"I'm bored."
No one responds to my complaining, as they're all busy doing whatever they're doing at the moment.
I turn to look at Nami, who's reading the newspaper while sometimes checking on the map and compass so we stayed on course.
"Oi Nami. Anything fun on the papers?" I ask her and she just lets out a sigh.
"For the 10th time, I told you nothing 'fun' is in the newspapers." Nami replies as she flips the page to read the next entry.
"Any wars or revolts on papers?" I ask again.
"Again, there's no such thing. Why are you so interested in those things anyway?" I shrug noncommittally.
"I like chaos." I answer and she gives me a weird look, before shaking her head and back to her papers. "But mostly because I'm waiting for any more info about my brothers." I continue.
"Brothers? You have more than one? I thought your brother was Luffy." Nami asks and I smile at her.
"Sure, but we have two more. One already set sail many years ago, and the other just a few years ago." I told her. I can feel Luffy tenses up a bit, but quickly relaxes as he keeps his eyes to the horizon, so I continue, "The one I've been searching for is the first one."
"And why's that?" Nami asks, uncharacteristically curious.
"He was shot down by a Celestial Dragon when he set sail." I answer with a sad smile and she widens her eyes in surprise, "But I know somehow he survived. Maybe he lost his memories from that attack or something, that's why he didn't come home all these years."
"'Celestial Dragon'?" This time, Zoro asks, curious enough that he wakes up from his nap.
"The so-called 'gods' of this world; the leaders of the World Government." I answer venomously as my eyes glint in malice, "But in reality, they're just snotty-nosed people with weird-ass outfits and see other beings as nothing but playthings or insects. You'll know them when you see them."
I can feel Nami shivering when she looks at me and Zoro is tensing up, while Luffy is still watching the horizon but keeping his ears open, followed by the beasts.
I shake my head and smile a bit as I turn to Nami, "Anyway, how long until the next island?" I ask her.
She seems dumbfounded by the sudden change, but she quickly looks at her map and compass. "It won't take long. We're getting closer to our next destination." She answers as she uses her binoculars, "I can see a small speck on the horizon, so I'd say just a good hour until we reach it."
"Nice. Oi Zoro, wanna spar there later?" Zoro looks at me in interest and smirks.
"Good timing. I was just about to ask you the same thing." He answers, "You said 'Haki' will get stronger if you fight another Haki user, so I'd say sparring with you will get the results I want."
Hearing that, I grin smugly while Luffy whips his head around to 180 and Nami yelps in shock and disgust.
"ZORO NO! YOU'LL DIE!" Luffy warns in horror, but I quickly grab his mouth and hold it tight as he tries his best to pull himself away from me to no avail.
"Then I want you to go all out on me." I tell him joyfully with a big smile, "Though I can't guarantee your survival in exchange."
"Well, I'm a member of the future Pirate King. If I'm not strong enough to support him, then I'm not worthy." Zoro answers simply. That answer makes my chest feel warm and tight, as the pressure on my shoulders is slowly being lifted away.
In return, I smile brightly at him.
"Then I'll leave some on you, partner." I tell him and he just smirks in return.
"Leave it to me, Vice-Captain."
XXX
Finally reaching the said island, I can hear a lot of voices despite the thick foliage. That means it's not an island with human civilization, but animals.
Nami said she got rumors about the island being a treasure island, but I'm not really interested in exploring at the moment, so I leave that to Luffy and co., while Zoro and I stay behind for our sparring session by the shore.
"Ready, Broccoli?" I ask as I clash my fists together to coat my fists with Buso and put on my stance, "I'll give you the first move. We'll attack in 3 turns and I'm just gonna use Haki to deal with you. That alright with you?"
He puts on his bandanna and unsheathes his katanas, readying his own stance. "How kind of you. And it's fine by me." He replies with a smirk before he rushes in to me.
Unfortunately for him, he's too slow.
I take a side step and crouch down to kick his footings, where he loses his balance. I immediately rushed into him as he quickly regained it back and turned to face me again, but he didn't expect me to be upon him and punch him without my fist connecting to his chest, making him repel off into the trees behind him for a good dozen feet.
Grinning at my own handiwork of broken trees and shocking the island inhabitants, I can feel him completely stunned down and gasping for air.
"Get up, Zoro!" I exclaim out with a playful tone, "The lesson barely starts, and you're already down? Stop being weak! I don't need weaklings to shoulder the responsibility!"
Hearing that, I can hear him cursing out and pushing himself up to put on his stance. I smirk as I put my hand on my hip, easily seeing him rushing in on me.
"ONI…GIRI!"
I grab hold of his head as a leverage to pull myself up and use him as a stepping stone to dodge his attack. I land gracefully behind him while he stumbles a bit before quickly straightening back to face me.
"You're too slow and it's embarrassing to watch." I tell him with a huff, "You have the offensive power, but not so much on agility and defense."
"What's your verdict then?" Zoro coughs out. I can hear him struggling to breathe, but he'll live.
"You need Kenbun to read your opponents, and Buso to deliver the blow." I start calmly, "I can see you being the offensive player, as in 'offensive is the best defense' kind of thing. While mastering both at the same time isn't impossible, it's going to be a hard journey for a beginner like you."
"So I want you to be as beastly as you can." I grin widely with madness as I put on my stance, "Fight me like a cornered rat, with the calmness of a fish in an aquarium." I immediately rush in to strike his wrists to disarm him, letting his katanas slip out of his grips and I grab both swords by the sharp edge to throw them off somewhere.
"Oi!" Zoro protests as he is down to one sword, but I just grin in return.
"There will be times where you will be down to no weapons in hands." I start calmly, "Unless your own body is your weapon, or your weapon can magically return to you, you can be rendered defenseless and before you know it, you'll die."
"Just use one for now. Try to coat her with your will." He looks down to Wado, and while he's unhappy that he's back to being a one-sword style, that didn't stop his fighting spirit as he puts on his stance and puts his concentration to coat his treasured katana.
I can feel the coating is shimmering in and out, but it's far too weak that it barely gives the signature black coating. It stays like that until Zoro loses his steam and leaves him panting out.
"…Well, I can feel the coating, but unfortunately it's not coated enough to be an actual defense. It's more of a paper shield than an iron shield." I tell him my observation, "But it's still a good progress, so good job."
"Now come at me; we still have one more turn." I point out, this time coating my whole body with Buso and Zoro is amazed by it while I just smirk. "Because your Haki isn't developed enough, you need to come up with a move to counter those with thick skin, or even iron. For that, I'll be your hurdle, so listen."
He blinks once, but he quickly understands and immediately readies himself by closing his eyes and re-sheathing his katana. I can tell he's taking in his surroundings and slowly developing his (still weak) Kenbun-Haki to listen, before opening his eyes and coating his katana (still weak) while running up to me.
"Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson!"
I tank in for the attack as he passes me and re-sheathing his katana again. I grit my teeth together when his attack managed to nick my torso and clothes, but not deep enough to make me bleed. I undo my coating and turn to face Zoro, who's panting and looking at me expectantly.
"Well, you managed to nick me and cut open my clothes, so I'd say you pass. For now." I tell him with a smile, and he seems proud of himself. "Although I might need new clothes because of that." I laugh and stretch up as he gathers his discarded swords back.
