Blood ties like Iron Binds
New normal – getting along with crowding!
(On the sunny)
Nami yawned and stretched before she leaned backwards on the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny.
Damn, she had fun last night!
Then she remembered where she'd fallen asleep, right on top of Shirahoshi, specifically in her voluminous pink hair.
If she'd fallen asleep anywhere else on the mermaid princess, she was sure the perverts on her crew (Brook, Sanji and Usopp (even if he hid it better than the others)), would have had festival at the sight, especially since the princess' toga had come undone and vast amounts of her figure was bare to the world.
Fortunately for her, Sanji was out cold aswell, having fallen asleep, siimlarly to Nami, in the arms of one of their new travelling companions; Viola.
Which meant that Nami had ample opportunity to help her friend get a little covered up before the rest of the party guests woke up. While she definetly doubted that they'd do anything perverted, they watch a bit too much and get more than a little randy from it. Then there was the inevitable Kyaaaah, (which, with Shirahoshi's lungs would be performed with a deafening volume) and that would wake everyone up, and given how much they'd drunk the night before, the vast majority of them would have a splitting headache!
If Nami had ever been seriously affected by alcohol, she'd be jealous of Rebecca and Shirahoshi. The first had been prevented (or rather forbidden) by her aunt from drinking, while the latter had simply declined and stuck to cola for the night (which had swiftly depleted their already limited stores (Nami couldn't help but giggle at the face Franky would make when the cyborg heard it)).
Getting a firm grip on the sailcloth the Mermaid was covered in, Nami pulled, hoping to hide a little of her young friends' body from prying eyes.
All she managed was to get Shirahoshi to stir in her sleep, reach out a hand, and grap her around the waist.
getting a bear hug first thing in the morning wasn't a bad start of the day, and technically,Nami had accomplished her objective, but being trapped and pressed to the chest of one of her friends who was mumbling about "Nami-sama is so soft" wasn't exactly desirable, at least not when one of her friends could wake up at any moment.
Othervise, being envelloped by a cover of warm, kind affection, was in itself wonderful, if a bit allencompasing.
Warmth + sleepy + no way of escape = falling asleep. And sure as can be, Nami soon yawned and began to loose consciousness, despite her best efforts.
"I don't mean to pry, but..."
As soon as she heard the words, Nami's eyes sprung open as if a cannon had been fired. Whipping her head around, she swiftly located the speaker, unsurprisingly, it was one of their new guests: Viola.
"You don't seem to have much luck with that one, or did you plan on getting trapped?"
Looking at the older woman, Nami coudn't help but notice where she'd slept, still resting her head on Sanji's shoulder (the chef had fallen asleep and was lying on his back, his own head proopped against the remains of a bread from their feast last night). Next to Viola, her niece Rebecca sat propped up against a cola barrel. The intimacy of the situation wasn't lost on Nami, nor was it on Viola, both of whom blushed a little, but not for the same reasons.
"You wouldn't give me a hand would you?" Nami tried after a short while, hoping a disarming smile would make the princess help her out
"Then I'd have to move..." Viola pursed her lips, eyes hhalfopen, looking like she was almost about to go back to sleep.
"Please help me?" Nami tried again, the smile she had from before, slowly beginning to disappear as her annoyance grew.
"I'd still have to move..." the teasing continued, and now the princess had both her eyes closed with a coy smile on her lips. Nami couldn't hear it, but she could see the tell tale sign of a rising chest that the Dressrosan princess had sighed in contentment.
Nami pursed her lips, starting to have a hard time controlling her anger "I'll tell you what..." she started slowly, making Viola lazily open one of her eyes, and Nami's expresion making the other one snap open in attention, a joyless smile playing on the navigators' lips "As soon as Sanji wakes up, the sight of this..." she tilted her head in effect towards the dozing mermaid "Will make him jump so high that you'll end up in the sea..." she paused for effect, having guessed the surprised retort that was already on Viola's tongue.
"Sanji won't be the one to rescue you, He'll have been turned to stone before you hit the water" Nami wasn't cruel enough to actually wake up the chef and subject the princess to it, but Viola of course, wasn't aware of that.
The princess looked at her in surprise "Turned to stone?" she repeated with an air of disbelief "Really?"
Before Nami could answer, Viola had turned around towards Sanji, one hand raised to her face, looking through a hoop formed by her index finger and thumb.
"Oh, I guess you're right in that department..." the princess said eventually before looking at Nami, whom had gotten a surprised look on her own face, oh yeah... devilfruit user, better not tease about that getting her dumped intoo water...
As soon as she'd thougth it, Nami realised that Viola was loking at her, and reading her thougths!
"Why thank you for the concern, but I think Rebecca would save me before I even came over the water" the princess responded with a confident smile
"Hey!"
