Ch. 8
They'd been walking for hours. His legs felt like a couple of Zoro's lead weights. His sleeves and pants had been torn in places, a few thorns digging deeper to scratch his flesh. There was a huge tick problem on this island-he'd already swat seven from his clothes and pulled three from his hands and neck. The others, wearing much less, were having an even harder problem with the parasites than he was. He'd leant Nami his coat, but she still stopped occasionally to brush one from her unprotected legs-letting the rest of the crew feel the tick's wrath as they slowed behind her.
They'd left Zoro on the Merry, tied to the mast with their strongest rope. Thankfully, they'd all agreed that Zoro was in no shape to trudge into the jungle, not if he was going to try and give Sanji his manhood every five seconds. But his swordsman skills would've been much more welcomed; the forest was dense, with think branches often blocking their path. A swipe of his blade here, a slash of his swords there, and their journey through the trees would be much faster.
Sanji was behind the rest, stopping at every tree and bush to sample the fruit and collect a basket full. He'd already filled three baskets with pink apples, blue oranges and other strangely colored fruit. There was a bushel of teal grapes, some black mangos, and purple strawberries, too. They tasted exactly like what they looked like, though.
"Here it is!" Nami called out from where she stood behind Usopp. Said idiot had said something about being able to clear the most clustered path and had offered to hack away the foliage. Sanji looked up from where he'd been examining some red carrot-like leaves and picked up his shovel. On Nami's command, they started digging on the indicated spot. Sanji was careful not to get a splinter from the shovel's wooden handle, or do anything else to damage his sacred hands. It took longer to unearth the chest than it would have with Zoro with them, but regardless, minutes later they were pulling up a rusted and earth-soaked treasure chest, and it was H-E-A-V-Y.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Nami cried, grabbing the chest from them as they pulled it over the side of the hole. She studied the lock, took a knife and poked around the keyhole. It clocked open. She dropped the knife and lifted the lid, revealing...two little bottles.
"Huh?" Nami demanded blankly, picking up one of the bottles. It had a clear, syrupy liquid inside that changed to a light orange color and got runny when she touched it. She grimaced at it, then shoved it at Sanji, picking up the other and doing the same. She looked inside the chest for the rest of the treasure as Sanji studied the bottles. Once in his hand, the liquid inside thicken to the consistency of melted gold, and lightened to a pale pink. It took on a familiar metallic sheen. Sanji knew he'd seen something like this before and was just about to put his finger on it when Luffy grabbed it from his hand.
"What is this junk?" he asked the whole group, studying it with a vague expression. He uncorked it and took a sniff. His eyes went blank and dead. He sniffed it again. And again.
Usopp took it from his after the fifth sniff to smell it for himself. He got the same dead look in his eyes as his captain, sniffing it a few more times before dropping it and putting a hand to his head. Luffy was having some kind of spaz attack. He was shaking his head every so often, slapping his face, pausing and groaning, biting his own fingers.
"Are you two okay?" Sanji asked them, raising his hands to help if he could.
The men's eyes turned and trained on him.
Sanji backed away, frightened by the raw look in his friend's eyes. They were looking at him with a cannibalistic like hunger, out of place desire...familiar lust.
'Oh, shit.'
They stared at each other for countless minutes, Luffy and Usopp watching, Sanji wondering how much of a handicap fighting in the cluttered jungle would give him. Besides that, how far should he go? Were his friends too far gone to be brought back by a few swift kicks?
He took a deep drag from his cigarette, moving into his fighting stance. He figured about one hundred kicks each might dissolve whatever control the two missing Lust Potions had over them.
'The others have all been used up, huh?' The cook thought bitterly, remembering the old shopkeeper mention something about said other potions.
Luffy struck!
Using his Gum Gum powers, the boy stretched his arm towards Sanji, fingers stretched and seeking to grab the cook and drag him over to him. Sanji could've easily dodged it, and kept dodging it all day, but before he could, a long wooden staff slashed through the air and slapped against Luffy's skin. The boy cried out and retracted his arm.
Nami stepped out in front of Sanji, holding her staff horizontal so she could launch into any of her attacks in an instant. Sanji's eyes widened. No, this would not do.
"Thank you, Nami, but I can take it from here," he said, clapping her on the shoulder.
She turned to look at him. Sanji gaped, taking a hurried step back. "I'm just protecting what's mine," she growled, her chocolate eyes alight with unnatural hunger. The potion had taken over her, too!