"How can you manage to coat your whole body with Buso?" Zoro asks while sheathing his swords.
"It's a little hard to do and mine is not thickly coated , but it's just like when you coat just one part of your body or an extension of your body, but make it your whole body instead." I explain as I check on my necklace. It's not damaged, so we're good. "I would just coat my arms, but I don't want to break your treasured katana." I add.
Zoro raises his brow in question, but seemingly knows better than asking me to actually show it that I just laugh in return.
"How's your chest? I hope I didn't give you arrhythmia. I tend to forget my own strength and how attacking people in the chest is bad." I ask in worry and Zoro just shrugs as he hops back onto the boat.
"I'm fine. I can just sleep it off." He replies calmly, acting fine and definitely not in pain and I roll my eyes. Men and their pride.
"I can feel you cringing in pain with that fist-shaped bruise at the center of your chest, dumbass." I tell him with a huff as I follow him. He just scowls in return, but doesn't retort in return because I'm right.
"Leave me alone, woman." He scoffs as he plops down with his katanas in his lap, and I poke his bruise in return. He flinches.
"Fine then. I'm not a doctor anyway, so I don't know how to deal with injuries." I shrug as I plop down next to him. "Let's meditate and develop your Kenbun-Haki. Try to listen to your surroundings." I tell him as I cross my legs and put on my meditation stance with my eyes closed.
I can feel him following suit, and we start to meditate in silence.
Zoro's calm breathing and his burning will to get stronger next to me. The splashing water against the shore and our boats. The rustling leaves of the bushes and trees from the forest. The whistling wind against us and into the island. The various voices of the animals and people of the island.
The whispers from the deep blue sea, the giggles from the cool wind, and the warm smiles from the bright afternoon sun.
Sometimes, it can be a little overwhelming, but it's better to focus on those voices than mine.
Monologuing is the last thing I want while I'm left to my own devices, but here I am, monologuing.
It's been a while, but I wonder how my previous family's life is now.
It's not like I didn't miss them, but it's hard to miss those who barely spared a glance at you when you did your best to impress them, but paid full attention when you messed up and kept on reminding you about it.
Of course, lil' ol me didn't think any better but obey and be good. Fortunately, they left me on my own most of the time, thus I could still indulge myself when I was alone.
And now I'm here. Completely free of their clutches and able to focus on one thing I always dreamt of. It's not clear if I can actually reach that dream, but I can and will keep on trying. Because if I don't, what else should I do? Other than that, I don't really have anything going on or want in my life.
I just wanna see the end of Luffy's journey to be the freest person in the world, and then maybe I will try to find my own purpose for my own.
Of course, if Luffy knows about it, he'll be annoyed because I don't really have a dream of my own but it's my freedom and I get to choose whatever I wanna do in my second life. He can be a literal incarnation of the sun god or whatever, but not even his puppy eyes can stop me.
Oh, Luffy and co. are on their way back.
Opening my eyes and stretching out, I see that Zoro is still meditating. I stare at him for a moment before delivering a punch to him, and he quickly moves away to dodge it as he opens his eyes with a scowl.
"What the hell, woman?!"
"You dodge. Good. That means you listened." I praise him and lean back with my arms draping on the railings. "You can hear my intention to hurt you, right?"
"Maybe. I don't know if I can say that I 'listened', but I can feel that something is about to hurt me." Zoro replies in thought and looks at the approaching figures of Luffy and co. from the forest.
"Zoro! I'm so happy you're alive!" Luffy exclaims out as he launches himself to Zoro and clings to him like a baby monkey. I'm insulted.
"Hey! That was uncalled for! Don't spread misinformation about me!" I yell out with crossed arms.
"But it's true! You're as scary as grandpa! Stupid gorilla!"
I immediately punch him in the face and make both young men fly off into the sea. I scoff as I clap my hands clean from imaginary dusts and put them on my hips. "Serves you right. I told you to never call me that anymore." I huff and turn to look at Nami, who looks absolutely horrified and pale. She looks funny.
"Should we stay here for the night, or should we keep on going? How far is the next island?" I ask Nami, who snaps her out and she walks up to her boat to check on her navigation stuff.
"Let's see here… The next island isn't that far off, and the sun is still high so we can still keep going." She calculates, "We might arrive there by noon, if we hurry."
"Right. Oi! Hurry up and come back here so we can immediately reach the next island for the day!" I yell out towards the washed young men.
"You're the one who did this!" I hear Zoro yell out from the sea, but I ignore him as I sit down and start to put an entry for the log.
Eventually they reached the boat and we're off to continue our journey. Nami said that the next island is called Gecko Island, which I think is the home island of Usopp. It's been a while since the last time I dive deep into the series and wikis, so my memory won't be 100% accurate on things from now on.
But I think I'm prepared for anything.
Well.
Except for time.
Time keeps on moving, and we can't spare a single second to waste.
If only there's a way to stop the sea of time itself, but that's nearly impossible to do unless you're a god or a Devil Fruit user with the time power. Not that I want to eat one anyway. I ain't interested in eating some rotten flavored dubious fruit, thank you very much.
"Oi Eris, how long are you gonna keep thinking? We're here." I hear Luffy call me and I look up, finally realizing that we're finally ashore on an island, possibly Gecko Island, and the sun is still pretty high in the sky.
"I was thinking about Devil Fruit and how dumb DF users are for trading their ability to swim in a world filled with water just to be a superhuman." I say as I follow him and the others jumping off the boat. "Eating a dubious rotten flavored fruit and losing your ability to survive in water doesn't seem worth it to me, especially if those people are sailors." I add with a smirk while Luffy pouts.
"Don't insult my Gomu-Gomu no Mi! I'll kick your ass one day with mine!" Luffy exclaims and I snort in return.
"Yeah, good luck with that. Not even Ace can kick my ass after I come home from my training." I huff with a teasing smirk, "Unless your power can defile the very nature of the world itself, it would be hard to accomplish."
"Just you wait! I'm gonna get stronger and I will kick your ass!" Luffy retorts back angrily.
"I'll give you 2 years to accomplish that." I reply back as I turn to look at him and offer him my pinky. "If you manage to get much stronger on your DF power than you are now in 2 years, then I might go easy on you."
Luffy just looks at my pinky and hooks his pinky around mine. "I don't need to do this because I'm gonna get stronger anyway." He says with confusion on his face and I snicker in return.
"Then why are you hooking your pinky?"
"I dunno!"
"Sorry to interrupt your brotherly bonding," We both turn to look at Zoro, who thumbs up on a cliff, where a familiar face is looking down on us and seems curious on us, "But we got company." He continues.
We stare at Usopp, who's readying his pachinko to hit us with cold sweat and exuding anxiety out loud, before Luffy grins at him.
"Yo! You must be Usopp, right?" Luffy asks and the long-nosed seems surprised by that.
"H-How did you know my name?!" He yells back.
"Yasopp never shut up about you even if our ears are bleeding out." I reply, fondly remembering the times where Yasopp literally just never shut up about Usopp, somehow able to give us different stories about him each time.
