First off, I'd like to start with an apology. School recently started, so I have been very preoccupied with that. I have also been writing another fanfiction... heh heh. I really have been thinking about this a lot. And if you requested a fanfiction, just know I have not forgotten about it at all. They will just take a while to come out.
Secondly, I would like to say a HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to everyone who followed and favorited the story it makes me so happy! And I would like to give an even bigger thanks to the following people for your reviews:
Drake G. Reaper, AngelFallenDemon, plasticitylace, and YooreeSana! Your predictions and kind words mean so much, and truly gives me motivation to write!
Alright then, y'all have been waiting so long for this chapter, so I'll shut up now. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: The Woman with the Diamond Eyes
Nami let a long moan crawl out of her mouth as she stiffened her back and threw up her arms to stretch. The navigator was used to working long periods without even noticing. The only signs that showed time had passed was how her body would ache, or finding that the sun was already setting, when, what felt like seconds before, it was still shining brightly in the middle of the sky.
She finally found the strength in her legs to scoot off of her chair and onto her feet, with some assistance from the smooth surface of the top rail of her chair.
It wasn't until she had full control over her out-of-use legs that she noticed it was quiet. And although she appreciated the peace and quiet, it was a bit peculiar not to hear the loud antics of her crewmates. Of course, it would make sense if they were eating dinner, but she would have been invited down to the dining room by someone, but she had no recollection of ever being called down.
Nami stood still to address the situation in her mind, instead of actually heading down to see if anything odd was happening. But just as her mind started contemplating, she was interrupted. BAM! Followed by the alarming noise was an immense shaking of the ground below her. If she was standing up just then, she surely would have fallen to the cold, hard ground.
Adrenaline quickly rushed through her body as she frantically bursted through the door.
"Gumu gomu no red hawk!" Luffy's voice echoed in the open sea so that even Nami, who was on the other side of the ship, could hear it loud and clear. It was clear to see that this time, there was an actual enemy, and not some sea king. The intensity of the attack wasn't something he would use, unless he was locked in a serious battle.
This made Nami's disquietness rise as she slowly stumbled over to watch from behind her beloved mikan trees. But from there, she couldn't catch a peek at the enemy. The only thing she could really see was an unoccupied white sleeve of what Nami assumed was a cardigan, along with a thin leg stretching out from the bottom of a white ruffled skirt. The leg was hidden beneath a tall fishnet stocking, stopping at around their thigh. The only people she could make out was her crew, all in serious battle positions.
"Nami-swan~ Robin-chwan~ dinner is ready!" Sanji announced as he peeked behind the door to the dining room/ kitchen. Followed by "You too, idiots" except this time, it lost all its obnoxiously flirtatious drawing out of the names, and was simply said flatly, with a hint of hatred included.
"Food! Food! Food!" Luffy chanted as he frantically ran past his nakama, and into the room. Followed by Usopp, who was almost as excited about the meal. Robin finally put down her book and slid off her lawn chair to strut into the room, followed by Chopper, Brook, and Franky.
"Oi! Marimo. Get in here. Dinner's ready." Normally, Sanji would have just ignored the sleeping swordsman and enjoyed the absence of his dark presence, but it seemed he was in a good mood that particular night. Though he didn't wait at the door, instead he joined the others for the meal.
Zoro's snores finally ceased as he opened his one good eye. He ripped himself from his spot on the Sunny, but something seemed off. He stared into the distance. The ocean was dyed a warm orange and yellow to reflect the fire-like sky. But ripples in the ocean ruined the beautiful color, and those ripples in the water were formed by none other than another boat.
It was still some distance away, but it was quite obvious to tell. The large warship was colored a distinct turquoise with darker colored ovals decorating the colored wood. The word 'MARINE' in large font ran across the side of either side of the colossal vessel. And if that wasn't enough distinction that trouble was afoot, then the large white sails connected to each tall mast with the logo of the marines, along with the word 'MARINE' plastered over it definitely was. He casually stared at the ship. From what he could make out with his one good eye, he could see people scattering across the deck.
Soon, three large metal balls came hurling towards him, each one shot from a different cannon at the front of the warship. Zoro's knees loosened, and he pulled out his Wado Ichimonji from his hip.