"What? I'm not allowed to know who sails on this ship, bearing not only me, but my precious niece?" Viola motioned to the pink haired exgladiator at her side And others..." she continued, casting a sideways glance at Sanji, and to an extent, the others that had been there to save Dressrosa.
"It's still more than a bit invasive!" Nami argued, still outraged at having her thoughts read like an open book
"It's still perfectly justified from my standing point"
"You mean you lying point..." Nami corrected her calmly, not in the mood for a lengthy debate of right and wrong, but perfectly fine with a bit of condescending for the time being "You could also say from your position, but that'd be a bit too vague under the current circumstances"
"What are you implying?" the princess asked, a tone of anger rising at the back of her voice
Again Viola looked through her fingerhoop at Nami, much to her displeasure.
"Oh..." for a moment the former assasin looked relieved "It's not something like that in this case... yet" she smiled as Nami Blushed slightly
"Not a shy are you?" the navigator eventually said a drop of sweat running down her slightly red forehead.
"Not particularly, but I'm from Dressrosa, and the girls from my kingdom have a reputation that is partially well earned" the woman smiled mysteriously at Nami, before looking at her through the finger hoop again "Let's see what else you're hinking, I think it's faster than talking a hundred hours, especially since you're gooing to do that with your old friends here" she motioned to Vivi and Shirahoshi "and these two new faces" she motioned to the sleeping Kuja, the joyful Marguerite and the more stoice Rindo.
Nami started to protest when she suddenly felt a hand grip her toga and pull at it.
The navigator only just managed to blurt out a surprised and sligthly protesting "What the...?", before she, with the sound of her toga getting ripped to shreds, was pulled out of Shirahoshi's warm embrace and dropped on the deck.
After finding her balance, Nami looked around to find uot whom had helped her, not surprisingly, it was her captain, grinning from ear to ear.
"Great party last night eh, Nami?" was all he said
Sighing a little, Nami reasoned that at least she was out of her cage, but not pleased with her toga being torn, leaving her to try and cover herself up a little "That's the first thing you say? Not something normal like: Good morning?"
"It's almost Noon, Nami-san"
turning her head, Nami was, despite that she really shouldn't be, surprised to see that jinbe was up and about, taking careful steps to avoid disturbing any of the sleeping forms that lay on the deck. She also noted, to her satisfaction, that he retained eye contact, and didn't let his eyes wander over her lack of clothing, like some men would.
"Most of the Morning has already passed?"
"YES!" Luffy's serious tone took her aback, but not for long, as she knew him all too well, so looking at a surpriced Viola, the navigator smirked at what was to follow in a moments' time.
Luffy took a deepbreath before roaring, as high as he possibly could:
"SANNNNJIIIIIII! FOOOOOOOOOOOD!"
Needless to say, Nami did get to see Viola fly that morning, but not very far, and definetly not landing in the ocean, instead it was Usopp, much to the snipers shocked discomfort, that cushioned her fall, landing directly upon his chest., leaving the man gasping for breath.
The chef, at getting adressed in the usual manner, didn't waste much time finding out whom had snuggled next to him a mere moment before, instead he moved like a zombie towards his domain, the kitchen, to make sure that his captain wouldn't howl so loud that hed' go deaf.
Luffy in turn didn't waste time following him, and, when the chef realised that there were an aabundance of other women than Nami, Robin and Carrot on board, the captain made sure to push him into the kitchen, despite his very outraged protests (which only grew once he saw that nami's toga had been ripped, showing off much of her figure).
Nami smiled, happy to, not only be out of a pickle, both a physical and a mental one, but because Viola seemed to have forgotten to read her mind further, instead looking disappointingly after Sanji, as he was forced and ordered into the kitchen by Luffy.
"MAKE FOOD!"
"But I wan't to talk to the women-chans!"
"FOOOD! BREAKFAST AND DINNER!"
"Women-chans!"
"BRINNER!!"
Nami's smile broadened, happy that somethigns never changed on board the Thousand Sunny, even if it was Luffy's foolish commands which mainly revolved around getting in danger and ordering more food (typically right after he'd been served his second and third portion).
Nami then felt a chill as the wind blew past her, entering through the torn sailcloth toga and caressing the bare skin beneath.
Naturally Nami quickly decided that she needed to change and swiftly made herself scarce, hoping her spped beat that of any prying eyes.
(On Runny Rum Archiepelago)
Galette yawned deeply.
it had gotten late last night.
Not from parting like she had done for the past week, which had been a blessing for her mind to be honest (even with Amande's scolding and the hangovers taken into account), but because the call she'd made to Smoothie had been so ungodly long.
