Blood ties like iron chains chapter 2: ocean overview
A dangerous Sea!
(On an Unknown Island)
"So that's everyones story?" Vivi said, her hand reaching for her her head, which was still trying to keep up with all the different information, which was indeed a lot.
Shirahoshi: A Mermaid princess that had never left fishman island before, whose mother had died trying to bring fishmen and merfolk closer together with humans. To put it lightly, the giant mermaid was a scaredy cat. 16 years old and more afraid of her own shadow than a toddler would be of a shark (which Shirahoshi, perhaps understandably, wasn't afraid of at all, telling a fond, if slightly incomplete, story of hiding within her giant pet sharks' mouth one time).
Viola: A princess of Dressrose that had spent over a decade amongst the very people who overthrew her father and whom eventually had become the crown princess of the Island kingdom again after her niece Rebecca (also her lady in waiting) had abdicated in order to live with her father (who'd been a… toy… for a decade…. (Vivi decided that some Devil fruits abilities were too strange for her to comprehend, and she'd seen Mister 2's, Choppers and Luffy's abilities firsthand)). Rebecca had been forced to participate in the colosseum, fighting for years on end and having to endure all sorts of hardships, the hatred of the Population that had been turned against her grandfather, king Riku. Not to mention the other gladiators.
Both aunt and niece seemed like pleasant people, same with the mermaid, which only left the two Kuja pirates.
Rindo was the darkhaired one, and apparently the best sniper amongst the Kuja pirate crew (though Vivi didn't see how that was possible to do with a bazooka), and Marguerite, the blonde, had only recently been deemed strong enough to be a member of the crew herself. In all they hadn't the most intriguing story to tell, at least compared to the princesses. Vivi found that she was a tad disappointed, not getting some interesting stories about Amazon Lily or the Pirate queen. Although she honestly didn't want to hear more about the shichibukai, her own experiences had made her very wary of that particular group (and she didn't want to remind Viola and Rebecca about their time under Doflamingo's rule, nor rile up Shirahoshi for no good reason). So not hearing about the sole female member of that group suited her perfectly.
It wasn't like they didn't want to talk about her, Marguerite praised their empress' beauty like there was no one in the world that could match her. It was more like there wasn't much to say aside from that. Which was both odd and strangely normal all things considered. As citizens of nation they would naturally have a picture of their ruler which they stuck to like flypaper, but as "handmaidens" of their queen, it was a bit strange they didn't say more about her.
Loyalty perhaps Vivi thought, as she sat back down on one of the large boulders that dotted the small island.
All the talk about life stories and life in general back in their respective home countries had all been an ice breaker, to try and pass the time as they awaited their rescue. Yet all stories had a vagueness to them that Vivi found unnerving.
Somehow everyone was holding something back!
Night had passed, and the morning was beginning to make way for noon, and yet no one had seen any ships in the horizon.
It was irking Vivi more than she wanted to admit.
Waiting to be rescued was the smart thing to do given the circumstances.
But since none of them knew where they were, it was plausible that they rescuers didn't know where to look either!
Vivi laid herself flat down on the boulder, looking up into the impossibly blue sky above.
She assumed they could all piggyback in Shirahoshi away from the island, but given the mermaids skittishness, it might be a very bad idea to rely on her for that.
And the boredom of their stay was beginning to show, Vivi had caught Viola make "o"-signs with her hand and moving it towards her eyes more than once. The older woman had stopped when she realized that her behavior had been noticed however. It had Puzzled Vivi, and it might erupt into something over the course of their stay.
In any way, they couldn't stay there forever, what little water they could draw from the ocean would not sustain them for long, and without food they'd be dead within a few days anyway!
Suddenly a sound erupted out of nowhere
It was a muffled sound, But Vivi was certain she'd heard it a hundred times before in the court of Alabasta.
It was a ringing sound, like from a Den Den Mushi!
(Aboard the Sunny)
Nami sat in her study, a bunch of maps strewn out on the desk before her, each one showing a small part of the New World.
