NAMI

As Artemyra leaned over the side of the boat, she stared at her reflection in the water for what felt like an eternity, trying with all her might to keep her stomach from growling. Overall, the knightess was successful, but no amount of focus could drown out the sound of Luffy and Zoro's stomach growls.

"Hmm…this is quite the predicament," Artemyra said while dipping her hand into the water and disrupting her reflection.

Zoro cocked a brow and leaned back to get a look at Atremyra's face and see just how focused she really was. He was truly impressed that she had been able to hold back the rumbling of her stomach and go into this complete serene trance.

"Predicament is the understatement of the era. Don't you think it's strange that neither you or Luffy can navigate?" Zoro said, breaking Artemyra's trance and making her look up at him.

"Zoro, I was born on Armwell, which has strict rules that no one is allowed to leave. So I never bothered to learn," she explained shortly before glancing over to Luffy. "What about you, Luffy? Has it never bothered you?"

"No, drifting has worked pretty well for me," Luffy said bluntly, seemingly without a care in the world. His attention was quickly turned to Zoro though. "What about you? You're supposed to be the holy terror of the sea!"

"I don't recall ever calling myself that. I followed a pirate I was after out to sea, but I couldn't find my way back home. So I made the best of things and went after pirates in the area. I had to earn money somehow…" Zoro explained.

"Oh, so you got lost. Makes sense," Artemyra muttered under her breath and instantly got a cool glare from Zoro. She pretended to not notice it though and awkwardly look the other way.

"You don't have to put it like that! Anyway, what kind of pirate doesn't know how to navigate a ship? It's ridiculous! At this rate, we'll never make it to the Grand Line," Zoro pointed out. "We have to recruit a navigator as soon as possible. "

Artemyra nodded in agreement and turned around to face them. "There are a couple of things we need to do before going to the Grand Line, but you're right. A navigator should be our top priority right now."

"Oh! Oh! And we'll need a cook, and a musician, and-" Luffy exclaimed enthusiastically before promptly getting shut down by Zoro.

"Those can wait!" he snarled, but it wasn't long after when both he and Luffy flopped down onto their backs, already zapping away what little energy they had left.

As time went on, it became evident that hunger was becoming a problem for everyone, and at one point, Artemyra was even tempted to try her luck at catching fish with her hands. It was never something she pursued though because the fish were too far out of reach, and even if she did jump in, she knew it would require too much energy.

"I'm starving!" Luffy exclaimed loudly while looking up at the sky, noticing something dark crossing his vision. Something big and with a large wingspan.

"Hey…it's a bird," Zoro noticed too.

When Artemyra heard that, she turned her gaze up to the sky, tilting her head curiously to the side.

"It looks pretty big." Luffy paused for a moment before suddenly shooting up with a new form of life in his eyes. "Let's eat it!"

Zoro cocked a brow. "Huh? How?"

"Leave it to me! I'll catch it!" Luffy got up eagerly and extended his arms to the top of the mast like he was about to slingshot himself."Gomu-Gomu no…"

Artemyra responded to this immediately became anxious. She got up in a flash to try and stop him, grabbing his shoulders with both hands. "Luffy, wait a moment!"

"Rocket!"

In a fraction of a second, he shot both himself and Artemyra through the air. The two were heading straight for the bird when suddenly Luffy halted right underneath it. He was stuck. Caught inside the beak of the giant bird with Artemyra holding onto his legs for dear life.

"There was a mistake!" Artemyra shouted down to Zoro. "This bird is called a Cowstealer…which means it's big enough to carry away cows~" she cried out as she and Luffy began to get whisked away by the bird.

"You gotta be kidding me! Myra, hurry up and do…" Zoro cut himself off as he turned his head to the side, now noticing Artemyra's sword and sheath lying beside him inside the boat. It then dawned on him that the knight was not only weaponless…but truly helpless as well. "You idiots!" Zoro screeched before sitting down and began to row like a mad man. He couldn't do anything though and watched as the bird got further and further away with his friends.

"I can't see Zoro anymore," Artemyra commented after a moment. "Luffy, are you alright?" she asked while turning her head up to him.

"I…can't get my head out!" Luffy wined within the clutches of the bird's beak. He tried to pry it open but to no avail.

"Please try a little harder. I'm sure you'll…" Artemyra halted her words when she heard a loud popping noise, quickly followed by a sharp whistling that sounded like it was getting closer. The knight looked forward and saw what looked to be a cannonball heading straight for them. "Luffy!" Artemyra shouted just as the cannonball struck and enveloped them in smoke and flame.

The giant bird released Luffy almost immediately and the two promptly began to plummet all the way to the ground. However, instead of striking the sea, they struck the hard concrete of a small village instead, which caused a puff of smoke and shattered stone to haze the air. The sound of them hitting the ground may have been loud and ear-splitting, but it didn't hurt as much as they thought it would. They could feel that nothing was broken, thankfully.

"Who's shooting a cannonball at us?" Luffy shouted from within the smoky haze. "Myra, you okay? You kinda cushioned me."

"I am. Oh, thank goodness for shock absorption armor." Artemyra said while patting her hand against her strong chest plate. She stood up without injury and began to wave the dust from their eyes to finally see where they landed.

"There not hurt!" cried out a rough voice.

Artemyra tilted her head to the side and looked around her, seeing that she and Luffy were surrounded by three shellshocked pirates. A well as a young orange-haired woman who looked like she had been trying to get away from them.

Instantly, the orange woman smiled brightly and clapped her hands together. "Boss! You guys came to rescue me?" she said happily before getting up and speeding off in a blink of an eye, far too fast for Artemyra or Luffy to even understand what she was talking about. "I'll just let you take care of these guys!"

"Hey! She's getting away!" one of the pirates cried out.

"Forget the girl! We got her bosses right here! They're bigger prizes than she is."

Luffy and Artemyra turned around and quickly realized that these three giant-looking pirates were in fact talking to them.

"Isn't that right…Boss!" the pirate said and promptly raised his weapon.

Artemyra instantly took a defensive position and started to reach around back for her sword, only to grasp ahold of disappointment and air. She gasped sharply and looked back up to the pirate reeling his body back to take a swing at her.

"Oh…Not good!" Artemyra ducked low at the last second and the pirate's fist flew right over her head and struck Luffy across the face instead, sending his straw hat flying away. "Ah! Luffy, I'm so sorry! I don't have my weapon on me right now!"

Completely unfazed and not even bothered, Luffy turned his head up and saw his hat fluttering in the air. "Hey!" In a fraction of a second, Luffy turned his body to the side and used every ounce of strength and momentum he had to send his fist straight into the pirate's face. "Don't you dare touch my hat!" he shouted angrily.

"I got it! I got it!" Artemyra went jogging for the missing straw hat and reached her hands to catch it before it could hit the ground. As soon as it was safely within her hands, she turned back around and saw that Luffy had already taken care of the other two pirates, knocking them out cold. "Oh, fast work. Impressive." She said while setting Luffy's precious hat back on his head.

"You're pretty tough!" called out a young, girlish voice. Luffy and Artemyra looked up and saw the same orange girl from before sitting on a rooftop beside them. "You beat those saber-wielding pirates with your bare hands!"

Artemyra blinked, looking rather perplexed. "Oh, sorry…but could you tell us your name first?"

"It's Nami," the girl answered, her lips turning up in a mischievous smile. "I specialize in robbing pirates. Wanna team up with me?"

Both Luffy and Artemyra cocked their heads curiously to the side and spoke at the exact same time. "Robbing pirates?"