Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. They belong to Oda. I do own the OC's Anya, Ken, Sai and whoever appears from my head.
It rained and rained.
All of us decided to take shelter in the Galley while Luffy and Nami stayed outside to keep an eye on the lighthouse and to make sure where we are going is the correct way. Sanji gave us drinks as we sat around talking. I was reading a book while they spoke.
"Any ideas what it might be like in the Grand Line?" Usopp was the first to ask the question. We might as well learn from each other.
"Dangerous, I hear people lose their lives on that sea." Zoro explained it casually.
"That's true," Sanji agreed as he sat in the chair next to me and handed me a drink. "The old geezer.."
"Who?" I looked up from my reading.
"You heard of Red Foot Zeff?"
"Yeah, does he run a restaurant now?"
The smoker nodded and went back to his previous thought. "The old geezer always told me stories about his various adventures out there. All the people he met, all the pirates he fought. Too many to tell. He always told me it was too dangerous for the weak. He also told me he found an island made of springs.
"That's unlikely to be true." said the marksman.
"It is the Grand Line." I said.
"Just because it is, does not give it the excuse to be that unnatural." The swordsman folded his arms. "An island of springs?"
"Just what he said Marimo, not like I believe him."
"You think there might be an island of brave warriors?" Usopp honestly said. He seemed to like that idea.
"Bravery is something you need to discover. You will have to have a strength of will, from my experience." These words came from the swordsman looking like he was about to fall asleep again.
"Yeah, you're right."
"I hear there's an island of beautiful maidens." Sanji said as his cigarette smoke turned to hearts.
I placed my book down, "Nope, I rather we not go there"
He looked at me as I just told him his dog died. "How come?"
"Why would I go an island full of hussys? My master told me, Boa Hancock is known for hating men, she comes aboard and turns everyone to stone. Her sisters have some weird snake powers. They are the leader of the Kuja pirates. Her ship is always filled with women, no men, just women. Do you think she would like it if you displayed your manners to her?" I shook my head. "Nope, all she would do is kick your ass." He scowled at him. "You're not a masochist, are you?"
"No!" Sanji shouted.
Suddenly I felt very surprised at his answer. I expected a different answer. "Wow."
"What kind of person do you take me for?"
Usopp gulped. "I heard of her too, we should avoid her at all cost. In fact all the Shichibukai."
"The Royal pirates, Seven God Pirates, Warlords or whatever you want to call them. They work for the government." Zoro muttered. "Dracule Mihawk is one of them, I learned my lesson. I'll train harder to reach his level."
"You should've known that when you fought him." Sanji tapped his cigarette. "All brawn, but you don't have enough brains to realize he was miles above you."
Zoro sent him a piercing glare. "It won't happen again you crappy cook."
"Talking bad about my culinary skills you bastard?"
Are they going to fight again? Yes, they got in each other's faces and... hmmm. They look like..."
"So… are you guys going to kiss?" I gazed at them innocently.
"WHAT!" They quickly sat down. Zoro shot a glare at me while Sanji whined about me thinking that way. I could have fun with this later…. "Sorry guys, didn't want you to destroy the ship in your fury.
"We wouldn't." Zoro stopped glaring and leaned back. "Of course, if I talked about kicking puppies you would attack me."
"Oi, Marimo, that's no way to badger a lady."
"That only happened once when I saw some kids picking on a puppy. I threw them into a store window and my master punished me for property damage." I closed my eyes and remembered the consequence. "She strapped weights to my legs and had me pull a cart while she rode on it."
"Hmmm." Sanji smiled. "Just so you know, the old geezer ordered me to do leg lifts with sandbags strapped to them."
"Sissies, I did much more." Zoro said.
All three of us laughed at each other's painful experiences during our training years. Usopp looked at each of us like we were crazy or monsters.
Suddenly the door flew open. Nami and Luffy appeared soaking wet. Luffy sat down at the table while Nami stood at the end and slammed the map on the table.
"Everyone, the entrance of the Grand Line is through a mountain!"
"Really? Cool." I mused.
"Doesn't sound that cool to me." Usopp quivered.
"Correct, I had a hard time believing it at first." Nami spread the map in front of us. "Take a look at the map. The light of Guidance pointed at the Reverse Mountain itself. The mountain is located in the Red Line."
My brother raised his brow with interest. "So do we try to crash through it?"