That stops him from pulling a shot at us as he peers down at us in wonder and glee. "My pops?! You know about my pops?!" Usopp asks in excitement.
"Come down and we'll talk more! Your trio vegbuddies can join us too if they want." I tell him, glancing at the bushes at where the kids are and they seem startled by it.
"H-How did he manage to find out about us?!" I heard one of them whispering loudly.
"M-Maybe he's a witch!" The other replies with the same voice tone.
"A sea witch AND a pirate?" The last one says in horror.
Wow, they sure have a lot of imagination, huh.
"You three are right on the second one, but I'm not a witch." I tell them and that scares them even more.
"HE CAN READ OUR MINDS! RUN!" And they did, running off at the speed of sound and leaving Usopp behind, not minding his calls.
In the end, Usopp showed us the way to his village's diner and we talked more about his dad, him being a sharpshooter of the infamous Akagami no Shanks, our piracy days that just started around a week or so ago, etc. while we ate and Usopp seems amazed by it all.
"Wow, I can't believe my dad joined such a great pirate as Akagami no Shanks. It makes me even prouder to be his son!" Usopp announces with pride. I don't wanna ruin his mood for calling his dad an absent parent, so I stay silent because I don't think he knows that his wife died.
"Yeah! He can shoot anything, no matter the distance! He's a great sharpshooter!" Luffy says with a grin.
I stop joining in the conversation after a while and just pipe in when any of them pulls me back into the conversation. I'm closing my eyes and focusing on reading the whole island and the area around it; it's not that hard to do nowadays, but it's super hard back in Marineford. It was very noisy, compared to this peaceful island.
Let's see… There's one with malicious intent that got covered up really well by a mask, the weak one nearby, and the three vegetable kids. The rest are pretty healthy and quiet. There are groups of another malicious intent for a good distance away from the island, but they're mostly just bored.
And finally, the ones a few inches away from me. Usopp and Nami are curiously watching me, Zoro is studying me, and while Luffy is busy stealing other's food and reaching in to steal mine.
I quickly grab my spoon and stab it into the back of Luffy's approaching hand, ignoring his cries of pain as I open my eyes to look at the others, "What?"
"Are you sleepy?" Usopp asks, "We don't really have an inn though; it's a small island."
"Nah, I was just reading the island and the surroundings." I answer and he looks at me incredulously, but Nami cuts it off before it turns into another long-ass explanation.
"Anyway, do you have anyone here that knows how to sail or have a ship?" Nami asks Usopp, who shakes his head.
"Well, as you can see, this is a small village," Usopp answers, gesturing his arms around to his village, "Sorry but we can't really fulfill your request."
"I saw a mansion on top of that hill, y'know." Zoro comments as he glances out from the window that Usopp is visibly nervous and immediately steps out of the booth with cold sweat.
"Don't go there!" He exclaims out in panic, but realizes his blunder as we look at him with curious looks. "A-Anyway! I have a sudden business to attend to, so eat as many as you want! It's all on me!" And just like that, he grabs his bag and runs out of the diner.
We just watch him run off before I turn to Luffy with a grin, "It's all on him, he said. He's going to regret that."
At that, he grins back and we eventually order more, happily eating and having a nice conversation until we get interrupted by the previous three kids suddenly entering the diner and announcing their entrance.
"USOPP PIRATES ARE HERE!"
We just look at them while the owner, who's reading the newspaper, barely gives them a glance as they quickly approach us and realize that Usopp isn't around.
"C-Captain Usopp isn't here!" "Hey pirates! Where's Captain Usopp?!" "What have you done to our Captain?!"
We just stare at them blankly while Luffy and Flame just belch out from their meals, and the kids just whip their heads toward them in horror, start to assume that they ate Usopp. I glance at Nami and Zoro with a mischievous glint and Zoro grins at them.
"If you want to know what happened to your Captain…" Zoro starts with a menacing grin.
"…We already ate him." I continued with the same grin, "And you guys will make a great vegetable soup."
Their faces immediately go pale as a sheet before screaming in horror and fear at me, "AAAAAH! SEA WITCH!" And they're about to bolt, but I quickly grab them by the back of their shirts and they scream louder.
"Nyehehe! Relax! We didn't do anything to Usopp. He just left doing something." I explain to them in amusement. That stopped them from screaming their heads off and struggling.
"Oh! So that's why Captain isn't here." "It's that time of the day again." "It's a relief that he's okay."
"So what is he doing again?" Nami asks curiously, "He seemed to be in a hurry."
So the veggies told us about Usopp's motive to 'lie' on the lady of the mansion by the hill—Kaya—because she's sick and has had a weak body for the past year. I listen in on them in silence as we all decide to go join Usopp to see.
Well, I suppose grief will do things to your mind, soul, and body, so no wonder she feels weak. The three of us felt the same back when Sabo was declared 'dead'. We barely ate and both Luffy and me kept crying on every little thing that reminded us about him. While Ace didn't show it, I know he sometimes was in a deep sadness and frustration that he let it out once in a while toward our dinners. He might be able to hide it well, but I can feel it exuded out from him once in a while.
And I suppose Usopp also understands about it, so he tries his best to cheer Kaya up so she won't get drowned in it.
"Usopp is very kind." I comment with a smile, "It's hard to pull yourself out from that darkness, after all. Not many people will do that, so I'm sure this lady Kaya is forever grateful for his efforts."
At that, the veggies grin widely at me and start to gush out about how cool their Captain is.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can feel Nami's gaze on me for a moment.
Finally, we arrived at the front gate of the mansion. We can see that there are guards…well, guarding by the gate. But of course, Luffy being Luffy, decides that going in by launching himself inside is a good idea, so he does it and everyone who grabs onto him to stop him just gets launched along with him.
I just watch them screaming their heads off in amusement before turning to Flame. "Flamey, I need you to guard the coast where our boats are with Takao. Bad pirates are coming, but stay on guard. Don't attack anyone until we return." I order him and he huffs in return in understanding before he walks off while I jump into the air to join the others inside.
I can see them crumpling and groaning on the ground next to a tree, so I land gracefully beside them with an amused smirk as Nami is screaming her head off to Luffy. I look up and see Usopp and Kaya are peering down in confusion and curiously, so I wave at them with a grin.
"Hey, you're that lady Kaya, right? I heard you're sick and Usopp is trying to make you feel better." I greet her with a mock salute, "Name's Eris, and these are my friends. Sorry for barging in; my brother is being a dumbass like usual, so pay him no mind." I add.
She mostly just looks stunned and pale before glancing to Usopp for answers before coming back to me. "May I help you?" She softly asks.
"You got any ship for us to use? We kinda need one because a small boat with more than 5 beings on it doesn't seem ideal for our seafaring days." I answered her. But before she can reply back, I feel someone is approaching us and both Luffy and me quickly turn to look at the direction.
And sure enough, a very distinct butler with poop patterns on his suit and stupid striped shoes shows up, looking unamused and annoyed. Not only that, we both can feel that he's not an ordinary butler.
"You there! Just what in the world are you doing?!" The butler exclaims as he trots over us, "You trespassed on private property, and I have to ask you to leave immediately!"
