Blood binds like Iron chains chapter 10
Finally!
(on the Long Long Pirate's flagship)
Up on the bridge the swordsman looked like he was ready to take another swing, but as he was drawing back his left arm for a downward slash, the woman with the staff landed a blow to the back of his head.
Even above the sound of the waves clashing against the ship or the whimpering of the pirate crew on the deck, Vivi could hear th
"CUT IT OUT! WE'RE HERE TO GET THEM, NOT KILL THEM!" to Vivi, the voice sounded strangely familiar, like one she hadn't heard in years...
"YOU WANT THEM?" the captain howled in fear "THEY'RE YOURS! WE SURRENDER!" the captain yelled as loud as he could, brandishing his long beard as some sort of makeshift white flag waving it left and right, while his crew quickly followed suit, throwing down their weapons on the deck and raising their arms high above their heads.
On the bridge Vivi could see the woman with the staff jump into their, cheering loudly, while the swordsmans' amr trembled, making it look like he was going to slash at them again. Somehow Vivi both were and wasn't worried at the same time, but she didn't know why.
finally the boarders stepped into the light, unsurprisingly it was the swordsman first, a long katana blade held in his outstretched arm, still trembling in rage at being denied the chance to cut and slash at will.
Vivi's fear, however, completely vanished when she saw the green dressed figure step fully into the light.
His chest was bare, brandishing a huge scar from a previous battle, and anothe newer one marked his stonelike face, But Vivi could recognise that green hair anywhere!
Roronao Zoro, swordsman of the Strawhat pirates and one of Vivi's old traveling companions.
as soon as she saw him, VIvi knew who the woman from before were, and as soon as the orange haired navigator stepped into the ligth she could see her smiling back at her with an affection she'd missed for two long years.
Two horrible, adventureless years.
But looking at Nami, made the wait all worth it.
Vivi noted however, that she wasn't the only one Nami was looking at.
Turning her head towards the bow, Vivi could see whom it was that had assaulted the ship alone.
As soon as he appeared in the light, she recognised him, even those that lived under a rock knew who Jinbe was, the great Knight of the sea and a former Shichibukai worth a staggering 440 million Beli.
Vivi watched him nervously, not because of him being a fishman or that she didn't know him, but a shichibukai, former or current, weren't really her favourite people.
"Jinbe-osama!" A happy voice chimed out and Vivi was surprised to see that it was Shirahoshi that had spoken. She shouldn't have been, it was common knowledge that Jinbe had the ears of many a ruler along the grand line, both of countries and of ships.
And he wasn't the only new crewmeber of the strawhats that Vivi would be introduced to, as a hatch on the deck was opened and two figures ascended from the storage. Vivi had seen their posters, but the sight of the two new additions to the strawhat crew were both quite bizarre.
The lanky Soul king Brook was literally a skeleton with an afro thick as a hedgerow, while the other one, the Iron Shogun Franky was, even with his arms full of barrels and crates, clunky looking, like a dozen boxes was being worn on the arms. What really caught her attention was the blue hair in the shape of a fox (that was giving everyone a thumbs-up).
"Did you guys get it all?"
"They didn't have much Nami, practically no treasure and I couldn't carry anymore food!" the bluehaired giant responded "Most of it got busted when someone slashed the deck up!"
Zoro simply shrugged the criticism off, only looking disappointed he didn't get to cut more.
Meanwhile the walking skeleton was walking towards the womens' group, much to Vivi's discomfort, the sight of that odd man giving her all the wrong associations. The meatless man ended his walk a few feet frm her, where he bowed deeply.
"Brook, Don't you dare ask your usual question!" Nami warned as she walked towards the women at a brisk pace, what drove most, Vivi didn't know, anger or worry.
"Ok, I won't" the skeleton replied overhis shoulder, his bony gaze being firmly fixed upon the chained women "because I can already see their panties! Yohohohohoho!" the skeleton chortled as Vivi grew red as a beet, an act mirrored by the other women.
In the corners of her mind, Vivi damned the pirates for ripping their clothes, sick perverts!
Right now, it appeared that she was in the company of another one, one she knew was with her friends no less…. Vivi knew then that it would be a very long trip.