Explaining all they'd learnt from spying on the marines had drawn out in the infinite, explaining the same thing to two dozen of her siblings had lost its' charm exceedingly fast, especially because people kept arriving in the middle of her explanation. While you'd think the others could fill the newly arrived in on it, but it turned out, that less than half had payd attention, which led Galette to having to explain it all over again about 7-9 times.
She'd been wise enough to omit what else she'd been doing the last few days, other than recruit some former underligns of Whitebeard (which included one of her brothers' clinically insane, feline-happy and strangely jovial cousin). Somehow being on an epic binge and flirtfest didn't seem liek what Mama would like to hear, thinking back at her hangovers, Galette didn't want to remember them herself.
Looking down at the ship as it waas docking in the secluded harbour, Galette wanted, almost more than anything, that she was having the mother of all hangovers, while explaining her more obnoxious and concentration-challenged siblings the story, all over again.
The reason was simple enough: They'd gotten reinforcements.
While Galette and Amande had been on the archiepelago, it had been just the two of them, and enough money to live confortably in a highend, but not high luxury, hotel. That had a number of advantages:
1. It had allowed them both to indulge in some fun of their own.
2. Two people could move around without drawing too much attention to themselves, which, when there was a large marinebase on the very island they were on, might be a pretty good idea.
But now, those days were over.
Now the pair of them had company, and what company!
Watching them walk down the plank and step foot on the pier.
the homie, the idiot and the sexist.
"Do we really need them?"
"...Yes Galette..." Amande responded, her voice tired "Sister Smoothie thought it'd be a good idea to have some protection, and since we're about to steal from the marines here, I won't be surprised if there's more than first anticipated"
Sighing deeply, Galette pinched the bridge of her nose, before mentally, and visually, going over the pro's and cons of their newly arrived aides.
Kato wasn't a big problem per ce, he was obedient and his physique made him a very versatile homie, but his head made him stand out, even in tottoland a talking pumpkin would draw some stares afterall, so he'd stick out like a sorethumb regardless of his rather diminuitive size. The cloak and the oversized sword wasn't helping either.
Durum... oh where to begin with him? Something as rare as a cousin of one of her siblings (Specificallly the quintouplet brothers, the fifth through the 9th son of the family, Opera, Counter, Cadenza, Cabaletta and Gala) that had been allowed to join the crew. Durum was as strong as one of them, but hadn't half the intellect of even a particularly dumb sheep. Big as a bull, built like a gorilla and twice as savage, the gaptoothed simpleton would only cause trouble for their mission. No doubt Smoothie had just wanted to get rid of him herself. Somehow, his less desirable traits made him well liked by his cousins.
And then there was Dacquise... oh where to begin with that one?
First of all, he was of the same species as Galettes' father (not that she knew how he looked or who he was), one of the Devil tribe, a longlived and nocturnal tribe of humaniods with a dread reputation. They pretty much made of the vast majority of the Impel down staff (specifically the leaders of the hell hole), even a former member of the shichibukai, Moriah Gekko, had been a member, before his dsappearance. Devilish features were normal amongst them, Galette herself had a pair of horns, while Dacquise had a pair of wings. It was the only thing that actually made him stand out, even with the combination of his dreadlocks and the tuxedo, he could be ignored in a crowd.
What couldn't be ignored, was his amourous personality. Most would be able to, but most people were fortunate enough not to be his type, which seemed to be Galette and her twinsister Poire. An admirer wasn't a bad thing per ce, but when it got to the stalking level of Dacquise, it became downright creepy. FOr months at a time, he'd pursue the pair, and not just for a date, but outright marriage.
I must be strong, just gotta endure his company until this mission is over Galette kept reminding herself, but as soon as the creep saw her, he smiled like a predator, mouthing an almost audible "babycakes".
I suppose an accident could happen... Galette thought, being silently happy that Dacquise was violently pushed aside by the oncomming form of her younger brother Brownie, looking as angry as Mama when she didn't get her way immediatly, or when her snacks were late.
"Ok, We're here, now what?" he asked in his whiny little annoying voice, while picking his nose.
"What do you mean now what? Aren't you going back to Tottoland?" Galette looked at her younger sibling with confusion. Behind her, Amande cleared her throat "I assume that sister Smoothie decided that we were better off with more reinforcements?"
"Pretty much" Brownie finished picking his nose with a smile "And I ain't happy about it either, means I have to wait until you're done and act as a pack mule for whatever it was you were gonna steal"
"What luck we didn't bring a ship ourselves..." Galette grumbled sarcastically, which unfortunately was lost on her fool of a sibling
"Not good enough, Mama wants us to bring all the candy we can fill in the hold, and one ship ain't even enough for breakfast nowadays"
"So Mama's gotten better? That's good"
"Sure is Amande-neesan, Galette-neesan" their fat brother beamed with a smile, his previous displeasure seemingly forgotten.