"Oh look, a little black cat appears." I comment with a bored tone and I turn to look at Kaya, "Oi lady, you need to train your hissy cat better." I tell her with a huff.
"H-he's not—" Kaya is about to reply, but the butler cuts her off.
"You're bothering Lady Kaya and I don't know who you are, but if you don't leave immediately, I will have to escort you out." He growls with a stern glare. "She is sick and needs to rest." He adds.
"Are you isolating her away from her friends that make her feel better?" I ask calmly, tilting my head, "Because if so, I would think that you want her to die." I will continue.
He narrows his eyes in suspicion, but quickly changes it into annoyance as he turns to look at Usopp. "'Friends'? Lady Kaya would never want to have friends with the child of a disgusting pirate." He scoffs.
"Really? Then lemme ask her real quick," I turn to Kaya, "What's your verdict about that opinion, lady Kaya? Is your hissy cat correct or not?"
"K-Klahador! That's enough, don't insult my friends." She tells her butler, "Especially not Usopp-san."
"Oh Lady Kaya, I'm sorry for my rudeness." The butler quickly apologizes, his voice suddenly becoming soft and gentle. Ew, it makes me wanna puke. "I don't mean to upset you. I'm just worried for your wellbeing."
"I-it's alright, but please don't be rude to my friends." She softly adds. Kaya, my girl, you need to grow some balls. Then again, she's not right mentally and physically, so can't blame her.
I can feel Usopp's anger slowly boiling when Klahador calls his pops 'a disgusting pirate' as he jumps off from the tree branch and about to lug on the butler's face. I was thinking of stopping him, but I don't feel like taking the spotlight of him showing his balls, so I just watch him actually give him a punch to his chin.
"U-Usopp-san!"
With that, Nami seems panicking a little before pulling me to whisper, "Why didn't you stop him?! You know he's gonna do that, right?!"
"It's Usopp's business. It's his dad that got insulted, not mine; not that I have one. Besides, Luffy's judging him." I answered her with a shrug, "Besides, that poopy butler called for it for insulting him. He's lucky it's Usopp. If it's me and he insulted my friends, I'll kill him before he can finish it."
That seems to stun her down while things are going down in the background, until eventually we get kicked out by the butler and Usopp stomps off to cool himself down.
"Well, that went well." I shrug it off with a smirk. I see Luffy is following after Usopp, so I leave him be as I turn to the others, "Anyway, I'm going back to the boat. Got things to discuss with my boys. Bye!" I jump into the air and travel off into the air, not noticing the amazed looks from the veggies.
Once I arrive, I land nicely in front of the beasts and they're expecting me calmly.
"So!" I clap my hands together and they sit straighter, "Pirates are coming. Not now, but tomorrow at dawn into this small island. Their former captain is disguising himself as a butler here, and planning to kill the mistress of the mansion and make her sign a contract that he'll get the inheritance. We're not heroes, but letting smug assholes get what they want is the last thing I want, so let's crush them down." I explain with a grin.
"Takao, I want you to infiltrate their ship. If I remember correctly, they're a good distance away from this island. They have a black cat ship head. The current captain is a hypnotist with heart sunglasses. Once he's away, I want you to wreck the remaining members. Now go."
"Understood." And he flies off.
"Flame, I want you to stay and keep your eyes on the mansion. It's a boring task, but it's still important. Once that poopy butler is out of the mansion, I want you to enter it and accompany Kaya. She's weak and sickly, so try your best to lessen her strains and be gentle."
He huffs and off he goes, leaving me behind by the boat.
I stretch out and groan when the bones pop satisfyingly and I sit down. I reach into my satchel and take out my logbook to write down today's entry. The sun is almost at its lowest and possibly an hour or two will set soon, so I better write it down now before the sunlight is nowhere to help me and my brain decided to forget everything.
Once I'm done and the sun is kissing the horizon, I think it's the right time to regroup back with the others. I put my things back inside my satchel and jump along to find the others. They're easy to find because they're just hanging around in the middle of the village. The veggies are nowhere to be seen, so I suppose the meeting between Jango and Kuro is over.
I harshly land behind of Usopp and he literally jumps into the air is terror while screeching out. Nami just facepalms while Zoro and Luffy just look amused and I grin at Usopp.
"Yo! Anything fun happened?" I ask him and glance at the injury on his forearm as he yelps in pain at the sudden movement. "You're injured. You okay?"
"I-I'm fine! A scratch for a Sea Warrior like me is nothing!" Usopp boasts out and screeches out in pain when I slap his injured arm. Men and their pride.
Eventually we went to the opposite coast and Nami dealt with Usopp's injury, because she said that just pouring a bottle of alcohol directly to the injury is a bad idea. I just scoffed and said that it's a waste of time and I got a slap on my head for that.
"There! That should be good enough." Nami announces with a smile and straightens up.
"Why didn't you tell them?" Luffy asks, probably about whatever Usopp said to the kids.
"Because I'm a liar," Usopp answers and chuckles bitterly, "They didn't even believe me from the start, but I guess that's my fault in the first place."
"Even so, truth is truth." Zoro argues back and he falls silent, staring down to his hands.
"The pirates are truly coming, right?" Nami asks and Usopp nods firmly.
"Yeah, it's not wrong that they're coming to attack the village. But everyone thought that it's just another lie and that tomorrow is going to be another peaceful day like usual…" Usopp grits his teeth in anger, not towards the villagers, but towards the situation that will harm them.
"That's why I'm going to stop those pirates by myself and let them keep thinking that it's all just a lie!" He exclaims out firmly. "That's the only thing I can do as a liar! Doesn't matter if I got shot at or driven away, I'm still one of the villagers! I love this village and I want to protect them all!" He cries out.
Hearing that, I can feel the others respect Usopp and start to get themselves ready to help him.
"What an idiotically kind guy, for letting your subordinates go and enter the warzone by yourself." Zoro grins and puts his hand on his katanas.
"Just so you know, their treasures are mine." Nami says firmly while making her usual money gesture.
"But you're dumb if you think that we're gonna let you fight by yourself…" I start with a huff and cross my arms.
"…So we're gonna help you out!" Luffy finishes while stretching out and cracking his knuckles.
Usopp seems surprised by it, considering we barely know each other and practically strangers that he wonders out loud to us.
"I mean, I don't need to use my Kenbun to know that you're basically shaking in your boots." I tell him and he seems offended by that and he quickly stands on his feet.
"M-M-Me? Scared?! I've never been scared of anything in my life! T-That's because I'm Captain Usopp, the brave Sea Warrior!" Usopp denies, but the way his legs are shaking like a leaf tells otherwise and he hits them in frustration before lashing out at us, "S-So what if I'm scared?! Our opponent is that fearsome Klahador pirate, y'know!?"
"We get it, but you don't have to lash out at us." Zoro replies, "We're helping not because of pity; we do so because we want to."
"Who wants to sacrifice their lives just for a pity anyway?" Luffy scoffs out; obviously slightly offended that Usopp would think so.
"Besides, it's okay to be scared. It's a normal human reaction." I assure him with a smile. "We're not heroes; we're just your friendly neighborhood pirates and you just happen to be our friend. You need help, and we'll offer it. It's as simple as that."
