Chapter 3: Civilisation (2)
"Man, where are we? We've been walking for well over an hour. Maybe Luffy and Nami found something," Zoro grumbled. He knew that there was no point in this endless walking.
"I should have followed Luffy and my dear Nami-san," Sanji said, teary-eyed.
"You had the chance and missed it, idiot. Don't get all soppy now we must be miles apart by now," Ussopp explained, matter-of-factly.
"Actually, you're wrong, Ussopp. We've actually circled this island twice. But you two were too busy arguing about who went exploring with who, you didn't recognize that we passed the meeting spot twice," Zoro said, knowingly. Sanji and Ussopp opened their mouths in discontent.
"Why didn't you tell us!" Sanji and Ussopp said in unison.
"Don't know. Maybe I thought you needed the exercise," Zoro joked. He started to laugh and walk ahead, leaving a fuming Sanji and Ussopp in his tracks.
"So you're saying we're near a small area of civilisation," Nami questioned the rather odd boy.
"Yes. I mean no! That's not what I meant! I'm…errr…the only one on this island," the boy said, still scared stiff. He seemed still at the tender age of fourteen. He also seemed shy, and looked as if he hadn't eaten for weeks as his arms and legs were unnaturally thin.
"C'mon, we're hungry. We're also starved," Luffy said, not taking much notice that there was evidence of civilisation on the island known to most as a cursed.
"I can't show you. I have no evidence that you would not destroy my home village," He said, dejectedly, "Sorry."
"But we haven't attacked, and there's only two of us," Nami noted.
"Last time we allowed a group of people into our village, half of it was destroyed," The boy said.
"What if we promised?" Luffy asked.
"Things don't go that easily, Luffy. Maybe we must prove our innocence somehow. But how," Nami went on, not becoming aware of the fact that Luffy had entered the woodland and started attacking at the over-hanging fruit.
"GUM…GUM…GATTLING!" Luffy yelled and aimed for the fruit hanging from the trees. He had gotten around a dozen fruits from the attempt to cut them away from the trees.
"Hey Nami! Look what I got!" Luffy said, escaping from the forest, "I got them with the gattling gun. Here, have a banana." Nami accepted it with thought.
"What's on your mind, Nami?" Luffy inquired, taking in as much fruit in his rubber mouth as physically possible.
"I got an idea. Luffy, stretch your neck as far up as possible," Nami said, suddenly.
"Okay, but what good will that do?"
"Just do it." Luffy's neck around fifty metres. From around fifty metres below Luffy's eyesight, Nami called, "what do you see?" Luffy's neck turned a full 360 degrees before he said, "ah-hah! I see smoke!"
"See? We now know there's a village and Luffy can guide us, cant you Luffy?" Nami said, smiling at her own intellect.
"Wah? How? Oh, I see. YOU ATE A CURSED FRUIT!" the boy yelled in awe
"Sure did!" Luffy yelled back, "Hey, is there meat at your village?"