The navigator scanned each one in turn, trying to figure out where they should search first. It would make sense to begin close to the red line, but that would also be where the Marines and everybody else would be concentrating their attention.
But if the missing princesses had ended up close to Mariejois, then they would most certainly have been found by then.
And some valiant marine captain would have received a promotion and a medal for having heroically saved the damsels in distress! Pushing her cynical thoughts aside, Nami resumed her search, looking at the maps.
All the capes, peninsulas, inlets, isles and reefs offered more than a thousand places for the princesses to hide, or be held captive.
Nami yawned. Having been up most of the night, going over this and that map of trading routes, marine bases and kingdoms, she'd barely allowed herself the time to eat the breakfast Sanji had brought her, in fact, she'd barely registered what he had called…. Whatever it was. It looked like eggs in tomato sauce…. Nami had put the meal down on the floor so she could have more space for her maps. It had smelled delicious though….. But thinking back at his behavior in Tottoland, and not being satisfied with Luffy's idea of a punishment for him, Nami wasn't going to allow the chef the satisfaction of eating his food, at least for the moment.
Rubbing her tired eyes Nami looked back down on the map of the nearby Runny Rum Archipelago. Eight islands of different sizes, close enough for a ship like the Sunny to travel between them in less than an hour, and even from one end of the archipelago to the other in less than 6. The map of this area had been a gift from the King of Fishman Island. Why Neptune had given it to Robin Nami didn't know, but she was grateful nonetheless. A relatively staple area of the New World, Runny Rum provided a safe haven for travelers, merchants, and pirates. Which was also why the marines had put a Vice admiral in charge of the naval base which dominated the main island, the largest one.
That alone would normally make Nami want to steer clear of the place, but there was something she wanted to see there too, in fact she was certain that when she told the others about the place, they'd be more than a little eager for it as well.
Luffy and Robin in particular.
Both of whom, coincidently walked into the room at that moment. Or rather, Luffy barged in liked he used to do, eager for any sort of action. It was like seeing a storm get legs and walk about without a care in the world, which fit Luffy just perfectly. Robin followed her own habits, waltzing into the room with supreme confidence and serenity, her eyes not showing any signs of worry or anticipation.
Either persons' gait was strangely comforting for Nami to see.
"Any ideas where we're going Nami?" Luffy smiled at her, his eyes greedy for any chance of adventure his navigator might provide him with. He soon Mimicked Nami's crestfallen mood as she shook her head in response.
"Our problem is that we don't know where to start looking! They could be anywhere! Either side of the Red Line, below the seas' surface or even up on a Sky Island!" Nami almost yelled the last part, her frustration boiling over. Her outburst made Luffy take an instinctive step backwards, right into Nami's breakfast, sending the Strawhat captain and future Pirate King crashing into one of the bookcases that lined the wall, burying him in a small hill of books, scrolls and maps.
Nami sighed at the sight, she was too tired to even yell at him to clean it up. As Robin took a step towards her, Nami leaned back in her chair, exhaling deeply, her eyes half closed, looking at nothing in particular.
"So we don't know where to start….." Robin began, not asking a question but more summarizing the situation, both for Nami's (her being almost too tired to think) and Luffy's (whom was beginning to dig himself out of his book confinement) benefit. Making sure she had both of her friends' attention Robin continued "….so what we need: is to know where others have searched and will search"
It was obvious now that Nami thought about it, but she had no idea of where to get that kind of information "But where do we get that?" she said, her head rolling from one side to the other, lack of sleep beginning to catch up with her.
"I have a plan for that Nami, but first, I think you should get some rest…", stopping briefly to glance at the floor, Robin looked back at Nami with a smile "… and some food, I doubt you'll want Sanji's Shakshouka now"
Looking at the older woman, Nami blinked, and then blushed.
"Sha….. what now?" Nami said, hoping she'd heard wrong and that her drowsy mind was playing tricks on her.