Usopp looks at us dumbfounded before tears form again and trickling out, newfound respect and awe can be sensed from him before he cries out while jumping at me and hugging me tight because I'm the closest to him.
I quickly try to push his face away in disgust because his snot and tears are not what I need at the moment!
"LET GO OF ME THIS INSTANT OR I WILL CRUSH YOUR BALLS!" I screech out, "I HAVEN'T GOT MY BATH FOR DAYS AND I DON'T NEED YOUR SNOT AND TEARS ADDING THE UNCLEANLINESS!" I add while the others are just laughing their asses off.
Eventually Usopp lets me go and we start talking about our plan to stop the pirates. I was half-listening in as I put my attention somewhere else. It seems like that butler is on the move, but he's still in the mansion. Flame is still on standby nearby but nowhere near the mansion, and that's good. I don't want that stupid butler to harm my baby.
"What can you guys do?" I heard Usopp ask and I turned to look at him.
"Cutting." Zoro.
"Stretching." Luffy.
"Stealing." Nami.
"Punching." Me.
"And I'm hiding." Usopp.
"YOU NEED TO FIGHT TOO!" Luffy, Zoro, and Nami scream out while putting him in a headlock, and I just shake my head at it.
"J-Joking! I'm joking!" Usopp surrenders and Luffy lets him go. "Anyway, we need a lot of oil to set the trap on this hill, so they can slip and are unable to move forward." He elaborates as he continues walking towards the village.
"But are you sure it's going to work?" I ask and he stops to look at me in confusion. "I mean, sure, they met up here, but are you sure the rest of the crew will be here too? If it's me, I would just make my crew enter the island through the other entrance to make it less obvious." I explained to him.
"W-Well, we don't know for sure about that, so we have to put our faith in it!" Usopp replies, suddenly unsure with his plan.
"How about this; there are four of you, so two people stay here, and the other on the other entrance. That way, we can cover both grounds and if they actually show up at one of them, I can be the delivery guy to take the other ones to the enemies." At that, Usopp looks even more confused.
"How are you gonna do that?" I jump and kick the air as I keep myself to float before zipping around him in an instant to answer his question. He gapes his mouth and his eyes are bulging wide in awe while I puff out my chest in pride. "A-Amazing! You can teleport in the air! Is that magic?!"
"It's just a martial art that's exclusively for Marines and World Government's special Agents, but I asked my gramps to teach it to me so I can make them suffer using their own weapon. It was hell." I tell him with a dead-eyed smile and he gulps nervously.
"Alright, so you'll be our cavalry and messenger." Usopp nods and looks at the others with a slight nervous smile, "Well, we have plenty of hours until dawn, so we should get some rest and get ready."
We all nod and do so, by making a small camp at the cliff and forages whatever we can get our hands on for our emergency camping meals. We managed to find some fruits and edible mushrooms, but Usopp refused to even touch the 'shrooms. Well, more for us then.
"After all of these are done, I want a good, hot bath and crates full of food." I comment as I chew on my mushrooms.
"Same. I'm starting to stink and icky." Nami agrees as she grimaces at her own body.
"I'll ask that rich lady to lend us her baths after this." I add.
We took a nap for a good few hours and managed to wake up before the sun was rising. It's still dark, but I'm sure it's around 4 A.M.
Just like the plan, the group got split into two groups: Nami, Usopp, and me at the actual slope where the pirates will show up, and both Zoro and Luffy are at the other one. But considering I'm basically the delivery guy, I stayed at the top of the slope. But I'm pretty sure we don't really need it to kick the other pirates' asses. I just need to grab Luffy to deal with that poopy butler and that's that.
"Are you sure those two are gonna be okay?" Usopp asks me, probably talking about Luffy and Zoro, "Our opponents will be real pirates!"
"Well, compared to you both now, they're like 10x stronger than both of you combined, so I'd say don't worry about it." I shrug and give him a gentle slap on his back, "Besides, I still have more plans under my nonexistent sleeves, so don't worry too much about this."
"Really? Are you even that strong?" He asks with pure curiosity. Hearing that, I give him a toothy, sadistic grin.
"Maybe, but I know damn well that I fight dirty."
He visibly gulps in response, probably thinking that maybe today is definitely not those pirates' day.
After about an hour and the sky starts to get brighter, we finally see a seemingly empty pirate ship approaching along with a familiar bluebird approaching. I grin as I raise my arm to let Takao perch on it, not minding Usopp's awed expression.
"So? Did you do it?" I ask Takao as he's preening his feathers.
"Yes. I managed to weaken them enough to not be able to fight much, but I left the hypnotist and 2 other members alone." Takao answers calmly, both of us ignoring Usopp's shocked reaction.
I nod with a smile. "Good job. Now go and grab both Luffy and Zoro; the enemies are here." I order him and he nods before taking off to the south. I turned to Usopp, "That's Takao. He ate a Devil Fruit. He's my baby."
"But enough about that, we have guests incoming." I announce when the pirate ship is finally ashore and some of the pirates climb out of the ship. They look worse for wear, so they won't be a big deal to the weakling duo. "I'm staying behind for a backup, so you guys can deal with them." I tell them as I sit down on the ground and both of them widen their eyes.
"What?! I thought you're gonna help!?" Nami screams out in disbelief as she turns to me.
"I ain't helping those who won't help themselves." I stoically answer as I lounge back, "Show me your fighting will; to fight for others and for yourself." I continue sharply.
Usopp seems to understand the point, but Nami is still conflicted. I just stare at her calmly and sigh. Maybe I'm too hard on her.
"If you ask me for help, I will help." I assure her and she hardens up at that before turning around to face forward.
"I don't need your help." She replies curtly, her hands gripping her staff tightly that her knuckles are white.
I just shrug when Usopp gives me a questioning look, but he quickly faces forward again when the pirates are slowly approaching and he readies his slingshot.
"Hisatsu Namari Boshi!" Usopp manages to hit plenty of them down, and I grin deviously when the downed pirates are groaning in pain and seemingly unable to push themselves up again, while the rest of the pirates seem annoyed and especially the hypnotist guy.
"Good going, Usopp!" Nami praises with a pat on his back, and Usopp puffs up his chest in pride.
"Nothing can get past Captain Usopp's brilliant sharpshooting ability!" He boasts out and I have to agree. He has amazing eyesight despite not having Kenbun to help him. I wish he had more confidence in his skills.
While both of them are boasting around, the rest of the pirates are getting closer and closer to us.
"Not to ruin the party, but the fight isn't over yet." I remind them as I keep my eyes on the pirates. Oh, they look pissed. "Keep your eyes on them, unless you want them to take advantage of you."
"R-right!" Usopp shoots plenty of them down again, and I see the hypnotist guy is getting angry and scared.
Hypnotist guy starts to order the pirates to hurry up unless they want the poopy butler to kill them all. That seems to light the fire inside them to push them to do their job properly and they march on with fighting cries. Desperation and the will to live; those two aren't the best combination for the end result.
"They're getting desperate. Careful." I warn them as I pull my knee to my chest and rest my arm there as they nod and brace for the incoming attacks.
At the same time, I can feel Takao is flying closer with the boys in tow before actually dropping them down from the air and unceremoniously landing right between the incoming pirates and us.
