Yeah I know, the first chapter doesn't exactly say very much…in fact, this one doesn't too (nervous smile)…and I'm not sure if there's a lot of plot and stuff later on either…heh heh…(embarrassed laugh). But I'll try my best to finish this story regardless. Many thanks to everyone who had taken time to leave me a review, they made me very happy and motivated to continue. Thank you all so much!
Oh, and mangoleaf? You're right. Zoro and Sanji "would be out in some forest/woods and get attacked by some beast" soon, real soon. (grin)
Nightfall at Baydrop
The week leading up to the landing at Baydrop Island passed uneventfully. After the first few days of awkwardness of having a stranger on board passed, Aiko blended easily into their daily routine, much like Vivi and other past passengers they unwittingly picked up before had done. Luffy stopped his endless excited questions about her hometown and the telling of tales of the 'Great Captain Usopp' eased a little when the novelty of having a new audience wore off. The days stretched out as they usually did when at sea, passing from one to the next with almost mind-numbing monotony.
Aiko remained as she had first seemed-polite, a little shy, but filled with a quiet sincerity that easily invoked affection and trust in others. As the Straw Hats got used to her presence, she too relaxed around them. She would often be seen lounging on deck with Nami in the mornings, indulging in some gossip. Afternoons were spent with Chopper laughing over some book, or helping with chores around the ship.
All things considered, she was a perfectly ordinary young woman with no motives other than the one she told them.
But Zoro continued to watch her. Like a hawk, he watched her, nerves coiled like a tightly wound spring ready to pounce the moment she made an unwarranted move.
He had developed an unusually heightened awareness from his swordsman's training and too much time spent living life as a bounty hunter had also given him a special sense when it came to suspicious characters. He couldn't understand it nor did he ever bother with the effort to, content to know it was a natural instinct that cued him to whether someone or a situation was a threat. An intuition that was pretty useful, he knew from experience.
And ever since he laid eyes on Aiko, his internal danger alarm had been buzzing like crazy, grating at the back of his mind like two pieces of broken bones that hadn't been splinted properly.
His heavy-lidded gaze trained on her as he lay stretched out in his usual afternoon napping spot. She must have felt his eyes on her for she looked up from the carving she was whittling out of a piece of wood and smiled tentatively at him. He narrowed his eyes and scowled, darkly amused when her face fell and she quickly looked away.
There's still a pirate on this ship who won't be fooled by your rustic charms, lady; he thought to himself smugly.
"Land! I see land!" Usopp's shout floated down from the crow's nest.
"Where? Where?" A dark head poked out of the bunk room, followed by the rest of Luffy as he sprung out excitedly, pulling himself to sit on the figurehead with a stretch of his arms.
"There!" The sharpshooter had climbed down and joined him, handing him the spyglass and pointing to a speck on the horizon.
"I'll take that, thank you." Nami snagged the spyglass up neatly before Luffy could take it. Ignoring the commotion of a screaming Usopp trying to help his floundering captain as he scrambled to regain his balance from trying to grab the spyglass, she calmly looked through the eyepiece, twisting the scope to focus. Then, holding up the Eternal Pose and sighting along the suspended magnet, she nodded.
"That's Baydrop Island all right. We'll get there by nightfall."
"Nami-san is so wonderfully authoritative!" Sanji cooed, hands clasped together worshipfully. He started trailing after their navigator as she went off to supervise the preparations for the landing, shouting orders all the way. Suddenly, he pivoted around and beamed dazzlingly at their stowaway; as if afraid she would think he was ignoring her. "Well, Aiko-chan, isn't it great? You'll be home soon!"
"Wha-?" She had been gazing at the island contemplatively and started badly when the cook spoke, turning around quickly to face him.
One curly eyebrow dipped slightly into a frown of concern as he moved swiftly to her side. "Are you quite alright, Aiko-chan?"
"Oh, Sanji-san…I…I…" She stuttered a bit before taking a deep breath, regaining her composure. "Yes, I'm all right. Thank you for your concern."
Then she smiled widely, joyfully, her teeth flashing white in contrast against her tan complexion. "I thought I'll never see Baydrop again. I'm very happy…overwhelmed actually. It's been so long since I have last seen it…" Her smile faded a little, expression turning a tad wistful, but the bright shine in her dark eyes betrayed the true extent of her delight.