"Shakshouka Nami, did you think I meant to say sha…." Nami waved her hands frantically in front of her face, her blush deepening, hoping Robin wouldn't finish her sentence, and hoping even more for neither of her friends would ask what she thought she'd heard.
Fortunately Robin giggled overbearingly at her and didn't press the question, and Luffy was too busy shoveling Sanji's tomato-sauced dish into his own awaiting mouth, to care about the two womens' conversation.
"Captain, please take Nami to the Dining room, I think I'll be able to find where to go from here with Jinbe-sans' help"
Reluctantly, Nami did as Robin asked her, even allowing Luffy to shoulder her to the dining room, where a both overjoyed, and enraged Sanji greeted them (he correctly blamed Luffy for eating the food he'd particularly prepared for Nami-scwann, but at the same time was more than happy to cook up another dish especially for her).
Nami ate her French toast in silence (not that she could've managed to be heard over the sound of Luffy yelling for more food, or wanted to for that matter, her ire against the chef even going to the point where she didn't want to thank him for the meal).
Finishing up her plate, she had Luffy (much to a teary eyed Sanjis' chagrin) help her to her room, for some much needed sleep.
(back in the Sunny's library)
Robin smiled to herself
Nami really had a bad habit of worrying, and overreacting, too much. If the bags under her eyes was any indication, the navigator had been up all night going over the maps, most likely getting worked up over all the things that could've happened to her friends by now.
A tired Navigator, tired anything for that matter, made stupid mistakes, and for the idea that Robin had in mind, they really needed to be flawless!
Finding what she'd been looking for, Robin smiled as her eyes narrowed and scanned the map in front of her.
This was going to get tricky! She thought, well, not the part about convincing her captain of her plan, or JInbe for that matter, the huge fishman was all tooo eager to be of service to his new crewmates, more about how to make Nami and Usopp go along with the plan….
(on an unknown Island)
Sitting straight up, Vivi looked around, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. She wasn't alone, the other women looking around in surprice.
The sound seemed to come from one of the Kuja, neither of which seemed to understand the sound either. Vivi approached the darkhaired one, Rindo, and without pause began to rummage through her pockets (that her skimpy clothing included such features would have surprised Vivi, if she wasn't more concerned with other things)
Finally finding where the sound was coming from, Vivi was surprised to find a small black Den Den mushi.
Holding the little gastropod in the palm of her hand she starred at it as it continued to ring, before her gaze shifted towards a confused looking Rindo.
"Rindo-san….." Vivi began, her voice trembling a little while on e of her eyes twitched "why didn't you say you had this?"
"I didn't know, I don't know what that is!"
"Stop asking questions and answer the snail!" Viola's frustrated voice cut in, ripping Vivi and Rindo out of the argument that they could've started.
Answering the snail with a nervous "Hello?", Vivi was surprised to be met by an elderly voice, which, despite cracking like stone occasionally, was oddly feminine "Rindo? Is Marguerite with you? You sound oddNyo!"
"Elder Nyon?" Rindo and Marguerite blurted out in unison, their surprise plain to see, marguerite stared at the small Den den mushi "How can you be in that small snail?"
"I'm not in the snail Marguerite, I'm talking through it! Are the Princesses with you?"
Answering the Old woman's question, Vivi followed up with one of the own "Why did you plant this on Rindo-san, Elder Nyon-san?"
"I didn'tnyo" Nyon responded, her voice sounding taut like a rope, not being entirely happy with something "A prince from Ilusia Kingdom planted it on her after she pinched his cheek, it took a while to track him down and explain the situation to his fathernyo…."
Vivi almost couldn't believe it, saved by some randy prince!
"Fortunately, Lucas-dononyo is quite reasonable…" Elder Nyon continued, before adding "….for a mannyo"
Looking around at the other women in relief at the prospect of being saved, Vivi smiled broadly, before she turned to the Den Den Mushi in her hand "So when will we be rescued?"