(So maybe that wasn't that bad...)
Nami gave her battle roar and swung her staff at the men, jabbing at their heads, stomachs, knees and groins, trying to land a blow as they dipped and ducked and spun out of harm's way. Usopp took out his slingshot, taking aim at Nami with what looked like an exploding star. The girl saw this, though, and jumped out of the way of the bullet, simultaneously dodging one of Luffy's Gum Gum Pistols.
Sanji had no desire to know who would be the victor in this fight. He didn't want anyone to die, but he didn't want anyone to win, either. The winner would try to rape him. Unless he ran away. It was the only thing he could think of-if he didn't, he'd have to deal with everyone fighting over him, sneak attacks, his ass threatened at every turn. And so, he did the only thing he could do.
He turned form the fight and ran...
...right into Zoro's arms.
"What the hell?" He demanded as the swordsman's arms closed around him, looking up into smug emerald eyes. He swore that the more Zoro hit on him, the more he hated the marimo bastard. "You were fucking tied up!"
"One silly rope cannot keep love apart," Zoro said, that toxic, luscious drawl weighing down his voice. Sanji shivered, trying to remember why he needed to refuse, reject, resist. Zoro was a puppet right now, his normal self probably trapped deep down under layers of controlling gas and manipulative fog. That idiot bastard didn't know how to sweet talk or flirt, and as long as Sanji remembered that, he might've had a chance against him.
Zoro leaned down for a kiss...
Sanji woke up.
Jarred from slumber by a loud noise, Sanji sat up, looking around for any sign of danger. The fire that they'd lit had died down to a few little flames in the ashes and remaining wood. It cast enough light to see by, and he could vaguely make out the shapes of his nakama, asleep and undisturbed by frightening dreams and mysterious sounds.
Speaking of...
Sliding into a kneeling position, he turned around, searching the trees behind him. Nothing seemed different from when he fell asleep, except maybe a bit darker, and none of their possessions were out of place...
He started to decide he'd imagined the noise, a little trick his brain pulled just so he'd have an excuse to wake up, when a twig snapped.
He spun around to face whatever it was that had made the noise. Luffy mumbled something and stretched out beside Nami , looping an arm around her waist. Other than hat, nothing moved.
Leaves rustled somewhere near Usopp. Sanji turned, expecting the man to be moving around, but the sharp shooter lay still but for his shallow breathing.
"Stupid jungle," Sanji grumbled, lying back down. He closed his eyes, ready for an undisturbed, dreamless sleep to come.
A shrill cry rose above the trees and he flew back up, ready for an attack to come. A minute passed and one never came. He slowly relaxed his muscles, looking in awe at his nakama as they slept on. Of course, they all had spent sometime on Gaimon's island. They had probably accustomed themselves to the sounds of the jungle. Lucky bastards.
"What I wouldn't give for earmuffs."
Sighing, Sanji scooted himself to the nearest tree and leaned back, patting around his pockets for his cigarettes and lighter. He stuck one between his lips and lit it, taking a long, deep drag. He hadn't noticed how cold it was before, but now that he had nothing else to think about, he realized he was trembling. He'd let Nami keep his jacket for the night, knowing it would get cold, and his shirt was pretty thin. But it didn't feel like it was the lack of clothing making him cold. It was the lack of a certain pair of strong arms wrapped around him, the absence of a certain muscular body pressed against his...
He wondered how Zoro was fairing from the cold. Was he asleep, or awake, thinking about Sanji? Or had the cook's absence wiped the potion's control from him, and he was wondering where the hell everyone was and why the fuck he was tied up? He thought back to his dream, what Zoro had said...One silly rope can not keep love apart. He knew it had only been the potion speaking in the dream, but he had to wonder; did he love Zoro. No. He wanted to fuck him, and just tolerated his idiocy. That was all.
That...really was all.
Another twig snapped not far away from him. He was ready to dismiss it as the always mysterious sounds of the jungle when a glint of light caught his eye. He pretended not to notice and went about smoking his cigarette, but he tensed his muscles so he could jump into a fight right away. He closed his eyes and used his ears. There were slight noises-the sound of a hand moving over smooth wood, a small intake of breath, a few soft clanks, a pop, whizzing.