"NYAHAHAHA! GOOD JOB, TAKAO!" I burst out laughing and bringing up my arm for him to perch on.
"They're far heavier than Flame." Takao huffs unhappily and starts preening himself.
"Takao you damn birdhead! I'm gonna cut you up and turn you into a chicken fillet!" Zoro yells out with his katanas unsheathed, and Takao just rolls his eyes.
"I'd like to see you try, mosshead." He retorts back.
"Well, that's two down, one more job to do! Be Flame's backup. He's at the mansion." I order him as I push myself up to my feet. He nods and he flies off again while Usopp seems confused.
"The mansion? What's with the mansion?" He asks, both curious and worried about Kaya.
"Poopy butler is coming. He didn't hurt Kaya, yet. But he attacked a butler there." I answer him as I dust my pants, ignoring the boys' battle cries and the pirates' pained screams as the two are attacking them all. Usopp widens his eyes while I grin, "Told you I have a lot of plans under my nonexistent sleeves, didn't I? And I will fight dirty because I'm a pirate."
"Y-you… That's amazing! Are you secretly a genius?!" He praises and I just grin and puff out my chest in pride.
Geez, I don't get plenty of compliments, but I like this shower of praises. Makes me feel amazing.
"Yeah, I know I'm great." I huff with a smug grin as I bring my leg up and grab his overalls, "But we're still in the middle of a fight, so try to focus." I warn him and swing my leg as I pull him down, releasing a sharp wind projectile towards one of the pirates that managed to slip by the other boys. The pirate lets out a pained scream in return as he collapses, unconscious.
"T-thanks!" Usopp quickly got back on his feet to face the enemies and readied his slingshot.
Suddenly the wind breezes over from beyond the forest to us in a warning, and I can see from my peripheral vision that Luffy can feel the same as we both glance at each other and nod. Luffy quickly deals with the rest of the still standing pirates while I turn to the weakling duo.
"Poopy butler is coming. Nami, go deal with your treasure; Luffy and Zoro will protect you. Usopp, stay around with me, but don't do anything rash." I order them, and while Nami doesn't seem happy that I'm ordering her around, she cares for her treasure so she begrudgingly obeys while Luffy and Zoro indeed protect her ass from Jango and the cat men duo called Nyaban or something.
"That Klahador is coming?" Usopp asks and I nod.
"Yeah. The wind gave us a warning." I explain and he looks confused, but before he can ask more questions, the said butler finally arrives at the scene and he's definitely not happy that his joke of a pirate band is being what they are; a joke.
And his joke of a pirate band is definitely sweating bullets right about now, and I can even feel the contrasting aura from both sides. I can just grin giddily while Usopp audibly gulps in fear and anxiety. Nami managed to arrive safely to her boat, so all is well.
I can feel Luffy is calmly observing the situation and learning from it. It's a good lesson for him to be a good Captain, so I'm not going to be in the way.
"I can't believe these kids are giving you trouble. I guess Kuroneko Pirate has truly stooped down to their lowest point." Poopy butler comments as he lets his bag go and his claws clink against each other. "Isn't that right, Jango?"
Jango the hypnotist pales up and sweats bullets. "B-but didn't you order us yourself to not deal with these kids?" He counters back.
"Yes, I did tell you that. What of it? It shouldn't be a problem for you." Poopy butler readjusts his glasses using the heel of his palm calmly. "But one thing I didn't predict is how much cowardice all of you have."
"O-our cowardice—" Jango starts, but gets cut off by the Nyaban Brothers or whatever their name is. They seemed pissed enough to stop their fights against Zoro.
"Who are you calling a coward?!"
"Watch your mouth, Captain Kuro!"
"It's true that you're strong, but that's three years ago! Unlike you, we don't laze around in a peaceful village!" The thin, green-haired one protests. I think his name is Sam or something. Can't bother to remember.
"That's right! It's uncountable how many towns we attacked and pirate ships we sank!" The fat, cow-like one continues.
"What do you mean?" Poopy butler asks calmly, as if they just told him their favorite colors and he's looking at them like they're just a bunch of idiots, which is pretty accurate I guess.
"While you're lazing around—"
"—it's impossible for you to beat us, the Nyaban Brothers!"
And they quickly run up towards the butler, not heeding Jango's warnings while I grab Usopp and jump to the side. I see that butler grabs his bag again to take out and wears his claws in a blink of an eye, while dodging the brothers' synchronized attack as silent as a cat to stand behind them with his claws unsheathed.
It's hard to follow if you're a normal guy, but I can see it as clear as my vision without the whatever vision illnesses I got back in my homeworld.
Still glad that my myopia is gone, which means I can disguise myself using glasses when the time needs me to do so.
Oh whoops, I need to focus on the problem at hand.
"You okay, Usopp?" I ask the long-nosed teen, and he nods gratefully while I can feel him trembling in fear. Okay, good. I turn to look at the scene before us as the cat brothers turn around to attack the butler again, but again he dodges and starts walking around silently and quickly. I forgot that technique name… Something about cat's feet?
Eventually, the butler stops right behind the brothers and puts his arms on their shoulders, with his claws pointing in their open mouths.
"I suppose you're right," The butler eventually says, "I do feel a little sluggish these days."
Yeah, I can see that. He's a little slower than I thought he would be. Even Luffy can easily see him. I guess his weird shoes are a pretty good factor for that silent feet movement thing. Can't say I'm surprised, because I don't wear shoes for the same reason.
"Oi Eris! You're saying it out loud again." I hear Luffy call out.
"I did?" I turn to Usopp, who nods in return. "Well, I guess I did." I shrug. Luckily, the main baddies don't give a damn about it.
Still, the way he adjusts his glasses with the heel of his palm reminds me of the way I did mine when I ate using my hands. Ain't gonna dirty my glasses with dirty hands, after all. That, or he just finished eating chicken wings. Either way, he looks stupid.
Anyway, poopy butler and the cat bros are talking around until poopy butler withdraws his arms and circles back to where he stood before, saying that he gave those two five minutes to finish us all before he takes it with his own hands. With that, the crews go as pale as a sheet of paper and desperation to live bloom in their eyes.
I just let out a sigh as the cat brothers run back to Zoro, who easily slashes them away using his santoryu while Luffy keeps his eyes on the poopy butler. I can feel Kaya's weak presence walking closer, together with Takao and Flame's fiery tempest presences and the three vegetables'.
"Usopp, Kaya is coming." I warned him when the big cat guy asked Jango to hypnotize him, and he did. "Takao and Flame are with her, along with your vegetable friends, so I'm not worried for her safety. But don't do anything rash."
"K-Kaya is—?! We need to take her away from here!" Usopp replies in a panic and about to bolt off, but I quickly grab his overalls. Oh, the big cat guy is getting stronger because of the hypnosis. Nyehehe, Zoro is going to be in deep shit! This is getting more fun!
"Relax. She'll be fine. Besides, she needs a figurative slap to wake her up from the lies that the poopy butler gave her." I calm him down with a smirk, "Let her stand on her own feet, so she can take care of herself for herself."
Usopp is troubled, but seems to understand my point even though he doesn't agree with it.