"Nah, we hike up the mountain." I smirked.
"No!" Nami glared at me. "Quit joking around!" She pointed at the map. "The map says there is a waterway leading up the mountain."
"So this waterway will take us to the Grand Line?" Zoro sounded he was interested.
"I don't think we're strong enough to paddle up a mountain." I snorted
"That's what the map says." said the navigator.
"Heh, like Nami-san can ever be wrong."
The sniper in our crew exhaled in disbelief. "Yeah, but how can we accomplish this?"
"That map is from Buggy right?" Zoro stared intently at it. "How can we be sure to trust it?"
"This is so cool. Going up a magic mountain. Isn't it Anya?"
"Yeah…" I'm scared and unsure about this. We're performing something that everyone has done before, but many have died trying to enter. If I die I get to be with my brother.
Our first mate decide to speak again. "Hold up, if the Grand Line is on the other side couldn't we just avoid the mountain and head directly south. Why do we have to enter that way in the first place."
"That's no good!" my brother energetically rejected Zoro's statement.
Nami agreed. "He's right there's a good reason for that."
"IT'S MUCH COOLER TO GO UP A MOUNTAIN!"
I chuckled as Nami smacked him in the back of his head, feeling a bit annoyed. "THAT'S NOT THE REASON!"
Suddenly I noticed something odd. I couldn't hear the rain anymore. "I don't hear the rain anymore.
Usopp walked up and glanced on the door's window. "She's right, it's clear as day. The storm stopped. Hey guys looks like we can enter the Grand Line without any weather problems."
"Great, we could have a picnic outside and smooth sail there." Sanji grinned.
"I agree." Luffy and I said at the same time.
We started pouring outside. I looked back at Nami and was about to say something when I noticed she looked very mortified. She's the weather expert. I think I should take that as warning.
"Nami, you okay?"
"No... this isn't good." She whimpered and looked at me. "Anya we're in big trouble." I moved out of the way as she ran out. I don't like this. I followed her out to see the others looking on calmly at the calm weather. Something about this has given me warning signals. It's too calm for my liking and how does a storm just randomly stop?
"What happened to the storm?" Usopp gazed at the sky with curiosity.
Zoro nodded. "Looks like the mayhem of the storm has passed."
"NO!" Nami then revealed her worries. "This is bad! We entered the CALM BELT!"
"Calm Belt?" I spoke softly, I wanted to stop breathing and die. This is place is bad, master told me this place is filled with Sea Kings. No wind, no waves, just crappy little devils that are 20 times bigger than this ship. DAMN IT! I looked North and noticed the storm was behind us. Just staying there and not coming here. It's calm and peaceful here… not always a good sign. "Nami's right you guys, we have to get out of here like our butts are on fire."
"YES!" Nami slammed her fist on the rail of the quarterdeck. "Get some oars and row out of here. This is no time to loiter!"
"We should follow ladies examples you bastards." Sanji swooned at us.
"You guys worry too much." My brother put his arm around Nami's shoulder and laughed. "It so awesome around here. Besides this ship is a sailboat and not rowboat. So there's no need for us to row."
"Luffy!"
"You two are getting worked up," Usopp was calm and not filled with fear. "Why should we go back to the storm."
Nami was mad and scared about the situation. She tried to reason with the buttheads and I tried to help her by getting them to listen. When someone asked about this being the Grand Line Nami quickly explained it wasn't and that the Grand Line was surrounded by two ocean belts from the North and South End. This is the Calm Belt, a place devoid of wind and currents to use for travel. If we can't use the wind then we have to paddle.
They seemed to have gotten and just when we were about to make a decision our ship started to shake, as if it was an earthquake... at sea? I clutched my brother's shoulder. Damn, why am I holding onto my brother like a scared little girl. Yes, I am afraid, we're in Seaking territory…. Oh Kami."
Then out from the ocean came monstrous creatures the likes I have seen in picture books, but NEVER up close. I felt the gravity increase as what felt like our ship being lifted from the ocean. I looked out carefully and fearfully as I saw a bunch of monsters around us. There was some kind of fluffy bird like aquatic monster and a large goofy looking frog. Despite their, appearance, they should be feared. The rest of them I was too blown out my mind to decipher... I want to go home.
"See…." Nami quivered as she clung the mast. "Th-this is what I am talking about."