The sound of an outraged scream made her head spin towards the sliced side of the ship, where the Strawhats' ship had come to rest. Upon a grass covered deck, Vivi could see a shape that was coming towards the ship she was on.
When it landed, she was both perplexed and happy to see that it was in fact Luffy, the captain of the strawhat pirates, holding a squirming Sanji wrapped in chains in his arms.
The bound chef looked at the similarly chained women with a amorous look in his eye, which immediately switched places with one of outrage when turned to the Long Long Pirates, several of which were smart, but not fast, enough to hide their souvenirs behind their backs.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO ALL THESE BEAUIFUL WOMEN-CHANS?" His face had taken on the properties of an erupting volcano, looking a bit like a rabid dog that had would break its leash at any given moment.
"WE SURRENDER!" the captain howled in response, still waving a tuft of his long beard like crazy, hoping that it would save him from the insane people that had boarded his ship (and destroyed most of it).
"We heard you before" the large fishman responded, his stonelike face looking like that of a gargoyle in the lamplight, a fact which didn't help the Long Long Pirates' spirits in the least
"WHAAAAT?" Luffy's loud pitched voice rang out across the deck like a foghorn, shock and disappointment evident in his face, which went from that, to furious. Even when several of the shackled women called out to him happily (despite Vivi not understanding why Rebecca said "Lucy-san") he looked angry.
"What ya mean surrender? We ain't gonna fight?" he whined, his face dropping like wax on a lit caddle
"No Luffy, we're not going to fight" Nami chastised him "JInbe-chan and Zoro already took care of them"
"But they're still standing!"
"Don't whine about this Luffy! This is good! We don't' need to do anything"
"But that's boring Namiiii!"
"What's more important, that we save our friends or you having an adventure?"
"Oh, they're here too, neat!"
While Luffy waved at their little group, seemingly not giving much thought to them being in chains, referring to them by name (weak-hoshi was a bit of a surprise though), Nami looked like she was contemplating whether it was worth smashing her staff over his head or just tie him up with his own arms.
Vivi couldn't control her own mouth "You all know him?"
A happy number of confirmations from all of the women later, Vivi looked at the Strawhat captain again, smiling as she went "You've been busy haven't you?"
"Not really! We kinda just meet people" Luffy laughed at her before he continued "And then we helo them with something"
Vivi got the distinct feeling that the something he talked about revolved about him beating it up to his hearts' desire (and get horribly wounded in the process, not to mention the state of the rest of his crew).
Speaking of which, Vivi was beside herself with joy to see that they were all ok, healthy as horses, Nami looking stunning even when annoyed by her crews' antics. Zoro not bothering to show anything other than his stoic expression. Over at their new ship, she could see a small potbellied shape that was jumping up and down waving in her direction, next to another, taller and more feminine form that was mimicking Choppers behaviour. Up on the bridge Vivi could vaguely see a woman behind the wheel with another form that moved like around as if they were trying too hide. While not her favourite person, Vivi assumed that it was a good thing Nico Robin was well too, though it dampened her happiness at seeing Usopp a little. As long as he was still shaking and trying to hide, but hadn't hidden yet, then everything was good, at least for the moment.
Which left the last of the members she had befriended:
Sanji was looking at them weird again, spouting kind and somewhat creepy little compliments about how beautiful they all looked (even in their torn clothes, or perhaps especially because of it).
Viola was especially taken by the words it seemed, smiling at him and greeting him with a smile and a "Sanji-kun" which seemed to make the chef melt and go wobbly in his chains.
"Why is Sanji-san…" she began, hoping for an explanation
"It was the only way to make him stay still and not ruin the plan" Zoro responded, a cocky smile playing on his lips "My idea, he's been completely uncontrollable the last few days trying to save your hides"
"Stupid mosshead!" Sanji protested, before he turned to plead with his captain "Let me go Luffy! Shirahoshi-chan, Vivi-chan, Viola-chan and the other women-chans are still in chains!"
At this, Franky dropped the crates with a crash and stepped forward "I can fix that in a jiffy, I'm especially super with chains this week", as he finished, one of the shipwrights hands flipped over, revealing a jet of flame that lit up his face in a rainbow of flickering colours.
Naturally Vivi shied away, same with the other women.
"Franky, You're scaring them, haven't they been through enough?"
"But Nami, I can slice through the chains faster than you can open those locks!"
