, unrecognizable corpse. Stories of dead sailors washing onto innocent beaches, their features having been eroded away by endless currents and pounding waves suddenly seemed all too real. He was going to be one of them!
No! his mind screamed. A brave warrior of the sea can't die like this! Pirates were supposed to conquer the ocean, not be suffocated by it!
But I'm already gone!
He could feel death's very claws seize him by the shoulders, ripping him out of the churning water. The cold wind ate at his very soul, and he was going higher and higher--
I'm having an out-of-body experience! he inwardly wailed, teeth clenching.
But just before he was about to do some serious praying, he heard Chopper scream from the deck.
"Usopp! Usopp, no!"
The sharpshooter jerked to a halt in mid-air, and he waved to the reindeer, soggy legs dangling beneath him. "Chopper! Don't worry about me!" he cried. "It's too late for me, it's--"
"Let--let go of my friend!" cried Chopper, his voice quaking and unsure.
Blinking, Usopp paused long enough to look down at the raging ocean beneath himself, his soaked, black curls whipping against his face. He could still hear the doctor shouting in the back of his mind, as his brain made the precise calculations it needed to in order to come to the conclusion that he was, in fact, still alive.
Which meant that something had to be suspending him in the air.
Slowly and uneasily, he turned to look from one shoulder to the other. What he found made his stomach jolt. After all, it wasn't everyday one found a pair of claws hooking into their overall straps from either side.
Usopp swiftly looked upward, discovering with absolute horror that the most terrible creature loomed above him. Its wings beat against the gusty winds, the sheer fact that it was able to hover in such a storm a testimony to their strength. In fact, Usopp was quite sure it wasn't his imagination that the Going Merry was beginning to tip onto one side with every mighty flap.
And it was then that he began to fear for Chopper's life more than his own.
"D-don't provoke it!" shrieked Usopp, his voice relentlessly tearing from his throat. Even as the monster began to move away from the ship, he mustered enough courage to keep yelling. "Forget about me, Chopper! If the boat tips over, you won't be able to swim!"
But the reindeer acted as if he hadn't heard, biting his lip for a moment, tears beginning to spring from his eyes as the blue creature moved away. "Let go of my friend, and get out of here!" Clutched in his furry arms was a white and red object that the sharpshooter couldn't quite make out.
"Chopper! What did I tell you?!" Usopp was becoming more and more agitated by the moment, both by how he was moving further away from the ship and at his friend's persistence. "Are you crazy!? Don't make it mad!"
The doctor suddenly transformed into his larger form, hurling the item at the long-nosed man. "Catch it, Usopp!"
Instinctively, Usopp reached out and lashed his fingers around the edges of it, barely holding on. He winced as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder muscles, victims of being positioned at an odd angle. Chopper was already fortunate that the monster wasn't moving to attack him, although the curly-haired man firmly believed he shouldn't push his luck.
"What's this for?!" he cried, finally realizing that the doctor had thrown him a lifesaver. "I'm not drowning!"
"Just--just hang on! I'm not giving you up without a fight!"
Usopp almost choked at those words, and he did as he was told, clutching onto the lifesaver. Was Chopper going to try and pull him from the monster's grasp?
Just as the teenager had asked himself that question, Chopper appeared to draw in a deep breath before channeling all of his strength into a powerful haul with the rope.
Usopp barely had enough time to brace himself.
He had no idea he was going to go flying through the air on the first pull, but that was exactly what he did. His dark curls stung against his face as he sailed through the unbearably cold wind. Neither the terrible pin-pricking of angry raindrops or the fierce storm winds were enough to keep him from hurling right into Chopper.
The doctor shrieked and fell back onto the slick deck as Usopp's weight collided into his own body. But the sharpshooter's quick reflexes enabled his arms to grab his furry friend incase they were to tumble into the raging ocean around them, and Chopper at least felt comfort in the fact that he wouldn't automatically sink to the bottom if the situation came to that.
Suddenly, however, Chopper turned to where the monster had been as if he had heard something. The blue creature had begun its journey to wherever it was that he had come from, sailing into the dark, billowing clouds. Although Chopper seemed extremely perplexed -- perhaps even a little troubled -- at what had just transpired, he quickly remembered their dire circumstances and began trying to get back onto his feet again.
By the time he and Usopp had regained their balance against the violently rocking deck, the monster was long gone, and the clouds and wind were beginning to dissipate. Even so, Usopp was still tense as his eyes frantically searched the air. "Where is it?" he muttered quickly, legs beginning to tremble some.
"I…I think he went home," replied Chopper after a moment, his body still in its human form in case his assumption was wrong.
Usopp gave Chopper an incredulous look, his dark eyebrows rising with astonishment. "How do you know?" he asked with wonder.
"I can talk to other animals, remember?" replied Chopper, an uneasy frown on his face, eyes still glued to the clouds. "Anyway, he said that--that--" The doctor didn't seem to be able to finish his sentence, his eyes suddenly finding his feet more interesting than the calmer sky.
"Said what?" prodded Usopp anxiously, eyes widening.
"That I was a good friend," he bashfully answered, rubbing the back of his head in an awkward manner. "What a stupid thing to say. He doesn't know what he's talking about!" But Usopp could tell that the comment had pleased Chopper, no matter how many times he tried to brush it off.
When the sniper looked at the sky again, he realized what was going on. "Chopper, look--the storm's going away--" Sure enough, more and more stars were breaking through the once endless, rolling clouds. Usopp was also glad to note that they weren't in much danger of being thrown overboard, either. But his comrade didn't respond. "Chopper?" The handyman looked over at him, blinking. "Is something wrong?"
The reindeer seemed hesitant to speak before he finally answered.
"He sounded so sad, Usopp…"
The sight was breath-taking.
