The corpse of a rocklike monster was the first sight to greet Zoro and Tashigi as they came out into the clearing. Sanji had tied it up and was apparently planning on taking it back to the ship to cook up. The whole crew looked like they hadn't broken a sweat taking the monster down.
"What happened?" Zoro asked.
"Where were you when we needed you!" Sanji demanded. "We could've been done here a lot faster!"
"We got lost," Zoro said flatly. "Because the woman can't walk ten feet in the right direction."
"What!" Tashigi exclaimed. "I was following you!" Zoro opened his mouth to argue back when Nami interjected, "Okay, it really doesn't matter. It's hot. Let's go on and try to find the treasure together."
"Wait, what about Luffy?" Tashigi asked, concerned.
"Luffy's fine," Robin answered, smiling lightly, as Nami had already walked off. In silent agreement the group followed. Zoro and Tashigi filed into the back.
"So, when are you going to tell them about your decision?" Zoro asked.
"Well, it's not a decision, yet," Tashigi said. Zoro frowned. "Then hurry up and decide." Tashigi smirked at him. "Is this you wanting me to stay?" she asked, winking.
"No," he said, a light pink tainting his cheeks. "It's me wanting you to stop thinking so hard and choose already."
Meanwhile, Luffy was hot on the trail of the golden baboon, coming right up behind it as they both furiously swung from vine to vine.
"GIVE ME MY HAT BACK!" Luffy yelled, charging after it. But it didn't let down; it kept charging.
"Gomu gomu no…" Luffy started, drawing back his fist. The baboon looked back just in time to hear, "PISTOL!" and to be punched squarely in the face. He fell from the vine and dropped Luffy's hat onto the ground, scampering away. Luffy dropped down next to him, happily setting the hat on top of his head with a wide grin.
Suddenly, the bushes rustled and he turned around to see the monkey creep out again, with a sad frown on its face and big, innocent eyes. Luffy stuck his tongue out at it. Then, he saw a bigger shadow creep out of the forest behind it, followed by another and another… soon he was surrounded by golden-haired monkeys, adults, snarling and growling and baring sharp teeth.
"Hm," Luffy said, remembering the Lapins on Drum Island. Then he leapt upwards, grabbed a vine, and ran (or swung, rather) for his life.
"Hey!" came Sanji's voice. "Nami-swan, I think I found something!"
"Finally," Tashigi muttered, rubbing her eyes tiredly. They all caught up to him and found themselves standing before a huge dip in the earth, where there was something that largely resembled a pile of random sticks and logs, paired with moss and caked with dirt. Creamy white porcelain-looking shards littered the bottom of it, along with an old iron chest set with a deadbolt lock.
"Is there only one chest?" Nami said in disbelief.
"There's a picture of that chest in the book," Robin said. "It's an ancient relic. It'd be the only proof that you made it off Orange Ring Isle, considering that this is the only thing anyone knows has gotten here in the first place."
"Alright," Franky said, "I'll get it." He hopped down into the pit and hauled up the treasure chest to find himself face-to-skull with an old, dried-up skeleton.* There was an awkward moment of staring and then an even more awkward moment when Brook declared simply, "Hm."
"You know, if I didn't know Brook, that would be a lot more creepy," said Franky, pushing the treasure chest up to Sanji, who set it on level ground.
"Yohohoho!" Brook laughed. "That was a good one." No one else seemed to think so. Nami looked down at it and noticed something on the ground next to it.
"Franky, what's that?" she asked. Franky looked down and picked it up, tossing it up to her. "I dunno," he answered. "Looks like an antique or something." Nami looked down at it, squinting. It was a silver case, shaped like a heart and elegantly carved with a molded picture of a rising fire. Robin quickly took it from her. "Nami, this is important," she said. "This belonged to Captain Tobias, an old pirate that was world-famous in his day. The book says he was the sort that robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, though… a nice man on the inside… sort of like Luffy… Anyway, before he had to depart, his sweetheart gave him a silver picture-box to remember her by. It was supposed to remind him to come home."
"But how do you know that it has a picture-…" Nami began, but Robin snapped the box open to show her. On one side was a small, heart-shaped mirror. On the other was a faded photograph of a young girl with medium black hair in the period clothing.
"Oh," Nami said. "That's weird. But why is it so important?"
"Because," Robin said, shaking her head a little, "Tobias later went back for her and brought her here, to this island. She lived for awhile, it was said, because passersby sometimes saw her walking around. But Tobias…" Robin looked for a way to explain, shaking the book as she spoke. "Tobias's treasure was supposedly cursed. Whoever held it had bad luck. No one knew why or how. But Tobias was strong, and he protected the girl. Then one day he decided that he'd had enough of it and went to hide it, to get rid of it for good. While he was trying to do so, he disappeared, never to be found again."
"S-so you're saying that there might a c-curse on that treasure chest!" Usopp demanded, pointing a finger shakily.
"Yes," Robin stated matter-of-factly, "There's a very good possibility."
"We'll be fine," Zoro muttered. "Go ahead and open it."
"Are you crazy!" Tashigi said. "Didn't you hear Robin? It's cursed!" With a smirk Zoro held up Kitetsu just enough so she could recognize it and she fell silent. Usopp began working on the lock and Nami stood with her arms crossed, looking around. Suddenly, Robin tilted her head, eyeing the feather sticking out of Tashigi's pocket. "Where did you find that, Tashigi-san?"
"Oh," Tashigi said, pulling it from its place and holding it up for the archaeologist to see. "Zoro got it off of one of the huge birds there. Isn't it nice?"
"That's one of the 400,000 beri feathers!" Nami cried, pulling at her hair enviously. Zoro pulled his own feather to look at it. "Hm," he said. "That's weird." Robin looked down into her Orange Isle book and smiled secretly. "Quite," she said.
"Why didn't you say so before!" Nami continued angrily.
"What's with that beautiful smile, Robin-chan?" Sanji asked curiously, looking over her shoulder at the book, which, of course, made no sense to him at all. Instead, he looked at the pictures, trying to piece something together. Robin smiled again and flipped the page back, showing him a different set of pictures, and his eye widened and he gaped.
"No way!" he said. "That looks like-…" Before he could finish, Usopp declared, "Okay, the chest is open!" Everyone crowded around the treasure chest, save for Sanji and Robin. Sanji lifted his eyebrow quizzically and Robin winked and put her finger to her lips.
Merry Merry Christmas 3! :D This chapter's a little shorter this time. Please review for meee 3 you can consider it a late Christmas gift! :D Or Hanukkah or Boxing Day or whatever you celebrate :D 3
*Let me know if you read this and went, "Skull joke!" :D
Next Time…
"Tashigi wants to stay! Really!" Luffy asked, grinning. Zoro shushed him, looking around to make sure no one heard.
And…
"Hey, Marimo," Sanji said, tapping Zoro's shoulder lightly. "Didja notice that weird smile Robin was making back at the island?" Zoro nodded lightly.
"What about it?" he asked. Sanji grinned and held up a leather-bound book. "Wouldn't you like to know."