"If it's slicing, you can't compete with me"
"Don't you dare touch them Mosshead!"
All of their bickering fell silent at the sound of metal cracking and shattering
Looking over her shoulder, Vivi was a bit surprised to see that it was the two Kuja that had broken their bonds.
"Could you do that all the time?"
"No" Rindo simply responded with a deadpan expression
"We needed time and a diversion" Marguerite chimed in happily "Else those men would have prevented it!"
When the pair moved to free her, Vivi gratefully accepted. As the kuja turned to the others, Vivi herself turned to Nami and hugged her, crying happily at being reunited with her old friends.
Remembering something important, Vivi withdrew
"What's wrong?"
"We gotta go Nami, there's another group coming this way!"
"More pirates?"
"I don't know, but they've been hounding us all day long!"
"They strong?" Luffy inquired with an interested look on his face.
"Very strawhat-san, they defeated a group of slavers that we encountered, and they had fighting fish to help them?" Viola's cautioning words should have frightened him, but Luffy's face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Let's go fight 'em then!" he declared, much to his crews' (or at least the not-bloodthirsty members of it) dismay "Nami, set the course! We can still get to have a little fun!" he smiled, dropping a still struggling Sanji on the broken deck, while the rubberman rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
Nami stared dumbfound at her captain "You can't be serious?"
"Of course he's serious, and why shouldn't we fight a little?" Zoro smiled confidently "We might as well get a little fun to celebrate this victory" the last word, the swordsman said in a tone so bitter it gave Vivi the chills.
"Can we put this to a vote?" Nami said with a cocked eyebrow "All in favour of getting our friends…. And others…." she added with a brief look at the Kuja pirates "Safely away from here with no more fighting"
Most of the crew members present raised their hands, leaving only Luffy and Zoro, both with their arms crossed, looking dejected, before the captain and swordsman both grinned
"It's ok!" Luffy began, his smile broadening considerably
"We can deal with this ourselves!" Zoro finished, much to the other crewmembers' disappointment.
"We can help too" Marguerite volunteered, pointing to herself and Rindo, whom didn't seem to care about what she did.
Sighing heavily Jinbe stepped forward "Luffy-kun, I'm sorry but that would be a bad idea aswell"
"Why?"
Ignoring the whiny tone, and perhaps expecting it, the huge fishman continued "Because these women are all obviously tired and in need of food and safety, going off to battle will only delay that, besides, most of our meal got scrambled during Sanji-sans last…. episode"
Vivi looked expectantly at Luffy, hoping he'd see reason
"Right…." the captain finally caved in,
and,
much to Sanji's chagrin and jealousy,
Luffy's pouting seemed to instantly endear him to all the women that had been saved.
(On the seas)
This had been fun!
He had loved figthing that overgrown gorilla of a man, and his crew always benefitted from some nice excersice.
That they'd heard the whereabouts of the missing princeses, was just icing on the cake!
To think he'ds almost given up when they lost them on that archiepelago!
Now he had a course, and soon he'd have the Mermaid princess,
and her father would give him exactly what he wanted!
Not that the other women wouldn't be a bonus,
but he hadn't decided what the reward for those would be,
not yet at least.
"Guess I'll know that when I get them..." he mused excitedly, rubbing his hands in anticipation of how powerful his crew would be in the near future.
so far, the treasures they'd taken from their opponents would keep his mens' avarice in check.
To think that their rivals would carry around the main part of thier treasures, and food, on the first ship he encountered had been a nice surprice.
If their luck continued, then they'd have those women in custody before dawn broke,
no matter whom was guarding them!
(shortly thereafter, on the Long Long Pirates' flagship)
After the pirate captain had seen them leave, then he'd made sure that at least they hadn't lost all of their treasure (and food).
"ok men, salvage what you can, and get this ship moving!"
"Ay-ay captain"
"Get all the men up from the Water and let's get a move on! What can't be saved we'll leave, and be quick about it! There's still that other crew that attacked Balong, and we're in no condition to fight right now!"
Seeing his crew get to Work as fast as they could, made the captain believe that they could make it in time.
He doubted that his crew would blame him for surrendering to the Strawhats,
but they all knew of their reputation and had seen what they did the first time they'd met.
All Things considered, and compared to their actions at Dressrosa, then his crew had gotten off easy!