"…I won't push you to listen to me. Just do whatever you think is right. You're braver than you think." I continue with a slap on his back. He winces in return.
And sure enough, Kaya is running closer towards the poopy butler. Even so, he doesn't seem to notice that it's Kaya that he's about to attack her. I quickly Sikat-ed to him and kicked him away into the forest before his attack could reach Kaya, while Usopp tackled her down to dodge it.
"Huh, and here I thought you'll dodge my attack. I guess I'm faster than your cat's feet thing." I comment as I fiddle with my gauntlets. Poopy butler slowly rises back up and I can feel that he's absolutely pissed.
"You… You're that brat." Klahador spats and I grin in return.
"Yep! It's me, but I'm not the one that will fight you. You're too weak for me." I reply as I stretch out and he raises his eyebrow in question. "I'm not interested in fighting you. I only have my eyes on bigger fish." I add as I think of Arlong and company. They'll be the actual hard ones to deal with.
"Weak? What makes you think that?" He asks calmly.
"You're a coward who didn't commit to consequences. That is what makes you weak in my eyes." I answer, still with a grin. "I don't know much about your story, but from what I gather, you gave up your piracy life because you don't like how the Marines are always on your ass and you're a goddamn idiot to not see the obvious consequence for becoming a pirate. Even that hypnotist Michael Jackson guy is smarter than you!" I continue, thumbing Jango who's pale as a sheet.
"I see. Then I suppose you won't be thinking that any longer." He smirks as he readies his claws and does his cat walk thing to get closer to me silently and swiftly, and I easily see his movements and move away to dodge his attacks.
"I told you I'm not interested in a weakling like you." I tell him with an annoyed huff and quickly jump into the air, keeping myself afloat a good few feet away from him. "But I'll entertain you if you want! After all, all cats need their playtime so they won't be bored enough to commit a genocide." I tease him with a chuckle.
"That brat is flying?!"
"What the hell is happening?!"
"He survived Captain Kuro's attacks?"
But before Klahador can reply, Kaya cuts him off.
"Please stop this, Klahador! I'll give you all of my inheritance, but please leave this place alone!" Kaya says firmly and poopy butler's whole demeanor softens immediately.
"I thank you for the offer, Lady Kaya." He starts as he closes his eyes and adjusts his glasses, "But there is one thing you should know, and that is I long for a peace of mind."
"Peace…of mind?"
"Yes, all I want is just a simple peace. I found comfort on the villagers' kindness in these three years, and there is another one I also long for other than that. That's why I will get that peace and your inheritance by making the pirates attack the village and you will leave your will; those two things should be granted for me to get what I want." He explains with a sadistic grin.
Ain't he a true manipulator, saying that real smooth without a beat? What a great liar, this one.
Kaya takes out a gun and points it to Klahador, telling him to leave while he just calmly looks at it and says creepy shit like she grew up finely in three years while taking off one of his claws and starts reminiscing the old days to pull Kaya's kind heartstrings before he immediately yanks on them by telling her that he's glad that he finally can kill her for making him stoop low enough to be a mere butler.
Usopp immediately grabs the discarded gun and aims it at him in anger, but poopy butler easily dodges it and stands behind Usopp, claws are back on his hand and cages Usopp's head between them while talking about the punch he gave him the day before.
I take a glance at Luffy, who's starting to get pissed off at Klahador's manipulative behavior before he pulls his coated fist back real far. I just grin giddily when the fist pulls back and is aimed at the butler's face. Thankfully, Klahador is too busy dealing with Kaya and Usopp that Luffy's fist easily connects to his ugly mug.
"If getting a punch pissed you off, how about I give another hundred just for you?" Luffy challenges with a grin as his arm retracts back to him.
I don't need to see that Klahador is absolutely losing his shit at Luffy, and even more so when the vegetable kids are beating the shit out of him using unconventional weapons like a frying pan, a small shovel, and a baseball bat.
While everyone is losing their shits and panicking over them and Klahador being absolutely furious enough to go rampant to everyone here, Takao and Flame are blankly watching them and I'm not impressed by their inaction.
"Takao! Flame! Grab them!" I order them and they immediately move to grab two of them while I grab the onion one away from Klahador. We threw them a good few meters away and I turned around with my leg out to deliver a sharp wind projectile at Klahador, who's up and about to attack Usopp.
Impressively, he manages to dodge it and looks at me sharply. I look back with a glare as I put myself between him and the kids, with Takao and Flame following next to me. He lets out a scoff and turns back forward to look at Luffy. Good, he's occupied with him.
I turn to look at Usopp with a silent message to deal with the kids, and it takes him a few seconds to get it.
"You three! Hurry up and take Kaya away from here! Protect her!" Usopp orders the kids, who snap out of it and quickly back on their feet to gather Kaya up.
They quickly pull her up and away from the place, not minding her weak protests as they walk past me.
And then the poopy butler turns to look at me.
"And you. You're also a Devil Fruit user, aren't you?" Klahador asks and I roll my eyes.
"Unlike Luffy, I'm not. What I did is just a form of martial arts I learned. I still love swimming, thank you very much." I answered him. I can't blame him though. Not many people here know Rokushiki, after all.
"I see. Then I will deal with you after I deal with him." He finalizes as he turns back forward, "Jango! You deal with Lady Kaya and those three pests. I will deal with that freak kid. Just like we planned, make her write her will and then kill her!"
"Understood." Jango replies as he starts walking up the hill, but I zoom myself up to him and strike him on his gut, making him fly back down to the bottom of the hill.
"Sorry MJ Copycat, but no one is allowed to be up here, unless they want to die." I say in a sing-song tone and an innocent smile, "Oi Luffy! Hurry up and deal with the poopy butler! The sooner you deal with the leader, the sooner we can eat breakfast!" I told him.
Luffy immediately perks up at the mention of breakfast, and that motivates him further than anything else as he grabs on the cliff sides and pulls himself further behind, readying himself for Rocket.
"Yosh! Get ready, stupid butler! I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy exclaims out before launching himself to Klahador, who steps aside to miss him.
I quickly jump behind as the big cat guy roars and starts blindly attacking me. Zoro quickly deals with him before I deal with him.
"He's mine." Zoro simply says and I just shrug, walking past them towards the rest of the still conscious crew members, ignoring the way the big guy is wrecking the place up.
"Alright, it's my turn to play. Who's wanna be my playmate?" I ask playfully, just like a little kid asking the other kids to play a game. If the said game is called the game of life and death, that is.
But they just scream out in fear and start crawling away, down to the bottom of the hill and to their ship. Meh, how boring.
A great idea pings into my head as I put my clenched fist on my palm and walk down to the ship. I jump up and take myself aboard to the black cat ship head. Hmm, I was thinking of cutting this ship up into a useless pile of wood, but I changed my mind. Maybe it's not really a good idea and I blame my brain.
Even so, I grab on the cathead and rip it off the base before throwing it into the sea. And then I continue on with the railings while humming happily. That's when the crew members finally realize what I'm doing.
"HE'S RIPPING OUR SHIP APART!"
"HURRY UP AND GET HIM!"
"WE NEED THE SHIP TO STAY INTACT!"