"Don't knownyo, your fathers didn't know where to look when they set out yesterday, just that you were in the new worldnyo" the old voice responded in a matter of fact tone, the sound of which made Vivi freeze, the only movement of her face being a twitching eye
"So they don't know where we are either?!" Vivi finally managed to half scream into the snail,
"….If you don't know, how would theynyo?" the old woman's voice rang back, seemingly taking the whole situation in stride, a fact that only served to shock the stranded women even more.
Viola hugged a trembling Rebecca, both of the Kuja stood stock still, a small bead of sweat running down Marguerites' face, and the humongous Shirahoshi rocked back and forth with her tail in her arms, trying to hold back tears.
"But you're all together NOnyo?" the old woman said after a short break, temporarily ripping the women out of their panic
"Yes, yes we are" Vivi took some solace in that fact at least, it'd be a catastrophe if they were all scattered across the sea "We are together Elder Nyon-san" she confirmed, just as much as to reaffirm it to her herself
"Goodnyo, then you can get sailing immediately, on the big mermaidnyo" Elder Nyon's words cut through Vivi's newly established courage like a red hot knife through butter.
"Huh?!"
"You didn't think of that? Better to be out looking for your fathers than stay where you arenyo!"
"That's the exact opposite of better Nyon-san!" Viola cut in, her arms still firmly locked around Rebecca "There's seakings and Pirates and…"
"And they'll be on your island soon enoughnyo" Elder Nyon snapped, her patience running thin "Everyone in the New World will be looking for you, it's better to be on the move to somewhere you'll be safe instead of standing stillnyo!"
Viola bowed her head in defeat at the old womans reasoning "Well, we don't have any food or water here anyway" she eventually said with a faint nervous smile
"Even more reason to move thennyo!"
(on the beach of another island)
Standing in the wreck of a burning pirate ship, the smoke obscuring his muscular form, a man stretched his long arms to the sky and yelled, his rage all too clear for the world to see.
"WHERE IN TARNATION IS THAT DAMN MERMAID?"
The other crew hadn't known a thing, their dolt of a captain, even if he had a devil fruit ability, hadn't even proven to be that much of a challenge, Sure the man had slowed him down a little, but in the end, the fat man hadn't even managed to make him sweat!
Looking over the wreckage of the crew, numerous as they were, a sight on the ground drew his attention.
The pirates' flag, an ugly thing, the head and crossbones being so uneven that it bordered on being abominable. The nose of the Jolly roger fit the crews' captains' at least, it hadn't done when before he had punched him of course, so he guessed he'd done his colleague somewhat of a favor. Though looking at the flag he could've done that by taking their flag away from them for good, but he hadn't been in the mood for that Davy Back fight thing, none of the opposing pirates had looked like he wanted anything to do with them, though the big ones had been funny to punch. Not to mention, the look of the other captain hadn't been the most trustworthy.
His mind drifted towards his own crew, so he turned on his heel and decided to go look for them, hoping they at least had some luck in finding their target.
Before he completely left the scene however he stopped by the defeated captain of the other crew, feeling an annoying sense of duty to at least address the man, even if he found him to be an idiot
"See you around Captain Foxy, when we do, I hope you'll tell me something useful"
And with that he left, leaving a still unconscious Foxy to awaken hours later to a thrashed ship, and some empty treasure chests….
(several hours later, in a harbour)
Nami was tired, or at least she was supposed to be, the amount of sleep she'd managed to get hadn't been nearly enough, but now adrenaline was forcing her to stay awake.
If I'd known this was what she'd meant, Luffy wouldn't have been dumb enough to… she thought, pinching the bridge of her nose, but to remove the last amount of sleep from the corners of her eyes and to relieve some of her stress.
Robins' plan made sense, even to Luffy, who'd apparently thought he'd have a larger role in it. He, to his chagrin, had been extremely wrong.
Nami did have a role in the plan however, so had Chopper, and JInbe and Robin herself. The rest of the crew were supposed to stay on the ship, much to their disappointment.
