Chapter 17: Takiyoki Tales
"So let me get this straight." Jiru, the Mugiwara treasure hunter, reclined on her aura pad, floating in the evening air three feet above the Takiyoki boat bottom; which put her even with the burning hot baking slate that the eight-armed fishman was currently slaving away at. By his side, the mermaid Camie and starfish, Pappug, were helping him by applying the special sauces and putting them on the serving plates.
In front of the cooking octopus, sat four male pirates; nakama: Chopper, Usoppu, Luffy and then Brooke. In the collector's hands, she held a plateful of fried – oh so delectable – octopus balls. She had opted to sit behind the now occupied seats and used her Reiki-Reiki powers to levitate her share of takiyoki to herself, trying and succeeding in avoiding Luffy's fast hands.
"I won't stop!" Luffy sputtered out; his mouth full. "I CAN'T stop! These takiyoki are SO AWESOME!"
"They really are…" Sanji said. "How does he get the sauce so rich?"
"It's nice eating on a ship like this." Usoppu spoke with his mouth full.
"This is the second time I've ever experienced the culture of takiyoki!" Brooke declared. "So delectable!"
It was three hours after the mermaid had fallen on Sanji; having been exhumed from an attacking Sea-Eel Rabbit's stomach. Like a lynchpin of fate, the mermaid's presence was something that started an avalanche of events that turned, of course, into an adventure.
At the moment, the Sunny-Gou, having traveled away from the Redline and away from a man-built island where the adventure took place; was floating alongside the Takiyoki boat that she, Luffy, Chopper, Nami, Usoppu, Sanji, Brooke, the mermaid (Camie), the starfish Pappug and their newest friend, the eight-armed octo-man Hachi were all on; talking and eating. It was funny, ironically so, that the Mugiwaras were now eating food made by once-enemy hands. But that was the way they rolled, and she wouldn't change it one bit.
"So, after Camie called her friend, 'Hachin', via private Den-Mushi, she found out that the Flying Fishmen and some idiotic Makuro Gang Fishmen had ended up capturing Hachi and wanted to use Hachi as bait to capture Camie?" Jiru finished chewing an octo-ball and swallowed.
"That's right, so when we went to the Flying Fishman's base, we found out that Hachin was really Hachi, from Arlong's crew." Usoppu nodded in agreement, shoving takiyoki into his own mouth.
"So then you all refused to save Hachi-n and attempted to turn around when Camie jumped in to save her friend, and started the whole thing?" the treasure hunter, like Nami, had been abused under Arlong's brutal rule, part of which Hachi had been crewed – it all seemed like decades ago to her.
"Here, try these, these were made with soup stock and these rice cakes inside!" Camie the mermaid spoke up.
"Help yourselves!" Hachi exclaimed. "Eat as much as you want! Today, they're on the house! It's our way of saying thanks, Nyuu!"
"Hey, Luffy-chan, I'm going to eat more than you!" Jiru sought out a battle she knew she'd lose.
"You will not!" Luffy's retort came. It was on, and the two pirates gorged themselves.
"So, uh…Nami…Jiru…Nyuu…" Hachi called, rather nervously. "How is it? Good, right? Nyuu~!"
Luffy, Sanji, Chopper, Brooke and Usoppu paused in their eating. Nami turned to look at Hachi. Her gaze seemed cold and rather emotionless. Hachi felt his heart beating tenfold with fear. The green-brown eyes of the collector glanced over to the demure and separated navigator at the front of the boat; where Nami sat quietly, eating her own plate of takiyoki and watching the whole scene with indifference. Jiru kept silent; and wondered what Nami would say next.
"This doesn't mean that I forgive you, you know." Nami finally stated.
"N-no, of course not!" Hachi trembled. "That's not I what I meant, at all! Nyuu~! I just wanted to know if it tastes good or not! Honest!"
A pause came. Then, Nami just smiled, gently.
"Yeah." she said. "These are delicious!" Hachi stared at Nami in surprise.
"Really?" The octo-fishman asked. "You mean it?"
Luffy, Jiru, Chopper, Brooke, Usoppu, and Sanji all heaved sighs of relief. Nami may not have forgiven Hachi, but at least she was nice to compliment on his cooking, and that was progress towards civility. Camie laughed as she headed to the back.
"All right, guys!" the mermaid called. "Keep it going! There's plenty to go around!"
