After our talk we all began following Usopp up a slope.
"Okay. At daybreak the pirates will be landing at this shore to begin their attack. But the only way they'll be able to get to the village is to go up this slope. The rest of the shoreline is sheer cliffs so they have to come through here." We reached the top and stopped, listening to Usopp's plan. "If we can fight them while they're funneled into that narrow pass their numbers won't mean anything and the village will be protected."
"All right. Sounds pretty easy." Luffy commented.
"Talking about it is, but victory depends on our strength. What is it you guys can do?" Usopp asked.
"I cut." Zoro declared.
"I stretch." Luffy stated.
"I slice." I told him.
"I steal." Nami finished.
"I hide." Usopp told us nervously.
"Well this time you better fight!" We all yelled at him, Luffy even going so far as to put Usopp in a headlock.
"Just making a funny. Come on, calm down." Usopp pleaded.
"Don't you dare try anything tomorrow!" Nami growled.
"Just let him go Luffy. We don't want him to die before the actual fight." I walked over and began prying Luffy off Usopp.
Not too long after that we started with our plan. Usopp, Luffy, and Zoro went off and came back with three barrels filled with oil. They then tipped them over in different areas and they began pouring down the slope, covering it. The oil would make it slick and impossible to get up.
"Yup. I'm a genius. There's no way they'll be able to make it up this slope now." Usopp declared. "All this oil we put here should keep them occupied while we go to work on 'em. They're gonna be busy slipping and sliding around like a bunch of idiots. Then we show up and beat the crap out of them." Usopp explained.
"Wow. So that's your plan, huh?" Nami said as she walked towards the oil.
"That's right." Usopp declared. "I'm going to defend the village no matter what it takes."
"Let's just hope none of us slip on that oil and end up down there with them." Nami stated. "Because that would be like sliding into a meat grinder."
"Takara, watch out." Luffy suddenly ordered.
"I'm not that stupid, Luffy." I glared at Luffy. He sat near the oil and was messing with it using his foot.
"Usopp, I gotta hand it to you. You're pretty good at fighting dirty." Luffy announced.
"Of course I am." Usopp began proudly. "There isn't anyone alive who can best me with a slingshot or beat me at the art of fighting dirty."
"I think he meant that literally." I mumbled in reference to the oil in front of us. There was a moment of silence as we all looked to Usopp.
"It's almost daybreak." Zoro declared as he looked over the horizon. "They're coming."
We all stood above the oil and waited. The wind began to blow in the trees above us. Soon the sun was rising and turning the sky blue. We continued to wait. We had been up the entire night, but I felt ready to do anything. The water crashed on the rocks below, but nothing else happened. Luffy soon crouched down to wait.
"Where are they? I thought we were gonna fight." Luffy whined as he stood back up. "The sun's up. What's the deal?"
"Maybe they overslept." Zoro suggested.
"No. They're gonna show up all right, and lots of them." Usopp declared. It wasn't long before I heard Nami gasp lightly. She then cupped her ears and walked in front of us.
"Wait a minute… Maybe I'm hearing things, but it sounds like battle cries from somewhere." Nami stated. I kept quiet and tried to listen with her. Sure enough, I could hear distant cries traveling on the wind. "Yeah, I definitely hear them."
"No. It can't be." Usopp muttered. I quickly turned to look at him.
"What can't be?" Zoro questioned.
"Uh. There's a shore just like this to the north… They went…" Usopp stammered as he held the sides of his head.
"We're at the wrong shore? That's not good!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Well, this is where they had their secret meeting so I just assumed, okay?" Usopp said as he turned on Luffy. I heard Nami groan and watched her place a hand to her head.
"We need to hurry. Before they make it to the village. Where is it?" Luffy questioned.
"You have to head directly north from here. If you run you can make it in three minutes. The terrain there is almost exactly the same. All we need to do is stop them at the slope." Usopp explained.
"Don't you worry. We're gonna stop them." Luffy assured.
"Oh, no!" Nami yelled, catching all of our attention. "If those filthy pirates are at the north shore then they've already seen our boats! They'll take our treasure!" Nami announced.
"We gotta get over there." I declared.
"We'll be there in twenty seconds. Come on, Takara." Luffy quickly grabbed my arm and began dragging me behind him as we ran up the slope. I let out a shriek before quickly getting my feet under me and catching up to Luffy.