We all were scared. We didn't know what to do. It seemed like we could die or something. Zoro slowly grabbed an oar and swallowed a lump down his throat.
"When this thing lowers itself back in the water. We paddle out of here. GOT IT!"
I just sat down like a weakling while Sanji and Luffy joined Zoro with the paddle duty. Suddenly the boat started rocking and I thought I heard one of them make a grunt sound. I think it's... about to Sneeze?
"ACCHOOO!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
We screamed as our boat along with us were shot up in the air like someone spitting out flem. Oh dear Kami, this is bad. Very bad, I don't want to die just yet. It can't be helped, but I want to accomplish my dream and help my brother. I want to see Shanks. Then I'll die happy! AHH A FROG IS LEAPING AT US! USOPP FELL OVERBOARD!
"USSSOOOPPPPP!" I heard my brother hollered as he shot his arm at our falling crewmate. He managed to snag Usopp just before he was the next meal of that Sea King frog.
The Seaking sneezed us back to where we started. Currently we were sprawled out of the floor, still scared out of our wits and getting wet during the storm. I almost wetted myself. At least we're back in the storm, just safe and away from that terrible stupid place.
"Ah wait I got it."
My attention was at Nami now. "Got what?"
"We really are going to climb that mountain."
Nami figured that it has to do with the currents. She believed that if all four currents from the four blues all head to the same destination, then they would drive up at the top of the mountain. The currents will merge once they reach the top and then lead the travelers to the Grand Line. I am rather impressed by this theory or fact or whatever. All we have to worry about is steering.
Plus there is also the fact that Reverse Mountain is a winter island. Nami said that when the currents crash on the edge, it will travel to the bottom. Heh, looks like we'll die if we ourselves crash.
"So what you are saying is a magic mountain." Luffy rubbed his chin as if he got it.
"No," I said with a deadpanned expression.
"I don't expect you to get it." Nami sighed. I feel ya.
We rode the waves for what seemed like an eternity, until we spotted a tall mountain range in front of us. A large mountain bigger than the clouds. This is really amazing. Actually, it's a continent. Surprised? HA! Well, this continent separates the north and the south and forms a ring around the world. You think it's impossible, well we're in front of a passage. The only thing that bothers me is that Marine Headquarters is right on top of it, even further than them is Mariejois. The place where 'those people' live. Of course, they have that holier than thou attitude.
The Marines who are below them? They are 'Justice'. Fear their justice, it tastes like sweat.
"The only thing we need to do here is keep the boat steady." Our captain ordered as we kept going toward it. There were about 4 or 5 gates at the entrance to the mountain. They look nice, I wonder if they are handmade. Actually, I was more impressed by seeing the upstream in person. This is impossible, yet here it is.
I quickly turned to my brother. "I think we're going to crash Captain."
He also saw this and turned back to the quarter deck where the steering stick was located. Why the hell is it a stick and not wheel? Sanji and Usopp were trying as best at they can to steady.
'CRACK' The color vanished from my face when the stick broke, the others had similar reactions to the scene. I turned around and saw we were getting closer. Damn, we're going to die this time! Suddenly my brother tossed his hat to Zoro and jumped in front of the boat. WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?"
"GUM GUM…. BALLOOOOON!"
He inflated himself as the name implied. The boat bounced off him and then put itself back on course up the waterway. I ran forward and extended my hand. "LUFFY! GRAB MY HAND!"
His hand shot forward at me in a fast manner. I managed to grab it and yanked him to me. He flew back at the ship with neckbreaking speed and crashed on the deck, making a minor hole. Ah… we'll fix it later. We're saved and we're riding up the mountain!
"YES!" I shouted along with everyone else. Sanji and Usopp were kicking their feet up in the air like immature boys. Hell, they are boys. The more we rode the current, the higher we got. Once we passed the clouds and reached the peak, our ship flew in the air. I awed as the water droplets instantly turned to ice. That was amazing. We then dropped back down on the water. Our ship rode the current to down the mountain at breathtaking speed.
We have finally entered the Grandline.
"THIS IS FANTASTIC!" I shouted while leaning against the deck and let the wind blow against my face. I don't care if I swallow bugs, this is one of the highlights of my life.
"ONE PIECE IS THERE!" My brother exclaimed as he sat on the figure head. "HERE GOES EVERYONE! TO THE GRANDLINE!
