"Luffy, the next island isn't exactly what you would call 'pirate friendly'," Nami said to her captain, who was hanging upside down from the crow's nest and not paying much attention at all. "Maybe we should pick somewhere else to go. Say, the island after or so. The one we're going to now is pretty much- LUFFY, LISTEN!" Luffy bolted right side up and came to attention. "Sorry, Nami," he giggled. "Did you say something? Is it lunchtime? I'm starving!" He leapt from the crow's nest and landed before her.
"No," Nami sighed, massaging her temples. "I was saying that the next island is a marine hotspot. We'll likely run into some trouble there, with Tashigi being onboard and all. We should reconsider."
"Which island is it, Nami-swan?" Sanji sang as he danced onto the deck with a tall drink for Nami. "If it's dangerous, I would never let you and Robin-chan be harmed!~"
"It's called Bell Island," Nami said, ignoring Sanji's flattering. "But like I was saying, marines go there all the time and…"
"Bell Island?" Sanji asked, still songlike. "Why, we simply cannot pass over it, Nami-swan! Bell Island is the meat capital of the world! Do you know how many wonderful dishes I could prepare for you out of the wonderful Bell Island meat?" Luffy gasped as if amazed and put his hands over his mouth.
"The meat capital of the world?" he repeated softly, with sparkling eyes. He turned to Nami and grabbed her by the shoulders suddenly. 'Nami, I'll just get all the marines out of the way or I'll get you their money or whatever; we just can't skip going to the MEAT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!"
Nami sighed and gave up the fight. "Fine," she said reluctantly. "We should be there by tomorrow at this time." Luffy laughed excitedly and pumped his fist. "We're going to Bell Island!" he screamed so that everyone could hear him.
"Bell Island?" Chopper asked, tilting his head to one side. Tashigi's eyes widened.
"Wait," she said hurriedly. "You're actually going to Bell Island?" Luffy nodded excitedly and Tashigi sat back, amazed. Was Luffy totally dense? Was he really going to take his crew to a marine hotspot with her onboard and expect her to stay put? Well, he could think again. But Luffy didn't seem to realize that she could possibly escape.
"Of course, you would have to stay on the ship, Tashigi," Nami said sternly, shaking a warning finger at her as if she were a child. "We wouldn't want you meeting any marine buddies out here. We don't want the whole world to know we have you aboard; that will only be something else Smoker has to cover for." Tashigi glared at Nami, then decided that she couldn't be suspicious and reinstated a smile. "Of course," she said nicely. Nami didn't looked convinced, but she just shrugged and returned to charting out their course on a map. Zoro watched Tashigi from his corner of the deck suspiciously. He'd have to watch out for her.
"MEATTTTTT!" Luffy yelled, dashing up the pier and towards the city. "BELL ISLAND! FINALLY!"
"Luffy!" Nami ran after him. "Come BACK; we need to figure out where we're meeting each other and you don't have any money!"
"We're going to need a lot of cola," Franky was telling Sanji as they got off the ship. Next went Chopper and Usopp. "Yeah," Usopp was saying as they got off board. "I once was faced with the challenge of defending a whale from being eaten before. People were trying to kill it for food. So what did I do? Well, I had a strategy-"
"Amazing!" The two dropped off the deck as well. Soon, only Robin was left. She smiled at Tashigi. "I forgot to mention something," she said. "I have been placed in charge of making sure you don't try to bust out of here. We can trust you, I know, but it's just a precaution. Follow me, please." Tashigi couldn't believe it. They had chosen to let perhaps the smartest person on the crew deal with her. Maybe they weren't so naïve after all.
"In here, please," Robin said. She opened the door to a room with a couple of barrels, a broom and a single porthole.