"But you canøt stay in the harbour, the whole island is being searched by the marines regularly"
"Sister Smoothie already thought about that Galette-neesan" Brownie responded, his annoyance returning with a vengeance "If the two of you don't need me, then my orders are to set out to sea as soon as possible and try not to get caught or attack another pirate crew!"
Letting her little brother go on about how unfair it was that he wasn't allowed to do a little raiding while he was here, but Smoothie's logic was sound, the less suspecion they aroused, the better their chances of suceeding with their new mission.
However, as Dacquise began to walk next to her, his hand occasionally brushing against hers, Galette knew it was only a matter of time before she had some sort of very public meltdown.
I hope you get hurt you insufferable weirdo was all she thought as their small group began to make their way to one of the many seedy bars and taverns that lined the harbour area.
(on the sunny)
Nami hadn't had a dinner like that in a while.
That is, an overcrowded kitchen, where most of the crew had sat on the floor, lending up their seats for their new guests (others had been pushed/showed off their chairs by Sanji in his quest trying to sit next to all the women at once, Nami and Robin included, much to the formers' chagrin) and subsequently sending food out to Shirahoshi whom, for obvious reasons, couldn't enter the kitchen, crcing her to converse with the others through an open door, her face filling the entirity of the entrance. Come too think of it, even Jinbe and Franky (after his transformation) had trouble entering at times, so did Luffy when exiting after he'd eaten to his hearts desire (the record so far was 29 double servings, not that they had that much food everyday, or Sanji wanting to cook that much). The closest she'd been to anything like it, had been the feast after they'd gotten out of Tottoland with the Sun Pirates, the Firetank crew and the giant warriors, or, as she was repeatedly told by Usopp upon reuniting with them, the sixth division of the Strawhat Grand fleet.
It hadn't helped that, to Nami, it appeared that they hadn't that much food left (only two servings, even for the captain).
Another problem was that they continued to have a housing problem, specifically space.
More than three times Nami'd have to squeeze her way through a throng of women, and Sanji, just to get to the food at the table (asking for food to be passed around at the table was considered illadvised around Luffy, it had gotten tp the point were it was consider bad luck as well, lest you wanted to have your hand bitten).
"I think we need to adress the elephant in the room"
"There's an elephant here?" Luffy looked happily around, stretching his neck all over the place, much to their guests' amaze- and entertainment. Despite the giggles and laughter (and the pinching by both of the Kuja (Sanji, Usopp and Brook had turned very jealous at that)) Luffy had looked behind backs and in cabinets, trying to find the animal "Where is it? I'm still hungry!"
"The elephant that Nami-san is speaking of, Luffy-kun, isn't really an animal, but more of a pressing matter that has to be adressed" Turning To Jinbe Nami was pleased to see his positive influence on her captain, if it continued, Luffy might even be less crazy in the future.
"Is that a problem?"
"Yes, it's a problem"
"Well what is it?"
With a sigh Nami began to explain "We've saved our friends as we set out to do, but there's few practical issues that comes wiht it"
holding up some fingers to illustrate her points, Nami began to summarize
"1. As you yourself noted, we don't have that much food"
Almost immediatly Sanji's hand shot up faster than a lightningbolt "I can eat less! So can Luffy! And we can always throw mosshead off the ship! And Jinbe can fish for us!"
"What was that, ya crappy chef?"
Sanji ignored the swordsmen however "Brook's made of bone, he doesn't need to eat!"
"That's right!" The musician chimed in with a laugh, never missing a chance top joke with his condition "We must all make sacrifices Nami!" Nami could almost hear the ancient pirate say everything for their panties beneath his breath. Meanwhile, Zoro had gotten up from his seat on the floor, giving the chef a dirty look as he opened began to repeat his question from before "What was that, ya crappy chef?"
"Shut it Mosshead! I'm trying to do the right thing here! We've only just gotten the women-chans on the ship, we can atleast let them stay for a while no?"
"You're trying to pick a fight is what you are doing"
"Enough!" both chef and swordsman fell silent (Brook too), looking directly at Jinbe, the former shichibukai giving both a stern look, even when he was sitting on the floor, he towered over both
"2. We dont' have infinite amounts of Space on the sunny, let alone a place for everyone to sleep"
After giving Sanji the chance to babble the Guys can sleep on the deck! Nami continued unabated
"3. Each of our guests here" she motioned to the assembled women, all of whom were watching her with a bit of unease, some with displeasure "have friends and Family that's going to be worried out of their minds for their safety..."
taking Deep breath Nami looked seriously at Luffy, a harder task than it should be since she was inwardly cracking up at seeing his neck still retracting like a bungeecord "It'd be cruel against their families and friends to keep them apart much longer, besides..."