Soon Luffy had let go and we were running faster. It wasn't long before the slope was out of sight behind us. As we ran Luffy repeated 'run straight north' under his breath. We ran down a path, through a forest and I was hot on Luffy's heels. It wasn't long before we came to a stop overlooking the village. Luffy panted and tried to catch his breath and I could see the sun finally appearing on the horizon.
"This was definitely not north." I stated.
"The village, that can't be right." Luffy panted. "He said run north and I ran in a coldish direction so we should be at the shore."
"That's not how things work, Luffy." I groaned. "Why don't we ask for directions?" I said as I started walking forward.
"No!" Luffy declared.
"Why are you being so stubborn?" I questioned as I turned around and hit Luffy on the top of his head with my fist.
"Because we'll find it on our own." He then grabbed my wrist and began dragging me again. This time I was less prepared.
"Luffy!" I yelled as I stumbled and tripped behind him.
We kept running for some more time. As Luffy dragged me I couldn't quite catch myself. If I couldn't even tell where I was going, how was I supposed to tell which direction we were going. It didn't help that Luffy continued to chant 'run straight north' under his breath. Suddenly Luffy ran into some kind of wall and I followed soon after. Together we tumbled backwards to the ground next to each other. We panted heavily as we stared up through the trees.
"Which way is north?" Luffy cried out as he sat up.
"Well this clearly isn't the shore." I groaned as I tried to catch my breath. Luffy groaned as well as I sat up next to him. He then stood up and pulled me up with him.
In seconds I was being dragged again, this time I was able to catch myself and run with him. We continued back down the path we took. Before long I noticed Zoro up ahead of us. I quickly grabbed Luffy's arm and tried to drag him back. Instead he turned and began to stumble. It wasn't long before we tripped over each other and were rolling along the path, all the way to Zoro's feet.
"Zoro!" Luffy cheered as he looked up at the man. Zoro had his bandanna on, covering his eyes in shadow.
"I thought you two would have been at the slope by now." Zoro told us as he pulled us to our feet.
"Rubber Head got us lost." I stated.
"He said go north! How was I supposed to know which way was north?!" He yelled.
"Then I guess it was Usopp's fault." I mumbled. I then looked up at the sky before pointing north. "Let's go that way." I stated. We then all took off running in the direction I pointed.
"How do you know which direction north is?" Zoro asked as we ran.
"I've learned a thing or two while being a pirate all my life. I don't just float around on a boat hoping that the winds lead me to the next port." I answered.
"That's why you're my first mate." Luffy stated.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure that's why you hired Nami as our navigator." I retorted.
Before long a steady amount of yelling could be heard ahead. As we got closer, it got louder. Zoro pulled out a sword, and I noticed Luffy get ready to stretch his arm. I instead reached up to my head and pulled my hair back into a ponytail, a few locks still framing my face. A group of pirates could be seen ahead of us.
"Get ready to fight." Zoro declared.
We all jumped forward at the group of pirates now at the top of the slope. Zoro sent half of them back with one of his swords. I spun around, making a bone club come out of my palm. I knocked several guys in front of Luffy. Luffy then sent them all down the slope with the ones Zoro had hit. I retracted the club and walked with them towards the edge of the slope. We stopped and looked down at everyone. I clenched my fist to stop the blood since now was not the time to wrap it with a battle about to start. Usopp was halfway down the slope while Nami lay off to our left. A whole bunch of pirates sat down at the bottom of slope watching us.
"Is that the best those pirates can dish out?" Zoro asked, he sounded out of breathe.
"Yeah, I was hoping for a challenge." Luffy panted. I looked down and around at the pirates. Kuro wasn't there.
"I think the challenge has yet to arrive." I commented.
"And you!" Zoro turned and glared at Nami. "After leaving me down there you're lucky I'm not kicking your butt too!" He growled.
"USOPP! YOU BIG BONE HEAD! YOU NEVER TOLD ME WHICH DIRECTION WAS NORTH!" Luffy fumed. I turned and glared at the boy before I slapped him upside the head.
"It's your own fault for not asking." He turned and glared at me as well.
"Well, it's about time." Nami commented.