"We don't use this much," she shrugged. "But I've been ordered to keep you in here. I'll see you later." With that, Robin left, closing the door behind her. The lock clicked into place. The marine sighed and slumped down against the wall. A wall was what now separated her from freedom. Somehow, the joy that she had gotten from being on the ship had withered away. She wanted to be back with the marines, where she belonged. Who were these numbskull pirates to try and stop her! She got to her feet and crossed the room to the barrels against the wall. She used the broom handle to pry the first one open. It contained a whole lot of stale bread. She replaced the lid and opened the other barrel. This one held stale noodles. Sighing, she looked around the room another time. How would she get out of here with only a bunch of grain and a broom? Then she got an idea. She took the broom from the wall and held it in front of her, concentrating. She eyed the door and fingered the broom handle in her hands. It did feel quite like a sword all of a sudden. Tashigi focused her energy on the door and raised the broom above her head, then swiped it down quickly. As she had planned, she heard the door protest. She jabbed at it again and again, hearing the wood whine every time. Finally, with one last swing, the door swung open backwards and she was free to go. She stepped out into the hallway, looking for a quick exit. Before she left, however, she made it a point to stop by the women's quarters to grab Shigure. When she entered, she had to stop in place. With their back facing her was a person in a suit and top hat with puffy black hair. An intruder, maybe? If so, what were they doing in the girls' room? Was that chest in the corner actually full of money? As he hummed to himself, clearly unaware of her presence, Tashigi soundlessly grabbed Shigure from the wall, but as soon as she did so, she stumbled backwards and fell with a bang flat on her back. She scrambled to her feet just as the person turned to look at her. She took in a sharp breath. The man facing her had the body of a skeleton.
"Yohoho!" the skeleton laughed to her. "Why, aren't you a sight for sore eyes! But I wouldn't know, because I don't have any! Yohohoho!" Tashigi yelled and ran. That couldn't have been real. It wasn't real. It was impossible. Skeletons didn't speak. She bounded onto the deck and ran to the ladder, practically jumping down it. When she turned around, panting, she found that someone had been waiting for her.
"Well," Zoro said, crossing his arms. "I had a feeling you'd get out and try to get on the island. You can't pass." Seeing the look of distress on her face, he added, "It looks like you've just met Brook. He's been under deck perfecting a song he wants to play for us. Well, for the crew, I should say." Tashigi glared at him.
"Get out of my way," she said, unsheathing Shigure. "If you're too pathetic to give me a real fight, then at least just let me pass now and save some time." Zoro smirked. "You're not passing," he repeated. "And I only need one sword to beat you, anyway, so why bother?" Tashigi growled and lunged at him. Zoro quickly unsheathed Wadou Ichimonji and blocked her attack. "I'm telling you, you won't get past me," he said. He swung out at her and she barely had time to dodge. She felt the air from the swing graze her arm. Zoro was great, and she knew that. But she had to get back to Smoker, and he was interfering with her plan.
"This sword," said Zoro, almost conversationally, "is my most prized possession."
"That sword is used for evil," Tashigi protested. She lunged at him again and he blocked.
"You think so?" Zoro stepped back and smirked. "You could do well by learning its technique. You're still attacking too much." She rearranged her grip on her sword and bent her arms at the elbows, then swung in an overhead arch. For a split second, after the swords clashed, Wadou jumped from Zoro's hand a bit. He reclaimed it and again smirked at his opponent.
"So you were listening to me," he said, bringing Wadou forward to block another strike. "See, I was right. Bending your arms helps. You've improved already." He then ducked under her guard and swung Wadou upwards, knocking Shigure into the air. He then caught Tashigi's katana and held it out to her. "But not as good as I am," he said. "Mihawk held off all three of my swords with a little pocketknife. If you want to beat me, you have to be as good as he was." Tashigi snatched Shigure out of his grip and re-sheathed it with a "humph".
"You win, I guess," she growled, leaning back against Sunny's hull. Zoro sat down by the pier's rail, crossed his arms behind his head, and closed his eyes. Was he really going to go to sleep? Tashigi looked to him, then down the length of the pier to Bell Island's main street.
"Don't even think about it," Zoro warned. She looked back over at him. His eyes were still shut. But Tashigi did think about it. She thought about it very hard. It would take Zoro a minute to get up and running, which may just be the minute Tashigi needed to rush into town and get the directionally-impaired pirate lost. Another glance told that his eyes were still shut. She eyed the end of the pier, fingered Shigure for confidence, and took off. Zoro opened his eyes and heaved a sigh, then pulled himself to his feet and ran after her.
"I wonder if we were a bit… hard on the marine girl," Robin said to Nami as they exited a clothing store loaded with shopping bags. Nami waved it off. "No," she said. "We can't really trust her. Apparently, she's a bit more ambitious than we would like. Besides, we bought her clothes, didn't we? She should be thanking us, walking around in those creepy print tops. I don't think I've ever seen someone dress like she does. Maybe it's a marine rule or something." She looked down the street and sighed. "Where is Sanji?" she demanded to no one in particular. "I don't want to haul all this back to the ship myself!"