While ignoring the hectic situations that are currently happening I keep on picking the ship apart little by little. I ripped off the rope ladder too, so none of those idiots can climb up to put a stop to my shit. I'm not gonna destroy the ship, but just enough to cause plenty of inconvenience for them in the future.
Ripping the doors and windows off from the frames, making holes on the floors and deck here and there, and breaking the sail frames into halves. Basically wrecking the ship just enough to not immediately make it sink into the bottom of the ocean.
Once I'm done, I nod to myself for my artwork.
"Nice work, me! All I need to do now is dispose of the garbage into the bin!" I grin and jump off of the ship right in the middle of the Black Cat crew members. I grab one of them and throw him aboard, ignoring his scream.
I keep on doing the same to the rest of them until no one is left (except for Klahador, but he's special). I don't remember where I make Jango fly off, but he won't be that much of a threat by himself anyway, so I leave him be.
"Okay guys, you better stay aboard unless you wanna get blasted off like Jango!" I warn them with a grin when I see them trying to jump back down and that stops them from their tracks with shivers. Good! Time to send them off!
Putting my legs apart and feet deep into the sand, I put my hands on the ship and start to push the ship off the shore with a heavy grunt, while letting Deimos cut the anchor off from the ship before it returns back into my gauntlet. It's hard and the ship is absolutely heavy, but little by little the ship starts to move back into the watery shore. I keep on going until the water is deep to my hips, and I give it one last strong push that the ship is fully back on the sea.
And at the same time, Luffy managed to beat Klahador up to half-dead and threw him over to the deck of the ship, along with the cat brothers.
"LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK, OR I'LL BEAT YOU UP AGAIN!" Luffy exclaims out loudly, and I can feel the intensity and the anger from him. I can feel the fear blooming from the crew members as they're panicking over Klahador and their wrecked ship, but eventually manage to sail away.
I walk back to the dry side of the shore and stretch out. "Finally! We can go get ourselves breakfast now! Nyehehehe!" I laugh and I can hear Nami letting out an exasperated sigh while rolling her eyes from her boat, with a new sack of treasure in her pile.
"In the end, you guys only think of food, huh?" Nami shakes her head as she approaches me. "And what was that about? Why did you wreck their ship anyway?" She asks in confusion.
"Well, they need a ship so they can leave, but I still wanna make them suffer for planning on attacking the village, so I wrecked their ship!" I answer easily, "After all, I'm not a cruel pirate, unlike that poopy butler. We just wanna be free, not wrecking shit up." I add as I walk away, approaching Luffy uphill.
I can feel Nami looking at me with an unreadable expression before looking into the horizon and following along.
In the end, the whole thing ends nicely with no big casualties. Almost no one gets banged up that bad, and everyone is pretty much alive, so it's a good win for us this time. Merry is also alive, thanks to Takao's first-aid, and Kaya pretty much offers us a place to rest up to save her and the village.
Me, of course, not gonna refuse a free meal and a free bath, along with a free bed for me to take a nap.
I let out a sigh as I submerge my body into the hot bath water, while I can see both Takao and Flame are also enjoying the luxury. Fucking yes, I've been craving for this for weeks!
The next day, Kaya calls us all and says that she has a gift for us. We follow her along to the same shore where the fight happened yesterday, and there she is in all of her glory and cuteness of a ship called Going Merry.
The others are amazed by her while I'm just excited to explore the very interior of the ship. She's bigger than I thought she would be, and I can't imagine how bigger Thousand Sunny will be compared to Merry.
"It's a caravel!" Nami excitedly announces.
"Are you sure that it's for us?" Luffy asks Kaya and Merry the butler. He looks alive and well, despite the fact that he was left for death before, and that's a relief.
"Yes, I insist." Kaya answers with a smile. She also looks far better than yesterday. She did say that her grief and mental instability made her weak and prone to illnesses, so it's nice to see her finally being alive and not having the soul of a zombie.
And then Merry the butler starts to explain some shit about Going Merry; about her model, how he designed her, and how she'll operate. Both Luffy and me are about to spiral into confusionland if Nami didn't save us from the incoming headache to take it upon herself for the knowledge.
While Luffy is commenting on the ship head of Merry's and Kaya is talking more to him, I decided to actually start exploring the ship.
Taking myself up and landing on the deck, I start to walk around and check the place up. The ship is definitely bigger and more spacious than I thought it's gonna be. Considering my sense of scale is almost nonexistent, this is a welcome surprise!
Running and jumping around the place, I noticed that a big boulder thing was rolling down the hill towards us. I lean on the railing and just watch the scene as Zoro and Luffy stop it using their feet on Usopp's face, laughing a bit at it.
Eventually, Usopp and Kaya are having a nice, private conversation about Usopp's future plans to follow his dad's seafaring choice. I just watch both Kaya and Usopp talking at the rear deck of the ship while the others are boarding the ship and do the same.
"You three better take care! We'll meet again one day!" Usopp bids us off and Luffy tilts his head in question.
"Why?" He asks and Usopp himself seems confused with that.
"'Why'? Well, that's because I'm gonna be an actual pirate, so we'll meet again in this vast sea someday." Usopp explains and even Zoro is rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"Stop talking nonsense and climb aboard." Zoro tells him with his no-nonsense attitude while pointing at the ship and Usopp seems dumbfounded by that.
"We're already nakamas, aren't we?" Luffy points out easily, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
Usopp just stares at us in disbelief and seems to be at a loss for words. He looks at each of us and silently asks if we're serious, and we just grin and nod in return.
"T-then… I'll be the Captain, right?!"
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm the Captain, ya hear me?!"
Everyone laughs at it while I just roll my eyes and smile a bit. I know that it's a recurring thing of Usopp claiming the 'Captain' seat, but I'll let it slide as long as it's not too intrusive and too bold that it's making anybody uncomfortable, and especially to Luffy.
After all of the goodbyes and see you later to Kaya and Merry the butler, we finally set sail and get comfortable with our new home. I take a nice rest by the front deck after Nami fusses with us to sail the ship a few minutes before and having a small celebration over Usopp as the new crew member, and I take out my log book and my writing equipment.
I start writing down the events from before and adding small doodles in to give extra oomph for the log. I smile as I listen to Luffy and Usopp excitedly running around and exploring the ship, together with Flame following them around. Nami and Takao are having a conversation about navigational stuff, while Zoro is taking a nice nap nearby.
The tickling breeze brushes over me, teasing me and urging me to join the trio while I just roll my eyes with a smile.
"I'll join them after this." I whisper back softly, and the wind brushes over me gently in return and back to gather around Luffy again. I continue writing down the log and quickly finishing it, so I can join the others exploring the ship again.
The wind always has a special fondness towards Luffy, so I can't blame it for being excited when Luffy is that excited.
I suppose I should hurry before Luffy himself pulls me along to explore.
(A/N : a long one! long enough for me to almost falling asleep while editing and publishing this.
things are happening here and i've ran out of my reserves of future chapters. so next one might get delayed a little, but hopefully not. but if it did, i might just update once a month because i decided that each chapter should be at least over 10k.
also my laptop shift keys are definitely dying, so im gonna buy a wireless one lmao
Posted on August 19th, 2022)