"Wow, that was great! You guys are really that strong?" Usopp asked, astonished. Luffy took a few deep breathes before saying 'mhmm' and nodding.
"Could you have been slower? What took you so long?" Nami complained. Zoro turned and glared at her.
"You're the one who pushed me down that oil slick so you could get out." Zoro growled.
"It was an accident. I slipped, you fell. At least one of us made it out of there, that's better than both of us being stuck down at the bottom." Nami retorted.
"IT SHOULD HAVE JUST BEEN YOU!" Zoro growled.
"Run straight north he says. That's just great! I mean how am I supposed to know which way north even is out here, huh?" Luffy fumed, facing Usopp.
"Shut up." Both Usopp and I ordered.
"You're the one who ran away so sure of yourself, ready to take on anyone." Usopp continued.
"And dragging me along with you!" I added.
"Well I just got so excited I started running, y'know." Luffy told us, calmer now.
I turned and looked down toward all the pirates and their ship. One man stood with his back to us and he was telling his forces something. He wore a blue coat with a blue hat and I vaguely saw a beard and glasses. Most of the men pushed themselves back up. The man pulled something out of his coat pocket. It was round and the center was carved out.
"What's that?" I asked, looking down at it. The man began swinging the object back and forth like a pendulum.
"So, what is he doing? It looks weird." I nodded in agreement to Luffy's statement.
"Looks like hypnosis. He's trying to convince them they're stronger than they are. Like that'll work." Nami complained.
"I've never met a hypnotist before." I awed. Hypnosis always sounded really awesome. I stared down at the pendulum, and I watched tentatively.
"Stronger!" The man yelled. I could faintly hear him say 'one' and 'two'. Then he shouted. "JANGO!" All the pirates down there began shouting and cheering.
"No way!" Nami stated. One man turned and punched the cliff side. A huge chunk broke off and fell down to the ground. More cheers and shouts erupted from the pirates.
"That one guy completely destroyed the cliff! Now that's what I call power." Zoro announced.
"I always thought hypnotizing people was a bunch of crap." Nami commented.
"I think it's a pretty cool concept actually." I stated.
"That was just one of them. Imagine what the whole crew can do." Usopp told us. I laughed a bit at his ignorance. I bet I could do that if I made my bones heavier, then again I'd probably end up hurting my hand.
"Bring it on." I laughed, smiling down at the pirates. Luffy stood completely silent beside me. I turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You ready?" I asked. He stood there motionless, his hands clenched into fists. I turned and looked down the slope. Pirates were running up toward us.
"Hey guys. You might want to move." Zoro said. He moved his sword in front of him. "Luffy, Takara, and I will take it from here." Usopp and Nami quickly got up and out of the way. We stood at the ready as pirates ran up toward us.
"Alright then. What now?" Zoro asked as we stood there. I heard a growl come from Luffy. I turned and looked at him.
"Luffy?" I asked, slightly worried.
"Uh... Luffy?" Zoro asked. Luffy's growl turned into a yell as he reached his arms up over his head. His expression was similar to the ones on the faces of the pirates running towards us. "Don't tell me you let that freak hypnotize you too!?" Zoro yelled.
"That is most likely what happened." I replied. Luffy then took off running down the slope, still yelling.
"Ugh! He really is a simple minded idiot!" I heard Nami comment behind me.
"Zoro, I think Luffy is gonna take it from here." I said as I glanced over at Zoro as he waited beside me. In seconds Luffy managed to take down all the pirates running up at us. He stopped and the pirates began pulling themselves up. Once they all stood facing Luffy, Luffy screamed and ran at them. The pirates screamed themselves and began running back down the slope.
"His plans are stupid, yet effective." I declared, watching the Rubber Head. The rest of the pirates tripped and fell once they reached the bottom. He ran past the fallen pirates then ran straight past the hypnotist, who began cowering in fear. He ran straight for their ship.
"Where's he going?" Zoro asked.
"I think he's after the ship." I told him. Luffy ran at the ship and grabbed onto the front of it. I heard his screams and yells as he seemed to pull against the bow of the ship. After a moment the ship creaked.
"That's right! Tear it down!" Nami cheered. The boat continued to crack until it stopped. The whole bow of the ship broke off. Luffy turned and glared at the pirates.