The closer we got to the bottom, the more I felt giddy like a little girl. I'll remember this forever.
"BWOOOOH!"
That was a strange noise, but it could be the wind. We're in the Grand Line now so there's bound to be weird and strange noises such as that one, but it kept getting louder. Hmm, is that a mountain up a head. I squinted my eyes to try and see that…. It was no mountain.
"IT'S A WHALE!" Usopp yelled out, revealing the not-mountain creature. What the hell is a whale doing here? It's blocking us! Our rudder is broken and we have no way around it! Should we fight? It's too big, but it's smaller than those Sea Kings we ran into. I don't see the mouth or the eyes.
"LOOK!" Zoro pointed at an opening beside the whale. The space was big enough for the ship to go through, but what's going to stop the whale from moving a margin and crushing us? This is a complete disaster. Zoro ran with Usopp and Sanji to try and get the rudder to work while Luffy ran down below saying he had an idea. We're getting closer and closer to kissing our butts goodbye. The three stooges are trying to get the rudder working and Luffy ran off somewhere saying that he knew what to do. Why am I getting a bad feeling? I ran up to the Quarterdeck and gave Nami a hug.
"It was nice knowing you."
"Don't say stuff like that!" She chuckled nervously. "We might be okay."
Suddenly I heard the sound of a cannon going off, which didn't rest my nerves.
That was our cannon? A cannon ball was fired and struck the whale. Who did that? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Our ship bumped into the whale and knocked our figurehead right off. I grabbed Nami and leapt away before we were crushed. Oh boy that was close.
"MY SPECIAL SEAT!"
I looked into the galley and saw Luffy gasping in shock that Merry lost its head. Wait a minute, Nami and I almost got killed and all you care is about a cute looking figurehead? Did you just get more insensitive as time went on?
Wait, something is wrong here. The whale stopped howling; it was silent. It didn't move or howl its mating call or something.
"NOW'S OUR CHANCE!" Zoro exclaimed from inside. "LET'S GO!" The group ran out, with paddles we tried to use from the Calm Belt. I joined Zoro to help him paddle on the right side while Sanji and Usopp took the opposite end. I'm getting very, very, very concerned about this.
"WHAT KIND OF BEAST IS THIS! DID IT NOT FEEL THE CANNON BALL?" Usopp cawed as he kept up the paddling.
"WHO THE HELL CARES!" Nami screamed at us. "LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
"BWOOOOU!"
"ERG, IT'S HURTING MY EARS!" Sanji cringed at the loud whale. It was terrible, all the more reason to bail.
"ROW AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" I shouted, trying to get my voice through.
Damn it, I hope nothing bad happens now.
"YOU RUINED MY SPECIAL SEAT!"
Damn it Luffy… LUFFY! He reeled back his fist and... NO NO!
He then shot his rubber fist at the Whale's eye. HE PUNCHED IT IN THE EYE! WHY! WHO PUNCHES A WHALE OVER A BROKEN FIGUREHEAD! It almost crushed your two crewmates into oblivion. One is your cute sister and the other most important beautiful navigator. THINK!
You know, perhaps the whale didn't feel it. Its mind is on something el- CRAP! He looked down on us. It saw us. It freaken saw us. It's going to kill us. I rushed forward and kicked my 'darling' brother in the back, HARD!
"DON'T ANTGONIZE IT!"
Much to our horror, the whale opened its huge mouth. It was swallowing our ship whole. The water was reacting violently, and ship rocked as if it was in a violent storm. Both Luffy and I lost our balance and fell overboard. Our screams sounded as we fell toward the ocean below. This can't end like this!
"HANG ON ANYA!"
He grabbed my waist and quickly shot his arm to the nearest hard substance, which was one of the whale's teeth. We flew forward as I held on to him. We landed on the tooth and then he shot his arm in the air and grabbed hold of the whale upper mouth. We shot up and grabbed on to the creature aa we held on tight for our lives.
"We can't die like this sis." We quickly climbed to the top. I took a quick note of the brutal scars on him as he we tried to save ourselves.
Here I am, on top of the whale. Lying on my back and panting, with my goofy brother panting right next to me.
"What do we do now?" He panted as he looked at me. "Our friends were swallowed up."
I sat up and grabbed his cheek. I was peeved. "If you hadn't punched that whale."
"Hey quit it, he knocked out my special seat!"