The Words seemingly sunk into even Luffy's thick head, the rest of the crew, and their guests sitting in an attentive silence, waiting for Nami to continue, the navigator had been a bit suprised that there was no interruptions this time around, hurried to finish her argument
"...We are still on our way to Wano, and we can't drag people we care about needlessly into our battles, can we?"
Silence still reigned, most of the crew Deep in thought, even Brook and Sanji didn't make a sound, as although neither wanted to part with theri guests, and especially so soon, they didn't want them to get hurt either.
"But we can stay here for a while right?"
Looking at Vivi, Nami couldn't help but smile "Untill we find some way to get you to your families, that's not the issue, just space, food and..." she gave the assembled women a quicklook, all still clad in their toga's from the previous night "..clothes, obviously"
"Couldn't we just borrow some of yours for the time being?"
"Sure, but... we are nine women onboard, Rebecca-san, with new clothes each day for all of us... Well..." Nami scratched her head in embarasment, even with heer voluminous wardrope it'd be a stretch on day 3 "And that's just one issue, there's still the chance of some of your pursuers will pop up"
"The horned captain!" Shirahoshi squeaked from outside the kitchen, her face trembling at the memory of their brief encounter
"Like that one, yes" Nami agreed "or perhaps others that are still out there"
"Like that boss we heard about on that Pirate ship" Rindo said, puffing on a cigarette, most gracefully provided by Sanji's stock, much to the chefs' joy.
"Yeah" Vivi shivered "Any one that could make that oddball obey isn't someone I'd want to meet"
"What pirate crew?"
"We saw a ship a few days ago and decided to investigate, perhaps steal some food" Vivi said, directed, not only at Nami, but at the rest of the crew "The pirates kept talking about some boss that was comming and the captain seemed afraid of him, he had a stack of wanted posters of you Luffy, all cut into confetti!"
"Who was this person?" Vivi tured to Robin as soon as the archeologist had spoken, her eyes showing more than a fair share of distrust "Did you see their flag? Hear their crews' name?"
"We..." Vivi hesitated, seeminlgy trying to remember that name, but Nami couldn't help but notice something else in her tone and mannerism.
"They called themselves the Beautiful pirates, one of them was called the beheader, a large man that didn't want to wear the pirate crews uniform, the captain was very fond of his... pet"
"Why haven't you said that beforehand?" Looking at Viola, Nami noted that the older woman was genuinly angry "I know their captain, he had a part in saving Dressrosa!"
"That captain also said that his boss always ruined everything!" the kuja puffed on her cigarette, before continuing "What are you doing?"
Viola, on her end, had once again formed a ring with her thumb and indexfinger and waas looking through it, directly at Rindo, with an expression that soon turned to anger "You knew that their boss knew some of us and didn't tell us! You didn't even tell us half of what happened on that ship!"
"How'd you..." Rindo and Vivi looked at Viola in surprice, before the darkhaired Kuja's eyes grew narrow "You're some sort of sorceress aren't you?"
"That's not the word you're thinking about" Viola sneered as she rose from her seat, anger radiating so intensely from her face that it could have set things too close ablaze "You ignorant little backwater Bi..."
She didn't get to say any more, as a dozen hands exploded out of the chairs and table, binding the two women before they could strike at one another, and the other women at the table aswell (Marguerite was already getting up to support her sister-in-arms, same with Rebecca to aid her aunt), and for good measure Sanji too, before he could put himself inbetween their fists. Several hands across their mouthes ensured that they wouldn't protest too loudly.
"That's enough I think"
Nami looked at Robin, more than a little relieved that her friend had decided to stop the brewing confrontation. Most at the table had their own responses however, Viola looking at Robin with anger in her eyes, while Rindo watched her attentively, treating the situation more like a study seesion than a confrontation.
Marguerite kept glancing left and right, from the hands that were holding her firmly in place, to the Strawhat archeologist, awe shinning from her eyes.
Vivi's eyes still shone with unease, never quite leaving Robin, still sitting on her chair, arms folded in her signature stance. Nami couldn't help but fel a bit uneasy at the implications.
Sanji was the only one that looked happy, to him all the arms were problably like a hug from Robin, a thought that brought him a lot of joy.
"While I understand that you have reason to bee angry for not being told everything that's happened" Robin continued, looking from Rindo to Viola "But given the circumstances, it's not hard to understand why you weren't told"
Robin stopped to allow her words to sink in.
To Nami's relief, it seemed to work, the two would-be-combatants calming down enough for Robin to begin to release her grips a little.
"Hmm, it is a coincidence though.." Robin began with an overbearing smile "That you'd run into Cavendishs' crew"
Most of the table looked confused at her, until Luffy smiled "Oh, Cabbage! How was he doing?"