"Yes, a truly momentous day." Sanji was nodding in agreement, smiling as he gave her a wink. "We must celebrate. I'll whip up something spectacular for dinner."
"Dinner? Now? Dinner now? Luffy rushed over, responding on reflex to all food-related cue words. He grinned hopefully. "Meat?"
"Later. Dinner later." The cook sighed and rolled his eyes, raising one leg to deliver an admonishing tap to their captain's head. His cigarette trailed smoke as he waved it about carelessly like he was chasing away a swarm of buzzing flies. "But yeah alright, I'll see what I can do about the meat."
"Great! I say, I say! Can we have a party on the beach? Huh huh, can we? With lotsa meat? Lots! And a campfire, a huge one! And meat! Meat! Can we, Sanji, please…" Their captain bounced eagerly after the cook.
Zoro spared a lazy glance at the backs of his retreating crewmates as they moved off towards the galley before fixing his gaze back on Aiko. Just in time to catch the fond yet oddly regretful look she cast towards his crewmates before she turned to face the sea again, as if pained.
Alone at the prow and unaware she was being watched, Aiko moved to stand near the railings, leaning against it at she stared thoughtfully into the distance at the dark blob. It was growing by the moment, already taking on a hazy irregular shape of an island. She sighed quietly to herself, the joy she showed earlier was fading fast, replaced by a somber expression now that she thought no one was looking. The wind whipped her black hair into her face but she did not seem to notice, standing so motionless she might have been a statue. Her hands were clenched almost unconsciously around the half finished carving she still held as she looked at the approaching island with a strange intensity.
Zoro frowned, his uneasiness went up another notch and his hand automatically sought out one of his swords.
Her face was calm and determined, betraying nothing but her entire small frame was rigid with tension. Then abruptly, as if the spell that had held her immobile broke, she tore her eyes away from the horizon and bit her lip. A myriad of emotions flashed through her black eyes, and was gone in the next instant, so fast that he wondered if he had really seen it.
There was a lingering trace of happiness that seemed at odds with the sharp glint of hatred that blazed in her eyes. There was also an unmistakable longing, frustration, uncertainty, no small amount of worry and many others emotions too jumbled up to identify. But there was one he recognized easily.
Fear.
His frown deepened.
That disturbing glimpse of emotions Aiko displayed stayed with him for a long time, setting him more on edge than ever. Night had fallen and with the ship safely anchored in the bay, the impromptu beach party was in full swing. Luffy and the younger members of their crew were capering about in a rather disorganized game of tag near the water edge, shouting and kicking up sand as they ran. They broke into song suddenly, singing tunelessly and hopelessly off-key, loud enough to send several of the birds that were roosting in the trees at the edge of the forest behind them into flight, squawking as they soared like black shadows against the moon.
The young pirates laughed, completely unrepentant, falling to the ground and wriggling about in unstrained glee.
Zoro ignored his rowdy crewmates, choosing instead to sit by himself on a rock and started cleaning his swords. He had always found the repetitive motions of smoothing cloth over steel calming but it did not stop him from glaring balefully at Aiko across the merrily blazing campfire as he worked.
They had reached Baydrop in the early hours of the evening, staring in awe at the towering cliffs that loomed over them as they sailed past them. The setting sun brought an orange cast to the craggy grey surface which was so steep that only the vines, weeds and thousands of noisy gulls could find a foothold. Nami expertly guided the ship past the occasional boulder hidden beneath the waves and round a bend without accident into a cove on the western shore, the only accessible point to the island by sea Robin had spoken of.
It was a natural harbour with deep, dark waters which buoyed the Going Merry easily. He had dropped the anchor and joined the rest as they went ashore. There was a tropical feel to the island, with its wide swathe of white sandy beach and the dense line of trees that was the start of even more thick vegetation that extended as far as the eyes could see. Aiko had said her village lay just half a day's worth of travel through the forest, and that they were all invited to her home, if only to get the payment she promised.
He had thought briefly 'To hell with the payment and let's just leave already!' The vague sense of foreboding that had niggled at him in the past week was almost palpable now as he stood staring at the dark waters and the equally gloomy forest. Zoro didn't think he was a man who was easily frightened by danger, in fact, he relished the challenge difficult situations and often go looking for trouble himself. After all, he did leave his village with the single purpose to seek out the greatest, and indisputably dangerous, swordsman and fight him.
Definitely not a coward then. But also, most certainly not a fool.