"He's gonna crush us with it! Everybody run!" One of pirates yelled, all of them got up and began running up the slope again. Luffy wobbled back and forth, attempting to stay up. I heard Luffy stomp forward with the column of wood. The hypnotist quickly pulled the pendulum back out.
"One, two, Jango! You will fall asleep!" The hypnotist yelled. I watched as Luffy fell back to sleep, the giant bow falling on him, and hitting most of the other pirates. A giant cloud of smoke erupted below us. Once it had cleared, pirates lay in every direction. Luffy lay under the very end of the broken bow, asleep.
"Wow." I thought aloud.
"Looks like those guys are probably down for the count, don't ya think?" Nami asked. She stood on the edge of the cliff next to us. Usopp stood with her, his arm over Nami's shoulder.
"I guess." Zoro answered.
"Maybe, but Luffy's still trapped underneath that cat. Just look." Usopp commented.
"Relax, he's fine. You should really worry about your own injuries by the looks of it." Zoro told the man.
"He's just taking a nap." I pointed out as I noticed his faint snoring. I watched as the hypnotist slowly stood up. "How did that hypnotist not get crushed?"
"What the hell?" I looked over at the ship where a new voice had come from.
"Come forth! Meowban Brothers!" The hypnotist yelled. Two figures jumped out of the ship and landed on the bow near the hypnotist. One of the figures was quite round and had on a cape while the other had green hair and a hunch. They also both looked like cats, except the bigger one had a cow bell.
"Siam!" The green haired cat man announced.
"And Buchi!" The bigger cat man continued.
"Together we are the Meowban Brothers! At your service." They simultaneously told the hypnotist.
"Are they serious?" I asked, turning towards the rest of my crew.
"They look ridiculous." Nami told me.
"Agreed." I laughed. I stopped when I noticed the 'Meowban Brothers' cowering away from us.
"No way, we couldn't do that! They look too strong, right Buchi?" Siam declared as he cowered.
"Oh yeah, they're strong. Way stronger than us." Buchi replied.
"Huh?" Zoro muttered.
"Besides we just guard the ship! Not fight people." Siam stated.
"He's got a point. We're really not the guys you want to send into battle." Buchi added.
"Wait, I'm confused." I said as I took a step back.
"So, they're a couple of pansies. I guess they're not the trump card after all." Usopp told us. The hypnotist yelled at the two.
"The guy's crying like a baby. What are they doing down there? Of all people why force that guy to fight?" Nami asked as Siam ran up to us, crying.
"It's pathetic. Is he really going to hurt us?" I asked. I stopped talking and began listening in on what the man had been saying.
"I'm going to tear you up with these claws. You just wait and see. I'm a vicious killing machine, and I'm coming for you. You bad people!" Siam cried as he ran.
"You come any closer and I'll cut you in half! I'm not joking!" Zoro yelled as he prepared his sword. "I'll do it." Suddenly Siam stopped wailing and his head dropped to hide his eyes.
"Not likely." Siam declared, his tone entirely different. I jumped out of the way as he flew past me towards Zoro. Zoro quickly blocked one of Siam's claws. "Too bad. It seems you fell for my little ruse." Siam quickly jumped back away from Zoro and as he landed I noticed the two swords now on his back. "I'm impressed you blocked me considering what a brilliant performance I gave. Don't let the teeny bit of skill you have cause you to underestimate Siam of the Meowban brothers." Siam then licked the hand that he had close to his face.
"Zoro, your-" Before I could finish Zoro caught on. He looked down to where his swords should be, noticed that they were gone, and looked back to Siam.
"Are you missing something? Not that I would know anything about it." Siam stated.
"The level of dedication this man has to being a cat is grossing me out." I said quietly under my breath as I shivered.
"You got that right." Nami replied, hearing my comment.
"Gimme my swords back." Zoro demanded.
"Your swords? But you already have a sword. How greedy can you be?" Siam asked. Siam then pulled the swords off his back and looked at them. "Say goodbye swords. Goodbye!" He then threw the swords down the slope behind him. They clattered against the ground as Siam licked his lips. "Now, I feel lighter." He declared. Zoro's anger peaked and he ran at Siam.
"You should take care with other people's things!" Zoro yelled.
He sliced Siam before running past him to get his swords. He didn't get far before Siam jumped after him. He landed on Zoro's back and grabbed his arms.
