Wish I had the time to crank out the chapters faster, but alas, even though school is over I'm still doing school related crap. Figures. Anyway I wrote this in bed instead of sleeping. You can call it devotion to my readers or the love of writing, either suits me :)
Here is Chapter 3!
Franky:That's supaaa!
Me: Yeah it is. Oh, and I don't own One Piece, Oda-sama does.
It seemed that I was the only one to remain standing upright, again. Everyone else was sprawled about the deck, sopping wet and miserable. Long Nose-san and Chopper-kun were dangling in the air from the rigging looking quite disorientated. Brook and Franky were both ringing out their hair, mumbling something about manners. Cook-san had already composed himself and was vainly trying to light his cigarette, even though the cigarette and match were drenched. As for the Captain and his first mate, the latter had his swords pinned through the former's red vest and lodged in the deck, keeping him safely in place. Upon seeing that the thought ran through my mind that Nami would be angry for having to sew up the cuts in Luffy's vest, but then I remembered she was no longer with us. I sighed sadly.
The adrenaline wearing off, I slumped to the deck, drained of all energy because of the sea water on and around me.
"Robin-chan!" said Sanji in his rare, serious manner. Sometimes I forgot that he could be mature when the need arose. He ran over to give me a helping hand, but I declined, knowing that standing would only make me fall again. He glanced over at Luffy, who had given up trying to stand or hang on to anything as soon as the water had made him feel weak. Hence the swordsman-san pinning him to the deck like a butterfly. Zoro stood up looking casual like always and said,
"That bastard's gonna pay."
Emotion swept over the entire crew. It was so powerful that it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Just thinking about what had happened made my insides boil, but from the outside I remained stoic as a marble statue. Someone had to keep their cool, because it most definitely wasn't going to be our captain.
At Zoro's statement Luffy seemed to snap back to life, steam and fury rolling off him in tangible waves. He slowly stood up, shading his eyes beneath his somehow intact straw hat. More often than not I laughed at my captain for acting silly, inwardly sighed at his ignorance, and acknowledged the vast difference in our ages. But despite all of this I was glad I was on his side. It was at times like this that made me realize how absolutely terrifying an enemy Luffy could be. I may have won in the brain department but our captain was massively strong, and I would hate to have all that massive anger directed at me. I shuddered.
"He took Nami." Everyone cringed. It hurt more to say it out loud than to think it. He stated it clear as day, no easing anyone gently into the idea. And his voice. He said it in one low, dangerously monotone voice, never looking up at any of us.
"He took my navigator." This tugged at my heart. I knew that Luffy and Nami had a special bond, one that they had forged long before I had come along. Sometimes I had caught them late at night talking on the deck alone together. It was always about nothing in particular, just a little of anything and everything.
Gathering up my courage and strength, I stood up and made my way towards Luffy. Eyes still hidden underneath his hat, I tentatively reached out a gentle hand and put it on his shoulder. It was tensed, the muscles hard and coiled underneath my hand like a snake about to strike. Then he looked up, and my heart sank. The look in his eyes completely contradicted his body language. He didn't look murderous or angry like I thought he would. Instead, his look was one of complete and utter sorrow. So I said the only words I knew that could help to ease it.
"We're going to get her back. I have a plan."
"Before and during the attack, I used my ability to do a little spying around their ship to gather intel and check on Nami. I learned that they had a total of 134 crew members, 97 now that we're finished with them. They also appear to not have a ship's doctor, which means more wounded men and a lesser chance that we'll be spotted."
Everyone cringed at my harsh words, but I ignored them. It was the truth after all. We were all seated in the Aquarium room around a table, looking at my rough sketch of a map of the enemy's ship. (Maps were Nami's forte, not mine.)
"We know that he won't hesitate to use Nami as a shield against us, so instead of a full-out attack we're going to have to use more subtle means of retrieving her."
I flattened the map more and pointed towards the navigation room.
"While gathering intel I always make it a point to search the navigation room. Lying on the desk in there was a map of an autumn island named Breech with a log pose standing beside it. I suggest you all dig out your sweaters, because that is where we're headed."
"Your white prince in shining armor is coming to save you Nami-swan! I will take your tears and sew them into wings to speed me on my way to you!"
I saw the mature Sanji was now replaced with Love Cook-san again.
"If I was Nami I wouldn't want to be saved after that speech," said Zoro. He was pretending to be asleep during this meeting, but I knew he was listening intently to every word I said.
"What was that, Marimo-head? You wanna fight?"
"Bring it on, Butterfly-antennae! I need a little practice kicking someone's butt anyway!"
"You guys! I want to hear the rest of Robin's plan for rescuing Nami!" Usopp shouted. They both looked away from each other slightly ashamed.
"You're absolutely right Long Nose-kun, that is simply the first part of the plan. Right now we are on course for Abanon. I don't know if he realizes this, but that Captain blew us towards that island and now we are a day ahead of schedule. We should arrive there within the next day or so. There we will have to purchase a log pose that has already been set for time's sake. This might be expensive, but we have enough from Nami's last raid."
At this everyone looked sadly over at the sacks of treasure in the corner of the room. We had dragged them into the Aquarium room to be out of the elements, but after that no one had dared touch them again. They were scared, as if Nami could perform astral projection and would come smack them for touching her precious treasure. But in this case I'm sure Nami wouldn't mind if we used the treasure to aid in her rescue.
"Once we've acquired a log pose, we'll use the Coup de Burst to get to Breech before the enemy leaves it. I couldn't find any information on how long they were planning to stay, so let us hope it's an extended stay and not just for provisions."
I snuck a glance at Luffy. He sat listening the entire time, not saying a word. We all knew he had guilt weighing on his mind, so we chose not to point out his uncharacteristically quiet and serious manner. His treasured hat no longer sat upon his head. Instead it was currently resting on Nami's desk atop some of her unfinished maps. I had been surprised upon seeing it the previous night when I walked in to go to sleep, but knowing my captain's personality I understood it. It was his way of making a promise to Nami, that he would come rescue her.
"This is where the plan becomes a little more complex. Franky and Brook, you two are excluded because you're too noticeable. Swordsman-san, Long Nose-san and Doctor-san, you three will be in charge of taking out the enemy. As for me, Captain-san and Cook-san, we will be in charge of finding and rescuing Nami."
"But I thought you said we weren't fighting anyone head on?" queried the little reindeer, looking nervous at the idea of being in charge of hurting people. He was a doctor after all.
"Not to worry Chopper-kun. They won't know what hit them. Unfortunately that involves someone wearing a dress, and it isn't going to be me."
At this all the men in the room sweat-dropped. I was bombarded with a million questions at once.
"How are we going to get on without being noticed?"
"Why do Usopp and Chopper get to fight instead of me and Luffy?"
"How are we going to know where Nami is?"
"WHO is wearing a dress!"
"Okay, calm down everyone. I'll explain everything." I then proceeded to lay out the details of my plan. It wasn't the most brilliant scheme I've ever come up with, but I wasn't alone anymore. I was going to use the skills of all my nakama to our best advantage. And at all costs, I would make sure that we never had to face that evil Captain again.
So there you have it! Frustrating, isn't it? That you still don't know her plan? Well you'll get to see it in action! But not next chapter :P We're going to see what the Captain wants with Nami first, and personally I think that's even more interesting than Robin's plan.
Stay tuned! Please Review!