"You know him Luffy?"
"Sure Vivi, met him in Dressflower... erh... Pressflower..."
"What Luffy means to say, is that Cavendish, and by extention his crew, is an ally of ours" Robin explained calmly
"Oh yeah, he's one of the division leaders right?" Nami still hadn't fully memorized all their new subordinate crews, having met Hajrudin had been overwhelmig enough in and of itself "First or the Second?"
"First Division Nami" Usopp piped in from the floor. Nami noted that he'd sought refuge from the prevented cat-fight behind an amused Franky.
"First division of what, and how many are there?"
Robin chuckled goodheartedly, which did nothing to answer Vivi's question, leaving someone else to explain.
That someone turned out to be Usopp, which he did with a proud smile.
"The Strawhat Grand Fleet! MY followers!"
"Wouldn't they be called the Long Nose Pirate Fleet then?"
"Usopp's just lying Rindo-san, they're Luffy's followers, not his" Nami noted that Usopps' head fell at being caught red handed, or it was the name of his alledged fleet?
"You have to admit, a boss that always ruin things for his subordinates, sounds like Luffy in a nutshell"
"That just means that we would have been saved almost immediatly if you'd just been open in the first place!" Nami sighed, Viola had seemingly found her legs again, glaring at the Kuja accusingly
"You didn't say you were a sorceress either"
Nami pinched the bridge of her nose almost unable to listen to anymore of this "Just to clarify, 1: It's not sorcery, it's a devil fruit!
2: both of you kept things from the group, how about just let bygones be bygones and get along while you're here!"
"I agree with Nami-scwann!" Sanji piped up, happpiness shinning out of his eyes, though a harsh glare from Nami made him shiver in fear "I agree with Nami-sama" the chef tried again "Viola-chan and Rindo-chan should hug and get along!"
Naturally the two women didn't comply to the chefs' suggestion, but, conversely they seemed to take Nami's words to mind.
"So if we can keep from killing eachother for a few days, we need to find some way to contact you guys' fathers and set up a meeting"
Vivi beamed at her old friend "That part won't be a problem at all"
When Nami looked confused at her, the Alabasta Princess explained her reasoning.
(On Runny Rum Archiepelago)
After entering one of the seaside taverns called the Blushing Mermaid,the small group of Big Mom pirates began to share information on the other groups that had beeen sent on missions. After each had taken in the looks of the establishment.
The tavern itself was nothing special, and not at alll what the crew was used to, no tables made of cake, chairs of pasta or talking cutlery, only plain wooden planks on barrels for tables and a bar that was just as basic. The only thing that made the place stand out was the vast assortment of wanted posters that filled the wall, all of them of female criminals and pirates, a fact which made it appear less like a den for bounty hunters and more liek an establishment for lecherous old men. Galette was pleased to see that neither hers nor Amande's bounties were up there, but a little peeved to see the Strawhats' Cat burglars'. It had angered her more than it should, to have some of their army's forces on Tottoland defeated by some little pirate with a bounty of a measly 66 million. Right next to the Orangehaired pest was the wanted poster of Whitey bay, displaying a more impressive 440 million bounty, which made Galette a little selfconscious about her own (ranging at a mere 190 million), but she took pride in the fact that the Ice Witch's was still less than Sister Smoothies' at 932 million (whom, unsurprisingly, was posted on the wall in a spot of honour no less), or Amandes', at 490.
There were other piratesses' posters aswell, the only female member of the worst genereation, Jewelry Bonnie, was a natural, so was the pirate empress Boa Hancock, even if it was dated and she most likely didn't look like that anymore. Others, like that of some smuggler from long ago, Gila-or-whatever was more surprising. What made Galette turn her head was when she found her younger sister Lola's poster, the one sister that had fled an amazing marriagepact (at least in terms of what it would bring Mama of power). The redhead didn't know what made her more angry at seeing the runaways' poster, the fact that she was still alive after her betrayal, or that she had only accumulated a mere 78 million bounty after years of sailing around, and, given her epithet (Marriage Proposal Lola), had tried to find a husband of her own, and failed miserably.
Pushing the thoughts aside, Galette sat down on a rickety chair. Not far from her, much to her chagrin, Dacquise sat, no doubt in her mind eyeing her behind his sunglasses.
"So how is brother Daifuku and Pekoms doing?" Amande inquired as soon as she'd gotten her millwheel sized hat off, shaking a few strands of curly blue hair away from her face.
"Not good is what I heard" Brownie responded with his mouth halffull of... whatever it had been that the tavern served of dishes, the bufoon not waiting for any of his comrades to either see, or grasp, the food, before he showelled it into his awaiting mouth. At the back of her mind, Galette pondered if it had been chicken, it'd fit his mindset quite well.