"Will somebody tell me more of the flying Fishmen adventure!"
Jiru relaxed between Nami and the rest; still floating mobile on her aura pad. Luffy, Chopper, Usoppu, Sanji and Brooke all sat in the seats, so she was left to float on her aura pad; trying to talk through their backs. The reason for her inquiries of the fishman adventure was because she had slept through nearly the whole thing.
XXX
Three Hours Earlier:
Zoro lifted her up off the grass and across his shoulder; breaking the treasure-collector's concentration on the freshly fallen mermaid. Jiru blinked in confusion as she now rested on Zoro's white-shirted back.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked. "Don't you wanna see Sanji die by view of a Mermaid?"
"No, not really." Came the answer.
"I wanna see the mermaid, then."
"No, I'm taking you in to change your wet bandage." Zoro interrupted her refusal. "How come you're all wet anyway?"
The pair had left the excited deck scene and had gone into the first-mate's bunk; which currently had a few changes of her clothing. She had opted to stay and use the room since her accident on Thriller Bark. Franky had stated the room would have normally been for the ship's first mate – Zoro – but since the swordsman slept everywhere but, the room was unused; so she took it.
"Usoppu pounced and dunked me underwater while you and Luffy were in the submarine."
"Hm." Zoro smirked at her as he tossed her onto the bed. "You know I haven't forgiven you for feeding Luffy carrots."
"Oh great, now the bed is wet." Jiru, her skirt and half her shirt still wet from Usoppu's pool attack, stopped and looked up into Zoro's eyes and squeaked. The way he looked at her was very…inappropriate and lust-filled.
"Uh, so…I'll…get you a change of clothes too?" She ended up turning her statement into a hesitant, nervous question – she wasn't sure Zoro was going to do to her.
"I think not." What happened next was extremely satisfying for both of them; once on the bed and in the shower, then again on the bed.
XXXX
When Jiru had awoke again, Luffy was knocking on the door; ranting about takiyoki and adventure. That was thirty minutes ago and it had been surprising to find out that she had slept for three hours; whereas Zoro had reappeared fifteen minutes later; and took part in the adventure - damn the swordsman's stamina. At least he had the decency to leave her fully clothed in fresh, dry cloths and change her bandage.
So that was where she was now; trying to get a full account of what she had missed.
"So when you refused to save Hachi, Camie jumped in and was promptly caught by the Makuro gang?"
"That's right." Chopper nodded.
"Then Luffy decided to save Camie despite Hachi being her friend?"
"Ibb not like I wabted too, but I hab too." Luffy's stuffed-takiyoki full mouth barely held the takiyoki and emitted his words. `it's not like I wanted to, but I had too.'
"Shuush, Luffy, don't touch the hot black thing, you'll get burnt." Jiru smirked at her food-focused captain; whom promptly yowled in pain as his rubbery hand grabbed hot surface rather than the quickly-disappeared takiyoki balls that the octo-man could barely cook fast enough.
"Then Duval came out and wanted to kill Sanji for having his face put on the wanted posters." Brooke finally put his two cents in. "It was very, ah, odd."
"LIKE HELL IT WAS ODD! I SWEAR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS IF YOU TELL ANY MORE OF THAT STORY!" Sanji's irate, booming voice rang out from above. She and Brooke looked over to see the fuming cook leaning back in the takiyoki seat; looking for the world like he was about to go on a murderous rampage. It looked like the adventure had left Sanji very…angry – like some horrible, traumatic event had happened.
"Oh, my…" Brooke said.
"Are…you yelling at me, Sanji-kun?" Jiru looked over, and acted offended as she started another plate of takiyoki.
"Nooooooooooooooooooo, Jiru-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Sanji had to be schizophrenic, the way he reacted to the women. Like a switch, his murderous visage changed into a sappy, love-struck goofy expression. The blonde cook's body went from rigid to boneless, as he bent backwards; hands clasped against his face as he viewed his treasure hunter with adoring eyes.
"Stop doing that, Jiru." Nami's cold voice interrupted her nakama's coy play.
"Hm, sorry, Nami-chan, I won't tease Sanji-kun any more, this evening." Jiru looked away Sanji and turned back towards the takiyoki maker. "So the Duval comes out and picks a fight with you guys? Is that what made the ship roar?"