"You really have to be faster because I'm agile as a cat." Siam stated as he held onto Zoro. Zoro fell to the ground, sliding on his stomach for several feet after he landed.
"Buchi, you're up! Get in here." Siam called to his brother. Buchi began running up towards us, the cowbell rattling at his neck.
"Sure thing Siam!" Buchi yelled. He jumped up and began falling back down with his foot sticking out, prepared to kick Zoro.
I quickly ran towards the group as I made my bones heavier. Once I was close enough and the timing was right, I jumped and knocked Buchi and I away from Zoro and into the slope wall. Dust and debris flew up as we formed a crater. Zoro managed to escape and get back up the slope. I quickly pried myself from the crater and moved to stand with him.
"You okay, Takara?" Zoro asked as I stopped next to him. I bent down and brushed off the dirt that had gathered on my pants.
"Okay, for now." I replied as I turned to face the brothers below us. Buchi had gotten out of the crater as well.
"It's gonna be harder with two." Siam began. "You take down her first." He pointed towards me. I smiled happily.
"I'm flattered." I stated, acting innocently.
"They're both strong so we should act carefully." Siam continued. "We'll get them for sure this time." Siam declared, showing off his claws threateningly.
"You got that right." Buchi commented, doing the same with his claws. I noticed that their claws were just attached to gloves.
"One sword techniques not my forte fellas, but what the hell." Zoro declared, getting his sword ready.
"Let's do this." I smiled as I sent a bone out of my right palm to make a sword.
"Let's go, Buchi!" Siam yelled.
"Right Siam! Let's do it!" Buchi yelled in response. I held up my sword as the brothers yelled something in unison before jumping at us. At the last second Zoro jumped in front of me and began blocking all of their attacks.
"Hey!" I yelled.
"Sit back and let me handle this." He declared. I quickly moved back as Zoro handled the brothers himself. Suddenly something flew by my face. A split second later Zoro's back bent as something hit it. A nice round ball had hit his back. I turned around and ran for Usopp.
"What were you thinking!?" I yelled as I ran towards him. I heard Zoro get struck by the brother's claws and fly back. I quickly stopped directly below Usopp.
"You're supposed to shoot at the bad guys, you idiot!" Nami yelled at him.
"But I did." Usopp stated.
"Zoro got in the way on purpose." I told Usopp as I glanced back at the man sitting on the slope behind me.
"But why would he do that?" Nami asked, looking out at the fallen swordsmen.
"You dumbass." Zoro grunted. "Don't help me. You wanna die?" He then went back to fending off the brothers oncoming attacks.
"Let him do what he does best." I told Usopp, keeping an eye on all of Zoro's moves. As I retracted my sword I pulled out one of the new cloths and began wrapping it around my palm.
"It's just a thought, but maybe it was the two of us that got saved." Nami stated. "If you had actually hit one of those guys they would have come after us instead. And we wouldn't have had a chance holding up against that." That's probably why he took on both brothers instead of letting me help.
"What a guy. All this time he was worried about us." Usopp told us. I looked up at him.
"Why wouldn't he be?" I asked before I turned and began walking down the slope. No one seemed to notice as I strolled past them. Then out of nowhere I watched as Nami ran past me. I saw a glint of light from the hypnotist.
"No, Nami!" I yelled, but it was too late. A second before she got to the swords the hypnotist had reached her and sliced her back with his pendulum. Blood spurted from her back as she crashed to the ground.
"Nami!" Usopp yelled behind me. The bone sword soon reformed in my hand, cutting through the cloth, as I ran for the hypnotist.
"What do you need swords for?" I heard him ask. He looked up before screaming and I skid to a halt as I saw a figure in the reflection of his glasses. I spun around to see Kuro standing at the top of the hill.
"No. I'm sorry. I can explain all of this." I heard the hypnotist's voice falter. The brothers fighting Zoro had stopped fighting to scream at the sight of Kuro as well. Kuro pushed up on his glasses as I noticed a large duffle bag in his hands.
"The night has long since passed. So why is it that you seem to have made no progress on the plan?" Kuro demanded. I heard the pirates below us freaking out at the sight of him. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" He roared.
Kuro's fight in the next chapter.
It'll be fun!
Okay, well that's all.
Review for me! I love it when you do.
Thanks for reading.