Even if they'd lost most of the money they'd pillaged.
(On the Sunny, at the same time)
Nami toasted Again, happy that their hunt was over.
She hadn't doubted that they'd find them, at least after Sanji's visions had been proven right, before that she'd been terribly worried for their lives.
But now that they'd found them, some different problems and questions would be arising soon:
1. How and where and when to get them back to their families? It was not an option for them to keep travelling with the crew, they had planned to meet up with Law at Wano country soon, and she couldn't make herself let their Allies Down, even if it was a pirate alliance and some party was going to betray the other at some point. Besides, involving them in their battle with Kaido, and the other Yonko is Luffy got his way, was downright irresponsible.
2. How were they going to accomodate them all, while they sailed with them? Franky had been putting up an extra bed in the girls room for Carrot, but now they had 6 extra women on board. And Shirahoshi couldn't get in through any of the doors, so she would be forced to sleep out on the deck. And given her timid nature, someone had to join her for company (just in case, Nami had voluntered Chopper). And Nami hadn't even considered food yet! Her crew, as much as she loved them, ate like a small army of gluttons on a normal day (Luffy was more than a little guilty in this), and now with 6 extra mouthes... Nami could almost sense the coins running through her fingers like water from a spring.
Making sure their ruined clothes were displaced wasn't as big a problem as it appeared, for now they'd just taken the spare sails from the Long Long pirates, which meant that all their guests were now dressed in Toga style, which had led to the rest of the crew adorn themselves in similar garb. But Nami knew, deep down, that she was going to sacrifice most of her wardrope for their new travelling companions. And then sacrifice more money to get them some propper clothing next time they docked, and then hope, that whatever port they'd found had a well stocked clothing store.
3. How were they going to get along on the trip? While the Strawhats were usually quite charming, several problems arose with this many new people on board, and they had already begun as soon as they'd stepped foot on the ship. The Specific episode she was thinking of, had been when a very Excited and happy Carrot hade performed the traditional Garchu with all their new travelling companions. That wouldn't have been a big problem, if she hadn't started with Shirahoshi. Suddnely feeling warms fuzzyness on ones face, that was particularly alive, spouting "Garchu" at the top of their lungs would freak out most people, a humongous scaredycat especially. A fearful swipe at her huge tail had nearly shattered the mast, and would have, if Jinbe hadn't stopped it in time.
On the same note, Nami had already had a falling out with the Princess Viola over whether or not to release Sanji from his chains. Nami had lost that argument (though not for lack of trying, Luffy had just freed Sanji from his bonds "Parties are best when everyones celebrating!"(she had to agree with him there)) alowing the amourous chef to try and garchu every new woman on board.
4. Protecting their new passengers from other pirates. The Long Long crew had been easy to deal with, but they'd also met slavers (whom, to Jinbe's disgust, was some one he knew from the days of Fisher Tiger) and another crew that had been hounding them for a while. Whomever they were, Nami felt, their tenacity taken into account, that she'd get to meet them soon enough. Hopefully it'd go similarly to their encounter with the other crew, but she doubted it.
Then there were the marines. They were on the lookout too, and Nami didn't doubt that they'd inevitably run into them when they reached Runny Rum Archiepelago. But if Jinbe were right about the former subordinates of Whitebeard, then they at least wouldn't be facing them alone. It still made her uneasy though.
But after she'd drunk Franky, the blonde Kuja Marguerite and God Usopp (as both Viola and Rebecca called him repeatedly, much to the longnosed cannoneers' pride and delight) under the table, Nami couldn't help but look forward to the trip that lay before her, She'd get to know all of these new characters, even if they'd be in more trouble than usually!
end of chapter 10
I did promise it'd be a short one this time around. Which explains why it only took me two days to finish.
The next few chapters will hopefully be short aswell, since that means I get to update faster and cover more of the story I've got planned.
Buckle up, because it'll soon be time for this here story to get serious and really live up to the summary!
threads:
the princesses and the Strawhats have finally found eachother, but there's going to be some stormy clouds on the horizon!
the princess hunters: the Long Long Pirates have, faced with the full might of the Strawhats and an attack on another front, wisely given up.
The other hunting party is still active though! And they're not giving up fort the life of them.
RnR if You'd be so kind