Sanji had wanted to protect Nami and Robin, But the archeologist had pointed out why it was those 4 that were going to have a part in the plan. Nami and Chopper could be inconspicuous, whereas people with large bounties like Luffy and Zoro would be like a light in the dark. Sanji and Usopp were also highend targets and as such should stay on the ship as well (which resulted in Usopp making a miraculous recovery from his can't-go-on-this-island-disease and had made Sanji envious of the diminutive reindeer), Brook and Franky would naturally draw attention to themselves no matter where they went disguises or not. Aside from Zoro demanding to go into town for sake, everyone had accepted Robins' reasoning, even Luffy after being reminded that Sanji would be cooking dinner soon.
When reminded of her own and Jinbe's bounties however Robin had been calm, simply explaining that neither were going to be seen anyway.
Nami and Chopper might though.
And with that, the four of them had gone ashore, leaving for a nearby harbor town on a relatively small island. Nothing special about it really, except it served as a temporary stopping point for the marines' ships and housed a small base of theirs as well.
To Robin that wasn't something to worry about, as her plan called for her to simply infiltrate one, or some, of the marines' ships. After Jinbe had ferried her across the bay, she'd go over the marines' plans and see where they had been searching for the missing princesses and then make a hasty escape before she was discovered. If she were, Jinbe would be more than enough backup to escape if things got hairy. And in the unlikely event things went really bad, the rest of their nakama was on the Sunny for just that situation.
Nami and Choppers' jobs were to snoop around in the town and see what they could find. Not a dangerous task really, but Nami doubted that they'd get anything out of it really.
At the moment the two of them had found their way to a fairly large tavern in town. Big as it was, there were plenty of vacant tables, so the two of them simply sat down and ordered drinks, or in Choppers' case, a soft drink (which equaled more money for Namis' drinks).
What hadn't been going Namis' way was that Carrot had snuck along the pair, and had been almost uncontrollable ever since, going garchu on pretty much everything within sight. It had gotten so bad, Nami had to bribe the rabbit mink with a massive amount of chocolate (which had the nasty side effect of setting her own drinking back somewhat).
At the moment the two animals were chatting amongst themselves about some of Carrots friends on Zou and how Pedro was doing. It fit Nami perfectly, it left her to do what she'd been sent to do: spy.
More precisely, spy on the conversation between two Marine captains that were sitting at a table behind the trios'.
She almost couldn't believe her luck when the two had entered the tavern. Normally, when they met marines, they had to either leave of fight, but the two captains, which no one within earshot would doubt, had just walked past them without as much as a sideward glance, which was really quite odd given Chopper and Carrots' looks.
Now the pair sat down, deep in conversation, although it was far too clear it was a one sided affair. One of the captains was a stickfigure of a man, his white jacket clashing with the black uniform and the large red tricorne on top of his head. But the tricorne went strangely well with the matching Katana at his belt.
Next to him, his colleague was his exact opposite, almost as wide as Jinbe, yellow uniform, green shoes, belt and marine cap, and no captain jacket, just a large musket that he'd put next to the table.
Where the stick figure was serious and direct, the JInbe-lookalike was relaxed, their conversation bespoke as much:
"Captain Jolland, would you please take your duties as a marine seriously!" the stickfigure said loudly "You are a marine now, not a innkeep!"
"Never was an innkeep Cliffy" the large Captain Jolland responded, not feeling the need to even move to respond to the condescending tone Cliffy had used
"It's REDCLIFF! Not Cliffy! And address me with a proper -Senpai, I've been doing this longer than you people who just got drafted recently" Redcliff responded angrily, rising from his seat to look down on the other captain "I was trained by the great Zephyr himself!"
Jolland on his part seemed both unimpressed about Redcliff's boast and unconcerned about his tone
"You know you can call me Joe right?" he said, raising hiss mug and drinking deeply "Speaking of the Neo Marines, didn't Rear Admiral Malta catch one of them recently?"
A brief moment of silence reigned, allowing Redcliff to sit down again, although he was still angry, not that Jolland seemed to care,only waving for the waitress for a new mug, asking for whatever they served to be brought as well. Nami reasoned that a man that size was bound to have a huge appetite, although she had yet to see that from JInbe.