As the dark, soothing clouds slowly began to disperse into harmless decorations of the still sky, a glimmer of dawn's first light began to peek over the edge of the horizon. It was these first few beams of the morning's infancy that cast a heavenly glitter against the edges of the clouds.
The picturesque spectacle was only complimented by the lush forest and white sand of the beach that seemed to support the horizon. A gentle wind grazed Monkey D. Luffy's hat, and the boy casually grabbed onto his most prized possession as the last of the rain softly disappeared. That didn't stop Zoro's damp shirt, which clung to his shoulders, from whipping lightly against the breeze, however.
He really had no idea how he had made his way onto the rough cliff he was now standing upon -- only that he had wandered aimlessly through the network of caves until he had reached an exit. The rubber pirate had decided that he liked the scenery before him very much, and he had paused to admire it.
After about three seconds of that, the young man decided it was time to move onto something a little more exciting.
Turning around, he located the gaping mouth of the cave he had come out of.
"Guess I'll find a better place to hide," he mused aloud, padding his way over to the entrance. He almost wished that Raffles would go ahead and find him already, but then that would mean that the monster would be killed and put on display, and then Luffy would have to go with Raffles and do whatever he wanted. Which probably didn't include becoming the pirate king.
The boy suddenly paused a moment, scratching his chin. If Raffles finding him meant that he, Luffy, lost the game…what was the rubber pirate supposed to do in order to defeat Raffles other than not being caught?
They had never gotten to that part of the rules!
Luffy's eyebrows furrowed together, and a soft frown tugged at his face. At this rate, Hide and Seek had the potential to last forever. As much as the young man loved the game, he really didn't want to spend an eternity playing it. After all, he had the legendary One Piece to find. This had to end - and soon. Luffy had places he wanted to see and meals he needed to eat.
At the thought of food, his stomach growled. "I want breakfast," he said to himself, realizing that this whole ordeal was beginning to lose its appeal. "Maybe I should eat some more berries…" Then again, those really hadn't been that filling -- not to mention he had mysteriously fallen asleep not long after ingesting them.
He was about to proceed towards the cave once more when he abruptly stopped again, turning around. In the distance, he saw a speck in the sky -- and it was slowly coming closer! Luffy's eyes lit up, and a frighteningly large smile seemed to split his face into two pieces. "It's Mister Monster!" he cried. "I could eat Mister Monster for breakfast!" He waved his arms in the air, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Come here, Mister Monster! I wanna eat you! Let's fight again!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth that he felt a sudden, heavy weight slam into his side. His rubbery body reeled and lost balance, damp dirt flying into the air when he collided against the cold stone of the mountain's cliff. The beloved straw hat rolled across the ground, having been carelessly knocked from his head. Heart pounding, Luffy squirmed beneath a captor he couldn't see, his instincts completely thrown off their equilibrium at being attacked by something that wasn't there.
It was then Luffy distinctly remembered the cool, smug voice of a certain botanist. I can completely blend in with my surroundings…
He thrust a hand into the air before him, clawing out to seize it, but his calloused fingers only groped at thin air. Although he would have cursed at what he felt was Sir William Raffles III, something cold and hard gripped his throat, closing off his wind pipe. Choking, he tried to shout, whisper, anything--! What was his opponent doing?! This wasn't Hide and Seek!
Bringing a hand back to his throat, his fingers suddenly wrapped around what felt like a clammy, moist wrist. He pushed it away, and the pressure against his throat lessened considerably. The pirate wasted no time in taking advantage of that crucial split second and threw all of his weight forward. He felt his body collide against someone that wasn't supposed to be there by any means of logic, and he heard something slide against the ground. Bits of gravel flew out of the way as if some invisible power had forced them apart.
"Ooomf!" The cry wasn't Luffy's.
Gritting his teeth, the captain stood up and glared at where he thought the botanist had landed. "If you were that hungry, you should've just said something!" He reached up and angrily felt at his raw throat, wondering why it seemed like Raffles had been choking him with his bare hands. "We could have caught the monster and eaten him together!"
"What are you talking about?" came Raffles' irritated voice. It sounded from the general area that Luffy was glowering at, but no physical sign of the man could be seen.
Luffy scowled, his voice rising. "Why else would you quit playing our game and start hunting me instead?! I wouldn't even do that, no matter how hungry I was!"
Silence was the only reply he received until a soft chuckle sounded through the chilly air. It escalated into a laugh until it reached a full cackle.
Hand dropping down to his side, the dark-haired boy was slightly taken aback with confusion. "What's so funny?"
Raffles seemed to quiet down long enough for him to answer, his voice holding traces of mirth. "I'm not hungry, you wretched, inferior boy. Nor am I trying to eat your filthy, filthy flesh. I'd never lower myself to that level." He paused, and the pebbles before Luffy seemed to shuffle on their own. "But now that I've found you, I suppose I win the game. It's just a matter of me finishing the job."
"What?" Luffy stared, dumbfounded. "That isn't how Hide and Seek goes!" Zoro had never tried to strangle him when they played, not ever. "Trying to kill people is against the rules."
"Not in my version…" The sinister clarification was softly uttered, and Raffles was met with a stony silence on the rubber man's part.
Reaching down, Luffy's fingers grasped at his hat and picked it up from the ground. He regarded it for a moment, dark eyebrows knit together, mouth set into a thin frown that was usually so foreign to his boyish face. "Well." He suddenly seemed far more mature for his age, and he stood upright as he placed the hat onto his disheveled hair. "That changes things, Rabbles."
There was an awkward silence. "It's, ah, Raffles."
"I don't care what your name is," proclaimed Luffy. "If a fight is what you want, then you'll get a fight you won't forget."