"Just that? You do realize that it almost crushed Nami and I. Nami mostly, since she was the closest." Of course, I could've just pulled her out the way. Dang.
"It almost did?" He eyes widen in realization. "I… I didn't know that."
"She was right there! Isn't she important to you?"
"Of course she is!" He glared at me. "She's my friend, if she was hurt I would've still punched that whale."
I stared at him for a bit and then laid back down. "Apologize to her when you see her again."
"I will, but we still have a problem." He got and stomped on the whale. "THIS IDIOT ATE OUR CREW!"
He's right. I got up and looked around for a blowhole. If I do find it then how are we gonna escape? Damn it.
The next thing that scared me was that the aquatic beast was submerging. Crap! It's going underwater. Where's its blowhole? He has to have one, all whales have one... right? I looked around some more and spotted something strange. There was a door installed on the whale. What kind of sick bastard does that to the whale.
"Luffy there's a door fused to the whale."
"Huh? That's crazy." He switched his focus to where I was looking at. "What do you know, a door."
"Who puts a door on a whale?" I stood up and grabbed him by the ear, ignoring his yelps. "Come on let's get to the bottom of this and break the bones who gave the whales the scars."
"Scars?"
I ignored him and opened the door. I jumped in while clutching his cheek. We landed in a long narrow metallic and fleshy corridor. This is too strange to be inside of a whale. I heard the door close above, glad it didn't stay open. Whoever did this added lights, so that good."
"Sis, can you let go?"
I released him and marched along. My mind was on the whale and whoever built all this junk inside of it. How terrible of them.
"Perhaps this will lead us to our friends… right?" Luffy wondered as he followed me. "Are you ok, oh.. I get it. It's that look."
"Yes, the look."
"You consider the whale cute? It ate our friends."
"Yeah, yeah, but this whale obviously isn't normal. It's time we check this out."
"A mystery whale eh?" He chuckled. "I wonder what kind of adventures await. What kind of mysteries and danger lie here?"
"Is this whale mechanical?"
"A robot? Nah, why would it be?"
"Look at this long hallway! There's something suspicious here."
"You don't think the government created this to capture pirates entering the Grand Line do you?"
We both stopped and stared at each other for a bit. Then we laughed and kept on walking.
"Yeah right," I said. "Like they would think of something this ridiculous.
"Heh, they're all stern and too serious. That's one of the reasons I didn't want to be a Marine. Too many rules and regulations."
"I don't know how gramps can stay there with the way he is."
"Maybe he's the way he is after too many battles and rules. He's all crazy and hitting us with the 'Fist of Love'"
"He does love us."
"I know, he has a funny way of showing it, but I'm saying the way he is and acts I... would you think he is in the marines?"
"No, maybe a mafia boss."
"Ha, yeah.." He paused to think of something. "You haven't told anybody about Ace's father have you?"
"Hell no! Have you?"
"I never told the crew."
"They don't need to know about that yet."
"That's another reason why I don't want to join the marines." Luffy frowned. "Who kills a pregnant mother because she was with Gold Roger."
"That's the way it works." I sighed sadly. "Maybe Grandpa is trying to be the Marine that isn't all jerky."
"Who knows… that's a neat shield. Has a picture of the sun on it."
"I also have one with a crescent moon emblem."
"You always did like to look at the stars at night." He laughed. "I remember you freaked out Dadan and Ace with that weird voodoo tribal dance thing during the Hallow Night celebration."
"No one did it, so I practiced it until that time. How was I supposed to know it was... that suggestive." I really got chewed out on that. All I did was swayed my hips back and forth and did other… inappropriate steps. I was 9 at the time, I didn't know better at all. The chewing out got worse when Gramps and Master learned about it and then Makino lectured me. I was told to never do that again... at least until I'm over 18 according to Master.
"You learned other dances since then right."
"It's how I train and how I relax. Dancing helps me be free and separate myself from the world."
"When I get my musician, you have to dance as he plays."
"Why are you making that more important than... a doctor?"
He held a thumb up and a big smile. "Pirates love music." I think I saw a twinkle in his eye.
I shrugged and giggled lightly. Another thought came to mind as we were walking. "Don't you have a bug collection?"
"Makino is keeping it for me. I could never find any Hercules beetles back home." He sighed. "Perhaps I could find some, I know Usopp likes them too."
"He looks like the geeky type."