"True, Rear Admiral Malta has recently caught Zephyrs second-in-command, Ain, And is planning to take her to the Marine base on Runny Rum Archiepelago"
Nami cringed. She remembered how Ain had turned her, Chopper and Robin 12 years younger during their first encounter with the Neomarines under Zephyr. It wasn't a particular painful memory, but the feeling of not being able to return the favor stung a little.
"So Malta is taking Ain to see Vice Admiral Gion eh? Three beautiful women on the same place, sounds like a good idea to visit" Jolland concluded with a chuckle
"…It's improper to have such ideas about your superiors Jolland" Redcliff reminded him, sipping his wineglass
"It's not for me, it's for the men! It'd be good for morale, especially after the blow it took after the whole Dressrosa affair" Jolland responded over the edge of his mug.
Redcliff could only nod his agreement. Nami could aswell, the whole situation with Doflamingo had hurt the Marines reputation more than a loss in a battle could have done.
"Which is why we must find those missing Princesses as soon as possible!" Redcliff concluded "We need this! The marines need this!"
"So… you got any idea where to look?"
At that, Redcliff just sank back into his seat "no…" he simply said dejected
"Don't worry about it, there's plenty of captains out on the sea looking right now, not to mention pirates" taking another swig of his mug, Nami could almost sense Jollands' smile "If one of them gets the princesses first, then it's just two birds one stone"
"True, I've been itching to test my new devil fruit in combat, a few pirates would make an adequate target"
Jolland seemed not to register what Redcliff had said, his attention drawn by the mountain of pies and sweet meats that the waitress brought, along with two new mugs and another wine glass for his companion "What you got Redcliff? Got a fine Zoan meself"
"….A Paramecia, the Fune-Fune No Mi, excellent for sea combat" Redcliff reluctantly responded, though Nami would have sworn that he was smiling haughtily none the less.
Burping loudly, Jolland leaned back in his chair, making the poor furniture creak under his massive girth. Redcliff merely snorted in response, disgusted by Jollands lack of tact. In sharp contrast Nami almost giggled, the big captain reminding her of her own crew somewhat.
"Anyway, were are you going to look after this? Rumour has it most pirates are searching around Runny Rum"
Putting down his glass with enough force to shatter the stem, Redcliff was speechless for a few moments, before his frantic voice rang out
"Which crews?"
"NO need to get worked up Cliffy, just heard that some of Big Mom's daughter had been seen around and the Ice Witch….uhm?" he trailed off, seemingly unable to recall anymore
"If there's anymore pirate scum around these waters, I want you to TELL ME JOLLAND!" At this Nami turned around, the captains outburst surprising her more than it should. The rest of the room occupants had the same thought, as all eyes turned to the two marines.
Redcliff hadn't noticed, having gotten up and was literally shaking Jolland by his collar. The larger man looked at his colleague with something resembling panic, his mouth moving at top speed
"Amadob and Hangan….. A-and Doma! Doma's definetly on Runny Rum! And some rookie pirates, I can't remember their names!"
Letting go of Jolland, Redcliff let him fall to the ground, while he straightened himself up, regaining some of his composure
"Four…." He began, gritting his teeth "Four crews that were at Marineford…. And some of big Moms' filthty offspring… That's too much Yonko in one area!"
Taking several deep breaths, trying to calm down, Redcliff stepped away from Jolland, allowing the larger man to get up from the floor, dusting himself off
"We need to hurry! Runny Rum isn't that far, we can get there within a fortnight!" he said as he began to turn towards the door, not bothering with an apology for Jolland or for the other patrons "….those pirates have to be…." He trailed off, as when he had turned around, his eyes locked directly at the trio's table. Not surprising, a little reindeer and a Mink would naturally draw attention at some point, but his eyes were firmly set on Nami!