"What do you mean?" Galette looked annoyed at Brownie, while also leaning a little away from her younger brother, fearing that some of his meal would bombard her when he responded.
"Well, they found their target..." as Brownie stopped to scratch his overlarge chin, Galette could feel a vein in her forehead start to throb, it didn't help that she'd been right about the foodscrap barrage.
"If I remember correctly, sister Smoothie assigned them to find the Yonta Maria Grand fleet"
"Exactly sister Amande, exactly..."
"So what happened?"
"well you see..." Brownie paused for a moment to swallow, and wave at the waitress to order more food "yeah I'd like annother serving of whatever that was I just ate, but better tasting, and some cakes too, and beer, and a..."
"Brownie, focus!" as her younger brother noticed the vein in Galette's forehead, the rotund man gulped and answered as fast ass he could
"That Orlombus guy said no"
"What? NO?! to Mama?"
Holding up a his hands to shield himself from Galette's anger, Brownie shivered "I heard that he was part of some Strawhat thingy! I don't know anymore!"Silence descended on the table, as both member fo the nuclear family and assorted underlings took in the news.
"So, Orlumbus is one of Strawhats' men... that complicates things..." Galette said slowly
"Not at all" Amande said camly, lighting a cigarette, as she took the first few puffs, her comrades waited in anticipation. Finally the third daughter of the CHarlotte family decided to continue "If we know who's in their little fleet, then we can cripple them with ease!"
"But those numbers are a problem" Dacquises' head rose, an annoyed note present in his tone "We'd have to send out a fleet to deal with them"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Galette turned to the winged man, who almost instantly began to smile disturbingly at her "Brother Daifuku must surely have destroyed him already"
"They got into a scrap alright, but Orlumbus cannons saved 'im" Brownie sneered, before turning his head to the waitress from before, a grin spreading on his face, only to turn back into a sneer faster than Big Mom could eat a cake "Hey! Where's my 8 triple burgers?"
"You didn't order any master Brownie" Kato's voice cut in, slicing through Brownie's tirade at the poor waitress "Mistress Galette interrupted you to get back on the topic"
"Well I...'m ordering some now" the rotund man crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor, only stopping when the waitress had put down the small mountain of food and, very swiftly, left for the rest of his orders.
Galette was almost relieved when she heard Amande sigh "So, back to the topic, I recall reading about Bobbin's target ebign left for dead somewhere"
"Don't know about that one, gotta ask Sister Smoothie about it"
Feeling somethign brush up against her leg, Galette cringed, drawing back and starring angrily at Dacquise, who rested his head on his hand, smiling coyly at her.
"OI! Din't ya 'ear?" Deise ordrd a Smoothy! Durum halfshouted at the waitress, who was still waiting for the burgers, behind the brute's back. To Galette's amazement, the meathead was starring straight ahead into a wanted poster of Jewelry Bonnie that hung on the wall.
"Oi! din't ya 'ear? A sayd..." the man shouted through his gapttoothed mouth, producing a whistleling sound that could be mistake for the Puffing Tom in the first half of the Grand Line.
Looking at Durum, Galette had a hard time understanding how his mind worked, if it did at all. He'd just taken what he'd heard, and somehow understood it as an order to be yelled at the waitress, whom had somehow become a poster on the wall...
pinching the bridge of her nose, hearing the tell tale signs fo Durum getting up and cracking his knuckles as he strode towards the poster, she vowed that if possible, she had two people she'd get rid of over the course of their mission.
Hopefully one of the others could stop the buffoon from challenging the poster to a fistfight and brought more unnecessary attention on their party.
(On the Sunny)
Nami leaned back in her chair and chuckled as Vivi finished her explanation.
this was all too perfect!
"So we call this elder Nyon" she chuckled "And then just set up a meeting with your fathers' and then that's it! Great!"
"So we won't be having all these Women-chans for long" Sanji sniffled, his face close to tearing up
"We couldn't have them for long anyway! We're on our way to Wano, remember?"
Sanji's face fell even firhter at Nami's words, the only solace he could take from the situation was that Nami att least hadn't sneered at him this time around.
"Now now Sanji-san it's not so bad..." Brook appeared behind the chef and patted him on the back "It could be days before a transfer could take place"
At the words of his fellow pervert, Sanji's face lit up like a christmass tree, not that Viola's hand petting his was ineffectual.
"So how about we just use the time we have and make the most of it" the skeleton snickered, leaving no doubt in Nami's mind that he intended to ask to see their panties on an hourly basis (or in return for playing some of his better numbers in his violin).