Sanji opened his eyes and jumped from the tree just seconds before a feather tipped dart punctured the bark. He studied the feathers, trying to figure out what tribe's land they'd stumbled upon, but another dart slicing through his hair turned his attention back to the snipers.
"Usopp," he said loudly, knowing this was his field of expertise. "Usopp!"
Ducking out of the range of another dart, he started towards the sleeping sharp shooter, intent on kicking the bastard awake.
He cried out when an unseen sniper caught him between the shoulder blades. He tried to reach behind him to grab it, pull it out before the poison spread, but another dart struck him in the hip. He grit his teeth and groaned against the pain, prying the dart loose. His vision got fuzzy, but he was able to see strange, colorful objects coming toward his as the world went black around him.
~~~ZsZsZsZs~~~
Sanji, Sanji, Sanji, Sanji, Sanji...
His crewmate's name rang through his mind as he worked to loosen the ropes that tied him to the mast. Damn the others. How dare they want to keep him from the man he loved? They'd pay...They'd pat dearly. But first, he'd have to fuck Sanji.
Zoro growled, flexing his muscles once again in hopes of breaking the rope. It strained but didn't give. He couldn't understand why-usually he could break any rope, no matter how strong or thick.
His swords were an arm's length away. If he could just get one...
Slipping off his boot, he stretched out his leg, groping with his toes at the trio of blades. He had a feeling that if he didn't hurry and find Sanji, he wouldn't have a cute blonde lover anytime soon...or ever.
The scream that pierced the night after that confirmed it.
Swearing loudly, he snatched up Wado, pulling it towards him with his foot. He used his other foot to remove the scabbard, then used both feet to hold it up vertically. Then he navigated the blade towards the rope and started sawing.
Once he'd cut the rope in two or three places. He wiggled back and forth, loosening the rope by a large margin. He moved his arms out, and the rope fell away.
'Well,' he thought as he stood, picking up his swords and putting them in their sling. 'Time to save Sanji.'
~~~ZsZsZsZs~~~
Sanji opened his eyes, closing them again when the light stung them shut. His head was killing him. How much had he drunk last night? His brain was about to explode.
Groaning softly, he sat up, gradually opening his eyes to let them adjust to the light. It took him a while to grow immune to the pain, but once he had, he took a look around. A circle of grass huts surrounded him, people moving around inside and occasionally coming out. Little kids ran around, chasing lizards and birds, kicking stones and hitting woven balls with sticks.
Blinking sleep from his eyes, he wondered if he was still asleep...then he remembered what had happened last night and gasped.
He did some more looking around. He was in a small bamboo cage, tall enough for him to stand with his knees severely bent, and wide enough so he could curl up into a ball and lay down. He tested the bars. They were thick, and strong enough to hold the average man. But Sanji knew with one well-placed kick, he'd be free.
He raised his leg to do as much, but a hand shot out of nowhere to stop him. He turned and stared in relief at familiar, round eyes.
"Usopp!"
Usopp dropped his leg and brought a finger to his mouth to hush him. Sanji hadn't noticed before, but there were two other cages beside his, and one was broken in half. Usopp was in the other. There was also a tall, muscled woman with a sour expression and long, spear tipped staffs guarding them.
Usopp grabbed his shoulder and brought Sanji's attention back to him. Reinforcing his earlier order for silence, he pointed off to his left. Sanji looked to where his friend was indicating. Luffy stood with his back against a tall pole, tied tight to it with a thick rope. He was pouting and glowering out at a semi-circle of women who stood expressionless before him, pointing spears at his chest.
A chill of fear ran through him. "Where's Nami?" he demanded, turning back to Usopp.
The sniper waved his arms, shushing him again.
"Where's Nami?" Sanji asked again softly, but no less demanding.
"Don't worry, she's okay," Usopp whispered. "Actually, she's right over there."
Sanji's sight followed Usopp's finger again, finding Nami standing by a few women. They were all a head taller than her, with long black hair pulled into braids, colored grass and fabric weaved into each, colorful war paint around their eyes and on their cheeks, lithe but muscled bodies and revealing animal hides for clothes. One woman was examining Nami's staff. Another seemed to be acting as a translator between her tribal sisters and the navigator. He couldn't hear what was being said, but once one woman picked up a bow and arrow, demonstrated how to use it, and handed it to Nami, he knew they were discussing weapons.
"This is your kind of island," Usopp whispered to him. "The inhabitants are mostly women, and the men that do live here do the cooking, cleaning, take care of the kids...other than that they're just here to build up the ranks."