Suddenly, the place started rocking. I think the whale is reacting violently to something. Our bodies were thrown across the room and down the hallway. We bounced from wall to wall, it hurts.
"ACK!" I yelped as I was slammed into the wall, my brother then slammed into me. Lastly, we fell down some kind of shaft and hit the ground. I landed on top of my brother, who wasn't too happy.
"Did you gain weight or something?" He remarked.
"ARE YOU SAYING I'M FAT!"
"No, you're a bit thicker than Nami."
"You're insensitive." I got up and growled lightly. How insensitive are you?
"I mean more muscular, at least in your legs." Is he saying Nami is prettier than me? Of course, she is. She's the ideal girl. That's what he is sayin. No, don't go on a random crazy trip. You are not that kind of girl. He is not like that idiot Ken. I'll kick your ass someday Ken, then you'll be licking my boot.
"Hey look a waterway."
"Hmm." I snapped out of my rant and looked across. A waterway… in a whale. This whale must be suffering, why would someone do this? Huh? Suddenly the room felt like it was tilting. Ah crap. The two of us were sent rolling forward. The two of jumped to our feet, but we couldn't stop ourselves.
"When will this stop!" I whined.
"I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF!"
As we continued to tumble, I thought I saw two people near some door, armed with cannons. Who are they? One of them was feminine in appearance. She had light blue hair a mint green jacket, some kind of funky light blue shirt with dark blue thick lines, white shorts, and white boots. The other was a man with a crown on his head. He had brownish orange hair and a green suit with some kind of scarf. AH WHO CARES! WE'RE CRASHING INTO THEM!
Zoro's p.o.v.
There was no need to be here any longer. Thanks to our captain's 'bright idea' we got swallowed up by the whale and lost both him and Anya. Anya can swim so it's a safe bet she rescued him. Long story short, we found ourselves in the whale. What we found was strange. It had strange a clear blue sky that was partially cloudy and a sun. I can't wrap my mind around it. I don't feel dead.
Then we encountered an old man who did a very stupid running gag on us. He stared at us a few times before he answered. I wanted to cut him.
We have to get out here after being told that ocean was made of stomach acid, so it won't be too long until it destroys our ship. I think this man is whale hunter. Hn, it doesn't bother me. I'm not obligated to save this whale. We should really save ourselves.
The large double doors to our left was large enough to fit out ship. That old man dove in to the 'ocean' to get to the large twin doors. Does he have death wish? The next thing that happened, kind of surprised me. There was a small door on one of the large doors. Something came through it. Make that four somethings. Two of them were weird people I never met and the other two….
"Luffy? Anya?" shouted Usopp.
"You guys are alright!" At least they're okay. "Can you help us out?"
"I REFUSE TO BE DIGESTED!" Anya screamed, whatever happened she wasn't happy. I guess she less like her brother, but a bit more in different ways. All four of them fell into the ocean… which was stomach acid… CRAP!
"The old man's running away!" Usopp pointed at the man.
I scoffed. There was no time to worry about him. "Forget him, the twins come first."
We managed to get them and the two weirdoes out before anything could happen. I can understand Luffy, but Anya seemed to have some self-restraint, but even she can be immature and… what's the word. Spunky?
The rumbling stopped, the whale must've calmed down. We have to get out here, there's no need to stay in this unnecessary place. I kept a grip on one my katana as I stared at the two stowaways. There's something about the two of them I don't like. When they were falling I overhead them calling each other by Mr. something and Miss. Nine or something…. If it's what I think it is… then….
"I WON'T LET YOU LAY A SINGLE HAND ON LABOON AS LONG AS I LIVE!"
What is the old man spouting this time?
Then those two weirdoes picked up their rocket launchers and said something about using the whale as food for their country. They then fired, thinking it would blow a hole in the whale, but the old man took the blow. I guess he's trying to protect and raise the whale. Then Anya ran at them, grabbed both of them heads and slammed them both on the boat.
"YOU TWO ARE TRYING TO KILL A WHALE? YOU HIT THE OLD MAN, THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"
"Idiot," the blue haired woman growled at her. "This was supposed to be for our village. This whale is large enough to feed a village of starving people." She said before conking out.
She blinked at them and relaxed, but she never let them go. It seems like she was contemplating whether to let them kill the whale to feed a village or save the whale. Then Luffy came up and touched her shoulder. "The old man is trying to protect whale, let's tie them up for now."