"If it only takes a few days, then it shouldn't make that big a deal" Franky added, smiling confidently at his comrades and the guests "Wano and Kaido ain't going anywhere anyway"
If they could manage it within a short while, Nami couldn't see much wrong with it, a few days wouldn't make that great a change.
Though the wait could be a problem, lest they had something to distract them on the trip...
"So after we've called and found a place and time, what would people like to see in the meantime?"
"A meat Island!"
"I think Nami was speaking to our guests Luffy, not the crew"
"A sake distelleri!"
"Mosshead! Robin-schwan just told Luffy the question was for the sweet women-chans!"
One of Robins devilfruit hands made sure that the swordsmans' retort only came out as an angry muffled sound, postphoning any confrontations between the pair.
"Uhm, Nami-sama" a brittle and nervous voice emerged from beyond the door, making Nami turn and face Shirahoshi "I-I'd like to see a forrest, if that's not a problem..."
"No problem whimpy-hoshi!" Luffy waved a hand at her, even if she cringed at his new nickname for her "We promised we'd take you to one, didn't we?"
Mos tof the crew nodded happily, while the majority of their new travelling companions didn't seem to have any particular wishes for the time being.
But Nami didn't doubt that that would change as soon as they began this next chapter in their adventures.
THough she hoped this would be an uneventful and relatively safe, not just for the sake of their guests but for the crew.
Nearly everything lately had been insanely dangerous,
it'd be nice to just drift around for a while,
like just before they entered the Grandline and had run afoul of Baroque works.
Luckily, Nami couldn't imagine that they'd come across a crime syndicate or a yonko in a plain little forrest...
(In Mariejois)
Elder Nyon scrathched her old wrinkled chin, trying to figure out how best to proceed.
After she'd recieved the call from the girls through the Den Den Mushi some princeling had placed on Rindo, it was only natural to inform the missing princesses' fathers first and tell them that not only were their daughters well, but under the protection of the Strawhat pirate crew.
She had met Strawhat Luffy and waas certain that he'd do everything in his power to protect the girls that had fallen into his hand.
All that the situation required really, was to set up a meeting point, somewhere that they could hand over the princesses, and her own two bodyguards.
That was all the easy part and not at all what Nyon was nervous about.
In a city that was crawling with kings and delegates loyal to the world government, it wasn't the most prudent idea to discuss pirates and the handovers of princesses in public, especially if one didn't want neither the girls nor the pirates to get hurt.
She had to find a safe place to call the kings and tell them of the rendevouz. A good spot would be with those they'd left behind, the Merman king's sons and that other bodyguard of the Alabastan King, since those two parties would not only be together and have foudn common ground, but would also have some way to contact their respective kings.
but that, could also be considered the easy part.
The hard part was to find somewhere in Mariejois' pangea castle, where Nyon could call and tell Boa Hancock, that her two underlings were safe and sound a,d with whom.
It was when it came to telling the pirate empress,
that her beloved Strawhat Luffy was now surrounded by a group of very beautifull, young and no doubt grateful women (the mermaid princess apparently surpassing Hancock herself in that department).
"This is going to be hell on my eardrums nyo!" she mumbled to herself as she hurried along, deciding that she was better off telling the worried fathers where their daughters were...
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks nearly tripping oer her own feet as a memeory resurfaced.
Rindo and Marguerite's father... something about him that had been odd...
He hadn't been interested in those that would bear his daughers at all...
only in something that he wanted them to bring to him from within Amazon Lily...
She didn't recall what it was he had wanted, only that he'd gotten his hands on it, and she couldn't ask Rindo and Marguerite's mothers, since those two had beeen dead for years on end...
But given time, she might remember the name of him.
Somehow, she felt that thier parentage would matter later on,
if their father was alive, they'd meet him, even get to know him, a situation unprecedented amongst the denizens of Amazon Lily.
But if he was dead after all these years, the prophecy said they'd join him soon...
Considering the state of the New World and what monsters hid within, in the sea, on the islands and even up in the sky if the rumours were true (and they were, atleast according to what she'd heard from Strawhat) then it might very well be a far too severe danger the women were in.
End of chapter 11
welcome to the new follower,
I promised a short chapter and I'm sad to say that I did not deliver on that one.
if everything goes according to plan, then the next chapter will be shorter, speeding up the writing and update process
treads:
Strawhats: just chilling and getting into a new rhytm with all their new passengers, not an easy task taken their strong personalities into account.
Big Mom Pirates: got some reinforcements on Runny Rum Archiepelago, and now have to deal with their behaviour. Kato and Dacquise are both canon members of the crew, whom I've given a little backstory and some personality for good measure ( wiki/Big_Mom_Pirates). Durum is an OC that's here for the lulz.
The royals: kinda represented through Elder Nyon, whose segment of this chapter is a callback to chapter 3.
RnR if you'd be so kind.