She thought back to how she had been awoken from her nap by a sudden, backwards thrust of the Sunny-Gou, then a minute later, by a ship-wide roaring sound that mimicked a fusion-energy cannon – which, by the way, had no possible way of being on this world; the technology was not even close.
"Nope." Usoppu had grabbed another share of takiyoki before turning around to face her to launch into a story, which would include whatever fabrications he could spin up in his head.
"Heads up, Luffy, we have company." Indeed, before she could ask for any more of the adventure she missed, the collector sensed somebody coming towards them. A greeting of 'Hellooooooo Young Masters' was heard and they all turned towards the voice.
The person who showed his face was somebody she had never met before, and the treasure hunter ignored him as she turned to watch Hachi making the more rounds of takiyoki for their evening meal. Since the others were currently talking to the new visitor, whose name she made out to be Duval – the same man that Brooke had reported who had threatened to kill Sanji – Jiru figured she would study the octopus for a while. When she had last seen him the fishman was dying under water; dying from losing to Zoro in a sword duel.
While Hachi had been part of the problem, and taken out like trash since he had threatened Luffy's nakama, the dark-haired collector figured the octoman was good at heart. He was the one that had saved her when she had first dropped into this world. Without him and his good heart, she would have died twice; once from drowning, or a second time from being physically beaten by Arlong. Unlike Nami, Jiru had long since forgiven the fishman for being in Arlong's crew. Luffy's treasure hunter thought back to the beginning, before she had met Luffy.
XXX
Having fallen out of the dimensional rifts and dropping into the ocean, she had managed to catch glimpse of land nearby. However, it was still a good ways off, so she had to swim to get there. It was further than she expected and soon she was too exhausted to put up a fight when she can face to face with a Merman. It was during her last-ditch effort to make it to land before her body stopped working that she became Arlong's new prisoner. Hachi, the eight-armed octopus fishman, had been swimming towards her to find out just what a human was doing 'swimming away from the village.'
Unable to do anything but mutter his name, she had no choice but to submit and be taken back to land. Once there, she met Arlong and crew – a very infuriated Arlong – on his home turf; Arlong Park. Sea-water soaked and feeling fatigued, she could only tremble in horror as Arlong proceeded to physically beat her for 'trying to escape the village.'
However, it was her half-completed diamond pendant that saved her life. The very thing that had pulled her into this world – she was on a long and confusing journey through time and space to find the broken pieces of her talisman – had turned her fate. Having fallen out of her pocket while she was beaten, the trinket caught the sharkman's eye and curiosity. Jiru was too injured to stop Arlong as he claimed her personal treasure. Using what remained of her strength, she had answered the shark-man's probing questions, earning her the title of Arlong's pet; since her human body, oddly, smelled like sea-foam – which was pleasing to Arlong's nose.
She sealed her fate by proclaiming herself as a no-fail treasure hunter – she had a sixth-sense that always guided her to treasure. Of course, being extremely dubious, the mermen put her to the test and hid her pendant, making her use this so called 'sense' to find it; and she did, leading Arlong to not only her pendant, but the hidden chest of Beri in the back room. Proving herself a bona-fide talent, she knew it would be the end of her life if she did not follow Arlong's ruthless law to the letter – she could not afford to die. On top of that, Arlong took her to the Cocoyashi village and told her that if she didn't become his precious treasure hunter, he would kill the villagers. The shark-man had introduced her to the villagers and stated that she was responsible for their lives.
She would silently bear the burden; as it was a grim situation for all human parties involved. Arlong had claimed her diamond pendant as payment for her living on the land;and ordered her to live in Arlong Park. This was her fate for the next week, as the mermen put her to work on grunt-work.
Little comfort was received from the villagers when she had business among them. They rejected her desperate attempts at friendship; telling her that she was better off accepting her lot in life. However she did learn their names and stories, as she spent time in the village whenever she could. The only thing she could do was take the abuse Arlong and his bullies dished out; hoping to find a way to get her diamond pendant back from Arlong – something her newly found treasure-sense told her he always kept with him – and escape.