I sighed, that's our captain. I suspect she loves the kind of animals that are harmless and less ferocious. I guess she couldn't decide about them wanting to feed a village or the old man wanting to protect the whale. Luffy on the other hand... if he sees a person filled with passion, he will at least try to help it. It will rival his passion for adventure. Hn, call it a Man's romance.
Anya's p.o.v.
We settled down on the old man's island in the whale. I still can't figure this out. It's so weird. HOW DOES HE DO THIS! Geez… Luffy and I were told the old man is named Crocus and they thought he was into hunting whales. I can't tolerate hunting whales, other than for food. Which was why I was confused on what to do earlier.
He told us his story and about Laboon the whale. He was whale from the West Blue that came here with a bunch of pirates while Crocus was a Lighthouse attendant. I think he told us they were called the Rumble something pirates... odd, never heard of them. Anyway, he told us the pirates left Laboon behind thinking the Grand Line was too dangerous to him, but they made a promise that as soon as they travel around the world, they will meet up again.
He said Laboon considers the pirates his pods. I believe that's the same thing as a flock of birds or a herd. The sad thing was that he was supposed to take care of Laboon for 3 years, but they never returned. Laboon understood them and waited every day for them.
"It's been over 50 years since they left. He still believes they will return."
50 years…. That's too long for Laboon-kun. TOO LONG! The only thing I can think of is that they were dead. With the story over, old man Crocus took us through the big doors and led us through a waterway.
I stood next to Nami as she talked to Crocus. "This is a pretty big waterway, I am amazed you dug through the whale and lived inside. Is painting another of your hobbies?"
"I don't really agree with this." I muttered.
"I know, but what else could he do?" She whispered to me. "If he didn't then Laboon would've keeled over."
I nodded. I agreed, but I don't like it one bit.
"It is a hobby, but I am not a builder or an architect. What I really am is a doctor."
Hmmm… I guess to really know your patient you have to get inside him. My tolerance for him went up a bit."
"I used to run a clinic and I was a ship doctor for a few years."
"We need a doctor." Luffy spoke up. "Hey join my crew."
"I am far too old to go on wild and dangerous adventures, besides even if I could, I can't leave Laboon alone. He will end up killing himself."
I agreed. "We wouldn't want that to happen."
"You seem a bit annoyed by me making home here girl."
I sighed and turned my back to him. "You're trying to do what's best, but I still can't figure out how you did this with a straight face."
"It wasn't easy." He spoke quietly. He seemed to not have fond memories making this whale the way it is. No need to think about it.
We made it to the final door where the old man climbed out and unlocked it. The massive doors opened, releasing us into the familiar world we call home. I rather be here than stuck inside a whale, or anything that will try to eat you.
"What should we do with these two?" Zoro glanced at the unconscious weirdoes. Luffy shrugged. "Just throw them away."
We untied them first and then threw them overboard. They regained consciousness and evaluated their surroundings. I overheard themselves discussing something about an organization and their names. Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday? How weird.
"Prepare yourselves!" Miss Wednesday pointed at us with a smirk. Then they started swimming away while threatening us some more.
"We bid you farewell Neanderthal pirates!" from the mouth of the king guy.
"You Crocus, you haven't heard the last of us!" shouted Wednesday. Who calls themselves that? What a pair weirdos.
"We should've locked them up." I continued glaring at them.
Crocus shook his head. "Doesn't matter, even if we did, more rogues will replace them."
Our navigator looked up at the whale and frowned. "It has been fifty years, does he really think his friends will return."
"Kind of sad." Usopp added.
"Those guys were jerks." I snorted, how could they make a promise and then not come back? At least have the will to survive.
"Those guys are taking awful long time." Said my brother.
"Idiot." Sanji turned to him. "It's the Grand Line. They promised to be back and it's been too long. There is one answer for this." He took a puff of his cig. "They're dead by now. They won't come back for the whale, no matter how long they've been gone."
Usopp angrily slammed his fist on the stump Sanji was sitting on. "HOW CAN YOU BE SO CRUEL TO SAY THAT! YOU HAVE NO IDEA THAT THEY'RE DEAD OR NOT! AT LEAST APPRCECIATE THE STORY ABOUT WHALE STILL BELIEVING IN HIS FRIENS!"
"I'm sorry Usopp, but those are the facts."