"Right here, Nami-swan!~" came Sanji's croon. He danced down the street and accepted all of the girls' bags at once. "I found someone to deliver the food to the docks, so I'm all free!"
"Thanks, Sanji," Nami said with a sweet smile. Robin looked around and furrowed her brow. "Where's Luffy?" she wondered aloud. Sanji stepped in again.
"Our idiot captain is stuffing his face full of food, Robin-chan," he said.
"And Zoro?" Robin questioned. Sanji made a face.
"At the ship, being our guard," he answered. Robin's eyebrows raised. "Well, then," she said. "This should be interesting."
"What should be interesting?" Nami asked, following Robin's gaze. In the middle of the crowd, brushing back his sea green hair awkwardly, was Zoro, looking lost again. When he spotted them, his eyes widened a bit and he quickly looked away.
"ZORO!" Nami yelled, storming up to him. "What are you doing here! You were supposed to be guarding the ship; what if someone tries to destroy it like in Loguetown and we end up killing a marine!" Zoro glared back at her, "That's why I'm out here! That 'marine' ran away! She could be anywhere on this street! We have to find her now before she contacts someone!" Nami groaned and turned away from Zoro. "Sanji, go put my bags on the ship and then check the westernmost part of town. Robin, you've got the northern part. I'll go check around the end of the streets, and Zoro, since you have the directional ability of a toothpick, you can stand guard outside the boat like you're supposed to be doing!" The group quickly disbanded and began their search, hoping Tashigi hadn't met a friend yet.
"But the best part, Chopper, is when I faced the mighty fish-man Arlong and said, 'Hey, we've got a score to settle. No one picks on Nami like that!' And he looked so scared that I almost just ran away and let him be, but my courage got the best of me-"
"Wow, Usopp! That's amazing! Tell me more!" Tashigi groaned inwardly. She was trapped in an alleyway. Because Usopp and Chopper had chosen to eat their cotton candy on a bench near the alley's opening, she'd be spotted any way she tried to run out. Though she could probably trick them into letting her run off, the other Mugiwaras would be there to tell them to keep a lookout for her and they would know where she had gone. But she really had to cross the street here. There was a marine building on the island which would allow her to alert someone of her capture. Slowly, she inched around the corner and then broke off into a run.
"Hey, isn't that-" Usopp began, but she darted behind a building on the other side of the street before he could finish.
Tashigi dashed down the street. The marine building rose up before her and she pushed the doors open and ran inside. To her relief, there was a familiar face standing at the counter; a tall, pink haired woman in a red suit and a captain's coat pulled around her shoulders. She looked surprised.
"Sergeant Tashigi?" she asked, leaning forward a bit. "Hina was not expecting to see you here. Is Smoker in town?"
"N-no, Hina-san," Tashigi said. "But you must help me; there are pirates trying to hold me prisoner so Smoker-san will have to pay them a reward and I don't want to put him through any more trouble…" Hina chuckled. "Sergeant Tashigi has not changed," she said. "What pitiful crew has you?" Tashigi looked down at the ground. "The Mugiwaras, Hina-san." Hina's eyes widened.
"Hina did not think they would be kidnappers. However, Hina will put her men to work." She reached for the den den mushi.
"Usopp!" Nami said, spotting the marksman and Chopper sitting on a bench eating cotton candy. "Have you seen Tashigi? She escaped from the ship!" Usopp tilted his head to one side.
"Well, awhile ago I did see someone who looked like her, but I wasn't sure," he said.
"Where did she go!" Nami demanded. Usopp shakily pointed to the other side of the street.
"Crap! She's going for the marine building. Usopp, Chopper, go tell the others to come meet me outside it. I'm not letting my half-million berries get away!"
End chapter 4! So, I've been bothered by something recently. You know that scar over Shanks' left eye? Did Buggy do that? Because it looks suspiciously like those claw things on his gloves. And thanks for the feedback; I just assumed that Luffy knew about Sogeking. He might know, anyway. He's a *sneaky* character. XD
Oh, and I know Brook's introduction wasn't all that good, but I promise he'll be back in the next chapter for a longer time. I promise! ^^