Nami reached for her staff, knowing all to well what was happening
"You three…. " Redcliff breathed deeply, licking his parched lips "…. You're Strawhats' MEN!" Redcliff half screamed, a finger pointing accusingly at the three
Nami knew that there was no way of convincing the wild eyed captain that he was wrong
(On Runny Rum)
"One more down…." Galette smiled happily
Her job on Runny Rum was running smoothly, having acquired one more potential subordinate crew for Mama was what she'd been sent to do, and not having to offer herself up was by far the best part of the job.
That and the sun, the delightful beach and the near endless supply of drinks she was having.
One of my brothers are going to be so happy when he hears this…. perhaps it'll be Mascarpone this time? Or perhaps Raisin, or maybe Snack, gods knows he need a wife to get his moods back up Galette gingerly thought to herself, sipping at her umpteenth daquiri that day and one of Whitebeards old underlings too, Mama'll be happy when she hears this.
The thought of her stricken mother brought Galette somewhat out of her joy. Not knowing when or if she was going to wake up for good without any complications was a bother, but luckily Galette knew just the remedy for such thoughts:
More Daquiris!
And maybe watching some of the new meat on the beach...
it never hurt to know what was on the market afterall….
(On another Island, inside a small house)
"Damn, stupid, worthless, crap paper!" the woman in the rocking chair muttered to herself, looking down on the days newspaper, anger evident in her tone
"What is wrong Miss Fran?" a young girl asked innocently, her being all too used to Frans' displeasures, while she cleaned and dusted around her ramshackle house. Wiping a strand of blonde curly hair from her freckled face, the girl gave Fran a kind smile, hoping to
"More about those silly princesses" she said, rummaging through the mess of pens, scissors, trying to find something "Why can't the newspaper write something interesting? Like about my son… Or Dragon?"
"Well, what does the newspaper say about the missing Princesses miss Fran?" the girl asked politely, hoping to get to the bottom of what the eccentric woman was angry at this time
"Some nonsense about them getting captured by Pirates and meeting their fathers, Ysabel, damn nonsense"
"But meeting their fathers sounds like they'll be saved soon doesn't it? Pirates or not" Ysabel said in a soothing voice
"with two Kuja, that'll be a bit weird" Fran shot back, not bothering to lower to newspaper in front of her
"Weird how? Everyone has fathers miss"
"Kuja just travel around and meet men, use them and give birth to girls…. lucky bitches" Fran grumbled
"Miss Fran!" the young girl said shocked, the blush on her freckled face growing larger by the second "I don't' think that sort of language is appropriate around…."
"Damn lucky ho's, never having to bother with husbands…" Fran trailed off, ignoring Ysabels soothing words "or sons…. Or brothers…."
"I like my brothers…." Ysabel said, though it was barely a whisper "And If I had sons I'd love them too"
"Didn't say I didn't love them….. Except my brothers, but those two are a pain in the a…."
"Miss Fran!" Ysabel interrupted her, dropping her broom "Please not that kind of language! I'm going to be a proper lady someday and mom don't think that I ought to learn that kind of language"
"A proper lady doesn't say mom, they say mother, and why're you here if you drop your broom like that?" Fran corrected, folding her paper in front of her, and starting to get up "Why you people insist on cleaning my house and not knowing how to do it, I'll never know!"
Ysabel paled immediately as Fran got up. As the older woman made to walk towards her and perhaps pick up the broom?!
Grabbing the shaft so tightly that her knuckles turned white, Ysabel hurried with the cleaning, constantly reassuring the slightly baffled Fran, that there was no need to help and that she'd come get her another cup of tea in a moment.
All that left for Fran, was to sit back in her chair, with a slightly annoyed look on her face
"Why the hell do they all get like that, when I start to do anything?"
(on the sea)
"YES!" the three kings yelled in unison, surprising their nearby retainers.
Pell didn't know what to make of the sight of three overjoyed sovereigns: Riku danced around with Neptune and his own liege Cobra was crying tears of joy.