"But…"
"The truth is far more cruel however," Crocus muttered. "I heard from a source they left the grand Line."
"Those bastards!" I growled. "How dare they, they lost their privilege calling this whale a friend. They should've just died."
"They left the poor guy behind? That would mean they entered the calm belt?"
"If that happened, they would've been eaten by those Sea Kings." Zoro spoke up. "As Crocus said, the truth is far more cruel."
"They either survived or they didn't." Crocus closed bowed his head and crossed his arms. "As far as I know, they won't come back to this horrid place. The seasons, climate, currents, and whatnot are filled with chaos." He looked at us. "A place where common sense is replaced by fear. The rules here tell us that the faint of heart shouldn't come. Of course this is the first half, the second half you need every ounce of courage and skill you have."
Paradise and New World. The first half is called the former while the later makes the former a walk in the park. I don't understand, but we'll find out won't we?
"I see," said our chef. "The cowards were more considered for their lives than the whale. Fear overcame them to the point where they left and never returned."
"Those bastards!" I growled. "How dare they, they lost their privilege calling this whale a friend."
"You're repeating yourself." Nami whispered to me. I shrugged and decided to keep my mouth shut while Usopp voiced his outrage more. I understand buddy, I don't like them abandoning a friend and have said friend wait over 5 decades. That's just not right for anybody to keep on waiting. Our navigator asked if Crocus told Laboon the truth. It is a smart whale after all. I hope we can find something furry and cute that can understand human language.
Sadly he did tell him, but Laboon wouldn't listen. What a stubborn whale he is. I wish my arms were big so I can hug him.
Crocus can't just ignore him. They have some kind of a bond with each other. I guess I can understand why Crocus dug the whale out… even if it is bad to do it. Sometimes we have to do something we hate in order to help someone we love, right. There might be a time where I'll do something questioning in order to protect the crew. All of us might. I hope it doesn't come to it.
"WOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Luffy? What are you doing?" I asked as I saw my brother running up the whale with something in his hand. Hey…. Is that the…. Nahhhhh. He probably found a log, but why is he climbing the whale. Now that I think about it, he did like climbing trees when we were younger. Ace, Sabo and I would join him.
"GUM GUM…. FLOWER ARRANGEMENT!"
He stuck the log into the whale. Wait… that's our ship's mast…. I turned to where our ship was. My eye widen to the point where they could fall out of their sockets. WHAT THE HELL! I returned my attention back at the scene. The whale froze for moment then howled in pain at my brother's attack.
"YOU IDIOT!" Sanji, Zoro, Nami, and I shouted in unison. Crocus just stared on in shock.
"HE DESTROYED OUR SHIP!" our sharpshooter roared while everyone else was just as flabbergasted. With good reason. I have half a mind to pu-... no, he has to have a good reason for this. HE HAS TO!
The whale shook himself in order to get Luffy and the mast off of him, then it looked like it had an idea. I gasped as he came to us with the intention of banging his head on land.
"EVERYONE GET BACK!" I shouted. Everyone moved away just as the whale slammed its head on the ground. Getting rid of the mast and Luffy.
"HEY KID!" Crocus feared for my brother's life. Nami got in way and told him Luffy was made of rubber. He can take blunt hits. Luffy was chastising it. The whale struck again and knocked my brother away. Luffy jumped at him and struck his eye with a rubber punch. The whale slammed his head into the ground. The shockwave sent the captain colliding onto the Lighthouse.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!" Our green haired man scolded at the captain, wondering what was on his mind. Laboon continued to howl as Luffy stayed at the spot. I noticed a smile crawl up his face.
"IT'S A TIE!"
Huh? Just by calling it a tie, the whale stopped his berserk movement.
"I'm pretty tough, eh?" He got up and dusted himself off. "Our fight hasn't settled yet, so we must fight again. Your old friends may be dead, but I am your new rival. Once my crew will sail around the Grand Line, we'll come back and see you again. We'll duke it out when we come back."
"Shishishi." I laughed. Now I see, he's giving a Laboon a new purpose. He lost old friends and gain new ones. Luffy managed to earn this whale's trust. I hope this promise will be fulfilled, we're not a ship full of cowards, maybe Usopp, but he will become stronger as time goes on. We will try to find new ways to prosper. I look up in the sky and smile at the ever-beating sun.
A/N: Enjoy the holidays everybody.