It was on the seventh day of brutal toil that Kuroobi – Arlong's right-hand merman – came and ordered her to search the Cartography room for any 'treasure'. Dragging her in there and stating that any failure on her part would result in multiple deaths in the village, the mermen sneered and mocked her as she searched the roomful of papers. After hours of looking at nearly every page of ink-drawn papers, Jiru came up with two pages of nondescript pages of the surrounding villages. Maps of Gosa and Cocoyashi; both having a red X marked on them. She knew that by handing over the maps, she would be betraying somebody's secret treasure location. But the slimy fishman had simply smiled at her and dragged her back out to Arlong, who was sitting in the chair that over-looked the Arlong Park bay.
The back-stabbing proceeded from there as sting-ray fishman claimed to have 'caught' Jiru snooping around the Map room. The false accusation was enough to send Jiru into a verbal outcry; denying the crime. For her reaction, Arlong back-handed her hard: sending her flying at the feet of none other than a returning Nami. The returning navigator simply looked down at her, frowned and stepped over; giving a questioning glance to Arlong.
Arlong simply laughed; as did the other mermen, as the terrible shark-man welcomed home the cold-hearted woman. Nami's coldness hit Jiru deeper than the bullying of the mermen; Jiru had expected to meet Nami in a better situation. Slowly pulling herself onto her feet, she heard Arlong tell Nami that the Cartographer could do whatever she pleased with their new 'treasure-hunter.' This caught Nami's interest as she stalked over to a bruised-face Jiru and inspected the shorter girl.
'You should have stuck with Luffy, Nami; he'd never treat you like trash.' She had whispered to the red-head's face. The comment earned her another blow to the gut as Nami had masked her complete surprise. The action spurred laughter from the mermen as Nami acted tough and ordered her to go and sit next to Arlong's lounge chair and not to move until further ordered.
She had stared confused at Nami, earning another slap to the face as the woman dragged Jiru over by the chair and threw her down. To the mermen, it was pure entertainment; to her, it was confusion – not knowing how to handle the situation – nor expecting Nami to be so damned cold. So she ended up sitting on the cold stone floor next to Arlong.
She was sitting there, still, an hour later when some mermen dragged in Roronoa Zoro. Seeing the swordsman at a short distance was like a slap to the heart; he was that recognizable. Even though his upper torso was bandaged like a mummy and his hands were bound behind his back; those sharp eyes had missed nothing – he had read the confliction and recognition in her eyes.
They volume of exchange between them happened all in the gaze. Feeling suddenly like her former self – the aches of physical and mental abuse slipping into nothingness – she had broken eye contact, looking away so Arlong wouldn't use the exchange as an excuse to beat her, or to kill Zoro.
Zoro's greeting to Arlong had been enough to return her to herself and laugh; which was a mistake, because Arlong had hit her and ranted about the superiority of Mermen. Things became tense as Nami showed up. Zoro became angry, trying to talk sense into Nami, as Nami told him she simply used him and the others to get treasure. One comment led to another as Zoro tested Nami. Finding herself holding her breath as the seconds ticked by, she was relieved when Nami leapt into the water to pull him out. Relief was evident on her face as Nami doomed Zoro to the prison cell; claiming she would kill the swordsman later.
Her rescue had arrived later, after Arlong and his henchmen exited Arlong Park with evil intent. Half hour later, Nami left with a bouquet of flowers; saying nothing to the remaining Mermen nor Jiru; who remained seated by Arlong's seat, watching the scene with curious eyes.
It was minutes later when Zoro came from the building, slicing up the mermen that stood in his way. She had watched in awe as the swordsman made short work of the offending mermen. It had been unnerving when Zoro focused on her.
'What the hell are you?' Was his question.
'A treasure hunter that's lost her treasure and a soul adrift in the streams of time and space.' She had answered; making Zoro laugh at her absurdity.
Whatever other words they were going to exchange were interrupted by Hachi's trumpeting; as the Octo-fishman was on the other side of the rock-wall that blocked off the ocean from the bay. Giving an inquisitive look, Zoro stood up and held out his hand to her, offering freedom and she took it.
Speaking to Hachi, she managed to convince the Octo-Man that Zoro was an important guest and had to be taken to Cocoyashi village to meet Arlong immediately. So it was with an amused Zoro, asking Jiru to accompany him to 'Arlong' that the two humans left Arlong Park on Hachi's Pot-Transportation. Once at Cocoyashi village, she felt bad for lying to the octo-man, since he had only been nice to her. But enough had been enough, she was going to strike back at Arlong.
xxx
Back at Arlong Park, Usoppu was in huge trouble, having been brought to an extremely volatile Arlong. Fortunately, Nami was there to use circumstances to fake Usoppu's death, kicking him into the water. After being celebrated as a cold-hearted witch, Arlong's right-hand man admitted to being convinced by her loyalty; which Nami only responded that she was an ally. It was to that extent, that Kuroobi showed Nami the map that Jiru had found for him; only he twisted the story around and explained that the treasure-hunter was after the place marked on the map.