Sanji nodded solemnly. His nakama might've been able to imagine him living happily on an island like this one, nut he couldn't. He loved women, and loved spoiling them and taking care of them, but to be amongst them just because he could give them a potential, future warrior. The thought made him sick.
"What are they going to do with us?" Sanji asked.
"They haven't decided yet, but hopefully they'll put us to good use before they kill us." The sniper smile deviously. Sanji ignored him.
"Has Nami asked them to free us?"
"More than once. Since she's a girl they welcomed her into the tribe automatically. She has every right as all the others. That one's she's talking to right now-" Sanji saw an intelligent looking native beside the other two bend to speak to Nami- "She speaks a little English and said their chief was talking to some of her loyal advisers about what to do with us. They've been talking since sun up."
"Do you think they'll let us go?"
"Absolutely not."
~~~ZsZsZsZs~~~
Being trapped in the cage was easily the most boring shit he'd ever had to put up with. It was alright at first, because Usopp was explaining everything that had happened since the Oonkaunawa tribe had attacked them last night. Sanji had been the only one sedated-Nami had talked the others into going quietly-so the sharp shooter had taken the liberty of clueing Sanji in. But once everything had been told, Usopp had sat back against the bars.
They'd watched the kids playing after that. All were clad in only loincloths, but most were girls. Usopp said that out of every five boys born on the island, only two were allowed to live. The rest were sacrificed to Sharmilaya, the Ookaunawa's goddess. But soon the men called the children back inside and the women took the teenage girls out of hunt.
Soon after that, Nami saw Sanji was awake and went over to visit. She was able to tell them a bit more about the tribe and their customs, but after only a few minutes she was shepherded away by the guard.
After a few more boring hours, the verdict was finally read. Out of the largest grass hut came an elegantly dressed woman. Her raven hair was swept into a braid not unlike everyone else's, but it wrapped around the back of her head a few times like a halo. She had a small crown of black feathers and porcupine quills, and band decorated with shells and stones holding it together. Her make up was just as colorful as her warrior's, but it wasn't put on as greedily; a small green line under each eye, one painted eye in the middle of her forehead, and a long white line extending from her hair lone, behind the eye, down her nose and over her lips was all Sanji could see. She had a tiger's pelt thrown over her shoulders like a cape, a string of what Sanji presumed the poor beast's teeth around her neck. Other than that and bamboo sandals tired up with leather, she was naked.
She raised her arms and said something in her native language. Those who hadn't noticed her before dropped what they held and fell to the ground before her.
"She is great chief Nefereta. Many believe her be Sharilaya, incarnated," said Nami's translator friend Ahwakei. The two had moved closer to the cages as the day had worn on. The guards had rolled their eyes and allowed it this time.
The chief spoke again, and everyone moved to stand.
"She say, rise my people, for I have news." Ahwakei said as Nefereta went on. "Last night, our territory invaded by White Devil. Many time this happen before, but this time, they bring woman!"
Mumbling broke out amongst the Oonkautawa, and their chief waited for them to quiet down before continuing. "Woman Nami is sister. We welcome her unconditionally, but not White Devil men. But sister Nami asks we spare the men, let whole group free."
Boos engulfed the masses. Even the men seemed to be against the idea.
Nefereta didn't wait for peace to come. Instead, she raised her voice. "Peace, sisters, peace. We let go no White Devil man come onto our land, we not start now!"
Ahwakei cleared her throat, and Nami swallowed hard. Usopp looked down at his arms, apparently wondering if he mentioned his skin wasn't white, they'd spare him. Sanji's hands tightened on his bars. He knew what was coming next, even though Nefereta spoke and Ahwakei didn't translate it. He knew by recurring words for "White Devil" and their goddess' name and the way Nami cried out, coming to the same conclusion.
The chief yelled out over the crowd, and cheers and screams of joy rose into the air at Neferet's words.
"We sacrifice the White Devil men to Sharmilaya!"
Pronunciations:
Oonkaunawa: Oon-kah-nah-wah. Based on "Oonagawa", something my dad said one time.
Nefereta: Ne-fur-reh-tah. Based on Neferet from House of Night series.
Sharmilaya- Shar-mee-lah-yah. Based on Sharmilla from the Demonata series.
Ahwakei- Ah-wah-kay. Based on the misspelling of awake (awaka)