There were dangers which one had the chance to survive, those he believed should be braved and perhaps gain improvement should one emerge victorious. But he was not so arrogant as to think there were no battles that were beyond his power to win. Sometimes, some things were just too much for his current abilities, and to still walk into such a fight despite knowing it would just be a stunning display of stupidity.
And this, this was something he could sense he was not ready for, that they were not ready for. He could sense it, lurking just beyond the edge of his consciousness, this ominous press of danger that was closing in all around them …waiting…
But the others were excited, wanting to visit Aiko's village. Nami also made it very clear that anyone who stood between her and money will come to a very, very sorry end.
Maybe it's nothing, just adrenaline from that last lousy, unsatisfying fight with the Marines, he thought as he watched Sanji twirled around the campsite, delicate glasses filled with some sort of colorful concoction balanced on a silver platter. Like the rest, the cook seemed to be a good mood, gushing about how there was nothing like a nice wood-fire to properly bring out the flavours of the meat.
"Oi. Drink and quit practicing your sour-face look." A glass was shoved under his nose.
He grinned when he saw it wasn't that frilly, dainty bit of drink that Sanji was serving but a sturdy mug full of pale liquid gold.
"Ah, rum." He said intelligently, setting aside his swords and polishing cloth to take the drink.
The single uncovered eye gave an exaggerated roll and the cook sat down beside him with a sigh. They were silent for a moment as Zoro took an appreciative swig of the rum while Sanji shook a cigarette out from his pack, cupping his hands around the end to light it.
He took a long slow drag before giving Zoro a nudge with his elbow. "So, what's your problem with Aiko-chan?"
Zoro narrowed his eyes and ignored him, choosing to let his own dark expression answer the question.
"Eh?" Sanji gave him a sly teasing look out of the corner of his eye. "Still sore about that bathroom incident?"
He growled. "One more word, cook, and I swear I'll-" Then he huffed in irritation, feeling too strung out to engage with petty quarrels. "Just don't like her." He mumbled grumpily, taking another gulp from his mug. "Something feels wrong."
The cook stared at him for a moment, then humor vanished from his face, making him appear serious all of a sudden. "Something feels wrong alright." He said softly, his eyes darting to the dark forest and down along the beach to where their crewmates were still shrieking as they played by the water. "But it's not Aiko-chan."
Zoro was instantly alert. "You sense it too?" He noticed the well-concealed tension in the cook's lithe frame then, a kind of battle-ready wariness that he was all too familiar with. "What is it?"
Sanji shook his head with a frown, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably as if he could feel invisible eyes watching him. "I'm not sure…just…you know…something…" He trailed off, tapping loose ash from the tip of cigarette and absently scuffing the grey powder into the sand with the toe of one shoe.
Behind them, the wind whistled through the trees and the forest moaned.
After a moment, Zoro snorted, breaking the silence. "Geez, cook, that was real helpful."
"Hey! Like you've got it all figured out, Mr. Sword-polish-for-brains!" The blond snapped, bristling.
"Well, I know for one, something doesn't feel right with Aiko-chan over there."
"You bastard! Don't you go putting blame on innocent ladies like that!"
"Innocent? That woman is an intruder!"
"Oh, I see. So this is still about that bathroom incident."
"It's not! I told you-"
"Quiet!" Nami's fists connected quite solidly with their skulls. "Some of us are trying to enjoy the night here."
"Sorry, Nami-san." Sanji said meekly as their navigator went back to her spot by the fire. Aiko was already wrapped up in blankets, lying down beside the fire, gazing up at the stars. Zoro glowered at them both, rubbing the bump on his head.
The cook took a deep breath and stood, dropping the spent cigarette and crushing it with his heel into the sand. He stuck his hands into his trousers' pockets with deceptive casualness but his blue eye was sharp when they exchanged a glance.
Then he nodded solemnly, one corner of his lips quirked in a faint smile. Zoro knew that look well.
Don't worry, we can protect everyone, that look said, and you watch out for yourself too, idiot marimo.
Zoro found himself smirking back his own response, suddenly feeling a lot calmer. This familiar little exchange was strangely comforting.
That night, sleep found him easily as he lay down with his crewmates scattered around him slumbering on the beach, listening to the wet squish of Usopp's boots as he trampled across the sand for the first watch. Tomorrow, Zoro thought drowsily, tomorrow by this time we will be off this island; no more stowaways, no more bad vibes.
Little did he know how wrong he was.