He jumped up to match the height the cannonballs reached. They all flew at Zoro at such a rapid velocity, but still, with one swing. One sword. He slashed the first one vertically, each half separating from its counterpart. Then came the next two. This time though, the two cannonballs flew simultaneously. It was a bit more difficult than just one, but still, to Zoro, it was an absolute breeze. From the position he landed in when cutting the first one, he smoothly transferred the katana he tightly held with both his hands to his right. With his sword in one hand, he was able to reach so that it would span the length of both the cannonballs side by side.
He swiped his arm, separated both halves of the cannonballs. Again. How none of the halves hit the large width of the Sunny was a complete mystery, but as long as everyone was uninjured, he was content.
As Zoro fell back to the vegetated ground, the kitchen door opened, and Luffy, Sanji, Robin, and Franky walked out to see what all the commotion was, while the others stayed in the kitchen for safety.
"Zoro, what happened?" Luffy casually asked as he placed the strawhat that had fallen off his head back on. His eyes were glued to Zoro's, completely missing the large warship that Luffy would most likely drool in awe over.
"See for yourself" he motioned his head over to the front of the deck where the humongous craft slowly approached their own.
As expected, Luffy's eyes sparkled in amazement. No one but Luffy would gawk at an enemy ship. Let alone one that was in the process of harming them.
Three more loud booms brought Luffy out of his stupor. Those booms could only mean one thing: more cannonballs! And the monster trio was more than willing to return the favor.
"Gomu gomu no fusen!" Luffy bounced up and all the while, sucked in all the surrounding air with his mouth. He blew up like a… Well, balloon! The cannonball crashed into Luffy's inflated stomach, but instead of going right through him, along with blowing up like a normal person, it deflected, and came catapulting back to the Marine vessel. Before Luffy could deflate and fall back to the ground, Zoro jumped up, though he still chose to use just one one sword. He turned the Ichimonji sideways, so when the cannon ball hit, it wasn't split by the sharpened edge, but instead, it hit the side of the blade. When the cannonball barely grazed the blade, Zoro swung his sword like a club, hitting the ball back to the ship. It was a very unorthodox way of defense, but then again, Zoro's whole way of fighting was odd.
Sanji stepped up and jumped up, gaining the most height out of the three thanks to his nimble and robust legs. His legs shot out from beneath him, kicking the large and hard metal ball back.
Three large explosions on their own deck alarmed the lower level soldiers.
Inside the large ship, in a secluded room, a woman looked outside the one window that, although didn't have a good view of the deck, still had a somewhat substantial view of the chaos that was occurring.
She sighed as she moved her torso so she sat straight up. She uncrossed her skinny legs and carefully placed her glass teacup on the golden trimmed saucer, the movement making gentle ripples in the light brown tea.
She swept her short, luxuriant locks away from her neck, only for it to momentarily stay out of her neck's way, before sliding back into place due to its length.
She stood up from the comfortable red couch that stretched for multiple feet. Far too long for just one person, still though, the woman was unoccupied in the room. She bent down to the low wooden table that, although long, couldn't compare to the couch's stretch to reach for a pair of white silk gloves that laid flat with no hand to occupy it.
She smoothly slid one of the clean gloves onto her fair hand as her legs carried her to the door located near the single window.
She pushed open the door with her slim body, her hands and eyes still occupied on fitting her glove onto her hand.
"How ungentlemanly to make a lady do all the work" she announced. That caught the attention of two navy soldiers guarding either side of the door.
"Ah-" before they both said in sync, though they were interrupted by the woman's quick leave before either one could get a word out. Her thin fingers tugged at the end of the glove to pull it down from the bottom of her palm to her thin wrist. She made her way to the deck of the ship where the majority of the panic occurred.
It seemed as the smoke from the explosions waded, so did the soldiers' disquiet. Her diamond-like eyes scanned the deck to assess the damage, and to avoid any injury. She sauntered over to the very front of the deck, peeking behind the platform where the three cannons were. She climbed up onto the railing to get a good view of the smaller ship in front of her. From the height and distance, the colorful ship looked no bigger than her thumb.
A strong wind began to blow. Her white and unworn jacket danced in the breeze, along with her short golden locks. The wind also pushed the large ship closer towards the other ship.
"So then, where is this thief?" her elegant voice boomed through the uproar from the wind.