Nami, of course, was outraged that her treasure map was being handled by a fishman, and Arlong told Kuroobi to give Nami back her map. However, the damage was done and the seed of hate was planted against her; as Nami knew the treasure hunter was going to steal the treasure. Nami had stormed out of the park in search of her; with intent to kill.
xxx
All this happened while she was with Zoro, searching for Usoppu; who was undoubtedly in trouble. Upon hearing an unidentifiable noise, she freaked out and stopped Zoro, asking him what the noise was. Indeed, despite of Zoro's ignorance, there came out of the trees, a flying boat. Shoving her out of the way, Zoro was impacted by the boat on which his friends and captain rode; which dug its way another eight yards before stopping.
She had followed the long furrow of land to see if Zoro was still alive after having a flying boat dropped on him and thus, she met Luffy and Sanji. Sanji, of course, was himself and fell head over heels in love with Jiru, flattering her with compliments. Luffy, however, asked Zoro why he brought a Not-Nami – Jiru – and Sanji yelled at Luffy for calling her the wrong name.
She had introduced herself as a treasure hunter, who was enslaved to the Arlong Pirates. She then told them that Usoppu was in trouble and Arlong might kill him.
One of Zoro's friends, Johnny, appeared dramatically and announced that Usoppu was already dead, killed by Nami. Luffy vehemently denied this, as Nami would never kill nakama. Nami herself appeared and questioned Luffy. Luffy told her it was to find and bring her back.
Then the arguing began and Nami told them all off; ordering them to leave and never come back. She had opened her mouth and ordered Nami to just stop acting all high and mighty and let Luffy help her. She informed Nami; saying before the day turned out, Nami would be all too happy to set sail on the Merry-Gou once again. Nami stepped up and told Jiru to get lost before Arlong found her again. Luffy had asked her to stay as he fell backwards to sleep. Minutes of quietness past as Jiru paced back and forth, getting antsy enough to have Luffy ask her how she knew what she knew.
'I know things, small future events, in this world. Like how each of you met and how you came here and why you're looking for Nami. I fell from the sky only to be captured by Arlong. I'm a treasure hunter, which saved my life.' She had told Luffy. She used her 'treasure' sense and told them each of their treasures and/or dreams.
Luffy had been thoroughly impressed by her ability and asked her to join his crew. She had jumped on the chance, but told them all that Arlong had stolen her personal treasure and she intended to get it back. The quiet time was interrupted by Sanji's comment of wondering if Nami had really killed Usoppu. Zoro had responded with his own crass answer which infuriated Sanji; making them fight; until Usoppu ran into the crossfire. Luffy had freaked out over Usoppu and his injuries.
Nojiko showed up, and began telling them Nami's troubled past. Luffy walked off, stating he didn't care and Jiru followed him, politely telling Nojiko it really didn't matter as Nami was coming with them regardless. So Jiru had purposely missed Nami's heart-breaking story; feeling guilty as sin for knowingly betraying nakama – as she had when she gave the Fishmen Nami's treasure map.
She had followed Luffy as he watched the stupid marines, escorted by Gen, swagger through the village up to Nami's place. Jiru had informed Luffy that Nami was in trouble and minutes later the extremely pissed Nami had found them and tried to kill her; for betraying the location of Nami's secret stash of Beri.
Luffy had intervened as Nami vented her rage. The navigator screamed her ultimatum of wanting them gone forever or dead; she didn't care which.
Being left behind as Nami ran off, Luffy looked puzzled at Jiru as she explained why Nami was so angry at her. Jiru explained that she'd been forced – under threat of the villagers' deaths – to find the treasure map to the treasure Nami had been saving up to buy back her village from Arlong. The marines they had seen earlier had been on Arlong's payroll and had uncovered the secret location of the 100 million Beri that Nami had been saving to buy the village back from Arlong. Most likely, Arlong had told the marines where to go in order to steal Nami's money. Luffy was angry at her until had she wept with shame. She understood if Luffy didn't want her as nakama anymore; after telling him she knowingly betrayed a future nakama, making a choice of the lesser evil.