Picking up the newspaper Pell soon realized why
"Some soothsayer has said your daughters, and granddaughter," he added quickly "will be reunited with their fathers…"
"That's wonderful! Congratulations Guys!" Elizabello II smiled while he put an arm around a relieved Riku's shoulders, padding his old friend with a gloved hand.
"My pardons your highnesses, but can we trust this Madame Shyarly's words?"
"Of Course!" Neptune said as he waved his hand dismissively "Madame Shyarly has only been wrong once!, She foresaw the great Pirate Age and Whitebeard's death, She is undoubtedly right about this as well"
"Very well your majesty….. But it also says that they'll be captured by pirates…." He let the statement hang in the air, though it didn't faze the kings much
"Both Viola and Rebacca are strong women, I have no doubt they'll triumph " Riku responded, his previous happiness replaced by a stone hard determination.
"My daughter can handle a few pirates!" Cobra coughed from his wheelchair, making a worried Pell rush too his side asking if his liege needed anything.
Meanwhile Neptune was silent, which surprisingly caught the attention of Elizabello
"What's troubling you?"
Sighing the huge fishman turned towards his human colleague "My daughter is, despite her size…. Not made of the same staunch stuff as Riku and Cobra's daughters are blessed with, I fear for her…." He trailed off, seemingly not certain what to say next
Elizabello merely padded the merman on the shoulder, which, despite his own prodigious size, was all that he could reach.
Fortunately, since they'd heard from Elder Nyon that their daughters were all well, although they didn't know where they were either, morale had been high.
Pell knew that in a situation like this, every light in the darkness felt like a herald for a brighter dawn, but in the New World dangers could be as close as ones own breath, they couldn't allow themselves to lower their guard and think themselves safe.
Not yet at least.
When the Vinsmokes came over and congratulated them on the good news, It wasn't lost on Pell, that they made certain to strike up smalltalk with the kings, asking seemingly innocent questions about their families and homecountries.
It seemed danger was already closing in on them, although he didn't know what sort yet...
(in the tavern)
Nami had her clima-tact ready
Not daring to trun her head and look, she could only assume that Chopper and Carrot had prepared for the inevitable fight they were going to have.
A good tactic in this situation was to make sure that tey put as much ground between themselves and the two captains as possibly. Since only Jolland had a flintlock, not to mention that Zoan fruits weren't know to be great at range, and Redcliff was only armed with a sword, they should be able to get out of the situation relatively fast.
All they had to do was move fast!
Redcliff continued to point at the trio as more and more of the of the taverns patrons scuttled out of the room, intent on not getting in the middle of this.
"Surrender now and you'll be given a quick execution!" Redcliff's voice rang out, his excitement making it sound high-pitched and girly.
"Thanks, but I think we'll just leave" Nami responded, gritting her teeth at the men in front of her. Jolland had yet to reach for his flintlock, good thought Nami, it meant they could get out of this fast!
"As you wish" Redcliff sneered
Nami Starred in horror as the Captains' arm turned into a cannon, aimed straight at her
"SALVO!" Redcliff shouted,
And his cannon-arm spewed a cloud of smoke, fire and lead…..
Second chapter of this fic
Sorry it took a while to update, but I've been a little busy lately
Threads in this chapter that did major things
Strawhats:
The princesses: Viola, Rebecca, Vivi, Shirahoshi and the two Kuja
Some princess hunters (The Foxy pirates aren't much active as of this chapter), while another unknow group is still active
The kings
The marines: Redcliff and Jolland
The Big Mom pirates have only been marginally active this chapter, as have some independents, their cameos was really more of an update of what they're doing frankly.
My little OC's this chapter
Captain Jolland is somewhat named after the battle of Jutland during WWI: his Zoan fruit will be revealed in the next chapter
While Captain Redcliff is named after Battle of Red cliffs in China back in 208-9 AC. His Paramecia fruit, the Fune-fune No Mi (Ship-ship fruit) will be fleshed more out in the next chapter.
Fran will make a proper introduction and be fleshed out more later.
I hope you've enjoyed the chapter,
until next time, RnR please