A/N: And now I remember why Usopp only had one chapter previously, he is hard to write. Not sure where this one ended up, at this point I just wanted to have a look through Usopp's eyes at the first real point that Luffy disappears to his own fight so long before the others find theirs, but I think it kind of took a mind of its own, also I might have messed with the canon a bit on the plan. The next one should show the situation better with a StrawHat I'm more comfortable with writing.
As ever, thanks for faves and follows. And a reminder that reviews are welcomed.
Arxhaelogist: Thank you, he's one of my favourite marines too. I like the outsider POVs for their unbiased views on crew positions.
ilovecartoonsgirl: Thanks, I hope the wait for this one wasn't too long for you.
Blue VanLocke (Review for chapter 1): Hi, welcome. That may be true for a lot of the crews but doesn't seem to be the rule. In the case of the Roger and Red-haired Pirates for example there is no mention of their first mates also holding the navigator position, and Luffy seems to be basing the way his crew is structured on Shank's crew. I hope that didn't put you off this story.
Usopp was not really sure of this plan. In fact he was very worried about it, especially considering due to the drawing of straws he was going into what was very possibly a dangerous fight with only a camel as backup and without knowing what he would be up against, he had no way of creating any form of plan to of attack. For now, he could only hold on tight as they sped across the desert through the night on the back of these massive, very fast ducks and think of what had led to this not so good plan.
Usopp guessed that it started with them trying to get away from the marines in Rainbase on a giant sand crab. He remembered his shock at the golden hook that had come out of nowhere and grabbed Vivi from where she was sitting. Then again at Luffy's quick action to jump to catch her and throw her back, keeping hold of the hook in order to get to his opponent. Giving the order as he was carried out of reach to get Vivi to the capital and stop the rebellion.
Easy for him to say, he was their best fighter and probably had no idea what they may have to face to help Vivi.
Usopp remembered his instinctive reaction of fear at the prospect of reaching the city without one of their main fighters, not to mention not knowing how Luffy may make his way there. Then he turned to the rest of the crew, noticing the solemn air that had fallen over them all at the departure of their captain. He knew that what promised to be a long trip may feel even more so if they remained this tense and that it may affect them in the battles to come. So with a quick glance at the only man on the crab not to be showing much worry of their captain, Usopp made some comment about none of them needing to worry with the Great Captain Usopp with them, breaking the tension.
This may have gotten him a couple of hits for being an idiot from Nami and Sanji, but it seemed appreciated by Chopper at least. Zoro, as ever if something didn't directly get in his face, completely ignored the ruckus, sitting facing the direction that the crab was traveling with a look of concentration on his face, but he remained calm, which had helped to settle Usopp's own nerves.
Upon reaching the river and the unexpected swim they had needed to take to get across, it had became obvious to Usopp that he was not the only one who was having their nerves settled by the swordsman's calm demeanor. He noticed that Nami was also taking glances at the swordsman after she began fidgeting a little with the pieces of her new staff strapped to her thigh. Chopper also seeming to take glances at the swordsman whenever it had been quiet for a while, though Usopp wasn't sure if he was doing it because he knew that the swordsman was the best read of danger at the moment or if he was just subconsciously following the other crew members' actions. He thought he might also have caught Sanji doing the same thing, though it might have been a twitch in his case.
But it was after they had been on the ducks for some time and Vivi signaled that they were getting closer to the capital that they had stopped to plan that Usopp realised why Zoro had looked like he was concentrating earlier in the night.
Zoro laid out a plan to try and lure out the Baroque Works Officer agents that Vivi believed they would be up against in the capital. This came as quite a surprise to Usopp, he hadn't even realised that Zoro had been paying attention to Vivi's explanations, he certainly hadn't appeared to be. Also, in their time together he hadn't seen much in the way of planning come from the swordsman, he was more a jump in and recklessly fight kind of guy. Sure, he had come up with a way to tell if someone was an actual member of the crew or an imposter, but that was really just logic as far as Usopp was concerned.
But the idea to have the rest of the crew split off into pairs, disguised in cloaks as they traveled toward the city, allowing Vivi to attempt to intercept the rebels was one that made good tactical sense. It was a plan that Usopp approved of.
At least he had until he realised that the drawing of straws left him with only a non-fighting camel as a "partner".
Oh, how he hoped that he could outrun whoever ended up after him and this day didn't end up being as dangerous as he thought it might be.