Luffy then made her stand up straight and tall and told her if she apologized to Nami, he'd still let her be his nakama. So off they went to find Nami, who was stabbing her arm in pure, frustrated anger. Luffy stepped up to stop his navigator from hurting herself as Jiru gave the other woman her sincerest apology; not even trying to offer any excuses.
Nami screamed and raged at them anyway. The two pirates stood there, as Nami battled her pride and asked Luffy for help. Luffy, giving Nami his hat for safe-keeping, answered he would help them.
Luffy, Sanji, Zoro and Usoppu, all were ready to fight the terribly Arlong. Coming upon the dreaded gates of Arlong Park, Jiru nodded politely to Zoro's nakama as Luffy advanced on the gate with a vengeance. The men barely moved out of the way before Luffy had kicked down the closed doors.
Luffy intended to set her and Nami free from Arlong's rule and fought until he won, declaring Nami and Jiru his nakama. She had offered her help by using her foresight and ended up 'saving' Luffy's life twice. Once when he had erred and ended up stuck in the sea; and the second time when the building had collapsed on him.
It wasn't until the village's celebration of freedom that she had managed to tell Luffy and Nami that she still felt terrible for doing what she did. Nami punished her by making her pay back whatever the marines had stolen. The navigator meant it only in jest, but Jiru solemnly swore to hunt for treasure until that debt was paid. Luffy was concerned over the harsh punishment, until Jiru mentioned that she would have to stay with the crew until that debt was paid, and most definitely longer. Seeing it, reluctantly, in that light, Luffy welcomed his newest (and returning) nakama; Jiru and Nami.
Having earned the respect of the Cocoyashi villagers, Jiru still wanted to get as far away from Arlong and the bad memories there. She had been inducted into the village and celebrated as such; given a villager's farewell as she set sail with Nami and Luffy.
XXX
"I accept your maiden's kiss." The blonde stranger's voice interrupted Jiru's reverie, making her snap her gaze away from Hachi and towards the voice's owner. What she saw was bizarre enough to make her laugh uncontrollably.
The man, Duval, was sitting on whatever it was he was riding – probably one of those stay-out-of-the-water-for-five-minutes flying fish – pointing a loving lover's gaze at Nami. Nami was sitting on the bow of the takiyoki ship; her hand poised mid-napkin-to-mouth wipe staring dumbly at the other, larger man.
"Oh, my…" Duval coughed as he looked away with a blush, pointing both index fingers at the navigator. "How embarrassing. That kiss you just blew me, I accept."
"I DID NO SUCH THING!" Nami snapped, being completely stunned. "I WAS JUST WIPING MY MOUTH, AND YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP, JIRU!"
Jiru, having seen the scene, burst out laughing – hard enough that she dropped her plate of takiyoki and fell to the floor; trying vainly to hold her guts in. She was vaguely aware of Duval talking more; but having found the whole scene utterly hilarious, couldn't do anything else but laugh herself first into tears, then into…
"Oh, god, Chopper, I think I'm going to be…" Jiru barely made it to the edge of the boat – which was now clear Duval and his crew of 'Whatever Fishy-Riders' – to hurl her recently eaten takiyoki back to where it originated from.
"Jiru!" Luffy's attention snapped on her as she continued being sick. "Chopper! Jiru's sick! Don't let her die!"
It was rather a pathetic scene: the merrily eating captain turning to vociferous concern as his treasure hunter was puking her guts overboard from laughing so hard; Jiru finding the effort to cease her puke-inducing laughter; Sanji and Chopper both jumping in to give instant relief to the troubled female; Usoppu looking away, trying to not get sick himself; Nami turning away coldly in complete annoyance; Brooke just watching in surprise and Hachi, Camie and Pappug all awash with guilt-induced concern.
Those who remained aboard the Sunny-Gou rushed over to see what was causing the distress; Robin tilted her head sideways and smiled her demure, small smile; Zoro just walked away shaking his head, and Franky gave the vomiting two-thumbs up for distance.
~If the rest of the night is going to be this miserable…~ The treasure hunter thought to herself as she finally got control of her bodily functions. ~I'll cross over the Redline in Hell's hand-basket.~