Lost

Nami

Nami stood at the corner, using the building to shield her from her target. She scanned the busy street and located her two associates, Sirius and Vega. They were moving in closer to the fruit stand and stood out rather loudly due to their worn down robes. They were dark and dingy while everyone else's wore lighter colors embellished with sparkling common jewels that only looked valuable. No one actually wore jewels and gems that were valuable. It was too tempting for thieves to steal them.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since yesterday. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Maybe I should have just used some of my jewels to buy some food instead. But then I wouldn't have nearly as much as I have now. This heat is going to kill me if I don't get out of here soon."

She tucked herself back behind the building a bit more when she saw the common color of the flic, red. The two officers were walking up and down the crowded streets looking for thieves that were targeting the stands. And that is exactly what she and her two accomplices were doing. She turned her eyes back to Sirius and Vega. Sirius, the older of the two boys, had spotted the flic. But Vega was unaware of them as he moved in closer to the fruit stand. "No, you stupid idiot. Don't go directly for the fruit. You're supposed to look around. Geez. Why did I join up with these two? They're complete amateurs."

She gritted her teeth when Sirius spot the flic going right towards Vega and tucked back against the wall so she wouldn't be seen. She knew with their lack of skills they were going to get caught. Never had she been so glad she didn't tell them where she was staying. They would absolutely follow her there if she did. And she knew without a doubt that they would steal her treasure that she had accumulated in the past few days that she's been here. Her mind started to wonder off to that time. It was interrupted when she heard someone shouting.

"Stop, larcenist!"

Women screamed, to which Nami had no idea why. Like screaming would stop a thief from stealing. Peaking out from the corner she saw the two boys running towards her, both carrying fruit in their arms. "What do you think you're doing?! Don't lead them over here!"

"Nami! Help us!" they shouted.

Nami bolted away from the building. She weaved in and out of the crowds.

"Nami!" they boys shouted out.

"Don't say my name!" Nami screamed back over her shoulder. "And stop running towards me!"

Still the boys followed. Their shaggy black hair bounced around their shoulders as they ran. Just behind them was the two flics waving their whip sticks. One flic snapped out his stick. A long string shot out of the end and flew through the air. A loud snap rang out through the air with it. It was followed by a static crackle and Vega's scream. They had paralyzed him. That meant he was caught. And if she didn't get out of here she would be caught as well.

"Nami, wait for me!" Sirius shouted.

"I said stay away from me!" Nami said. "You're too slow! Just get caught!"

"You're so mean!" Sirius said. "I got this fruit for us!"

"Well, that's a good thing at least!" Nami said. She noticed the flics getting closer and closer. "But it's not going to do me any good if I get caught!"

"What about me?!" Sirius aside, tears gathered in his eyes.

"You're not my responsibility! Oh! That's right!" Nami said. Reaching into her robe she pulled out her almost forgotten baton. "I can't believe I almost forgot about this!" She spun around and swung the white and orange baton in a downward motion. Lightning came flying down out of the sky and landed right on top of the two flics. "Yeah! Got you!"

"Great!" Sirius said. "Now we can go back and pick up Vega!"

"No, we are not!" Nami said as they continued running through the crowds. "It's his own fault he got caught!"

"But he's young!" Sirius said.

"I don't care! I told him multiple times to keep and eye out for any flic! And he didn't! This is a tough world, kid! You have to be strong to survive!" Nami said.

"Says the one who didn't know anything about this place!" Sirius said. "You still don't know anything about it!"

"Just shut up!" Nami said. The crowds of people began to clear out the farther they got to the edge of town. Soon the chatters of the people gave way to the silence of the forest. With her lungs and heart pumping hard she ducked behind a large tree and peaked out to see if anyone was following them. No one appeared coming out of the town. She sighed. "Safe."

"Poor Vega," Sirius said.

Nami turned to the boy. He was sitting on the ground with six yellow and orange spotted fruit scattered around him. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered in anticipation of eating them. She walked over and grabbed all but one of them.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sirius demanded. "Half of those are mine! Actually they all should be mine! I'm the one who got them!"

"You wouldn't have got them if it wasn't for me," Nami said. "So consider this my payment for helping you learn how to steal."

"What?! I knew how to steal long before you came along!" Sirius said.

"Maybe. But you're no good at it," Nami said. "You should just go back home."

"No! I won't! Sirius said. "I hate it there!"

"Oh, yeah, it must be bad having a roof over your head and food in your belly," Nami said.

"Oh, yeah?!" Sirius said.

"That's all you got? Look, kid, I appreciate the help you've given me but I can't babysit you all of the time," Nami said. "I have important work to do."

"Yeah right," Sirius said. "What work could someone like you possibly have?"
"I'm setting out to sea of course," Nami said.

"You and what ship?" Sirius asked. "You don't have one."

"I'm a thief, remember?" Nami said walking away. "I'm going to steal one soon. So see you around, kid."

"Give those back! I'm the one who got them!" Sirius jumped up and leaped at her.

Nami spun around in time to dodge him. She twirled her baton and pointed it right under his chin. "Don't be stupid. You've seen what this thing can do."

Sirius swallowed.

"I left you enough to eat," Nami said before waving her baton around her body. She disappeared.

"Hey!" Sirius demanded. "Come back here! You stupid girl! I hate you!"

Nami listened to Sirius shouting at her from a tree fifteen yards away from him. She smiled at him before turning and running deeper into the forest. The thick canopy gave her a cool shade over her skin. The light bugs, as she called them, flew around the dark forest giving her enough light to see. Soon she came to three red leaf bushes that stood twice her height. She paused and looked around. No one appeared to be anywhere around so she pushed her way through them, careful to not drop her fruit. Coming out on the other side she ducked under the branch she had laid across two other trees, with bells tied onto it, as a trap incase anyone ventured this way. She then stepped over the small stream and pushed a large curtain of light purple leaves from the entrance of the cave she had been staying in. The glow of the luminous mushrooms greeted her as she walked through the cool cave. Their light shone on her pile of glittering jewels and gems. "Such a lovely sight to come home to."

Walking across the cave she sat down on the pile. "I sure missed you! Yes, I did! I really do love my treasure!"

Settling down, Nami allowed all but one of her fruits to roll off of her lap. She sunk her teeth into the fuzzy skin of the fruit. A delighted hum escaped her lips from the tangy flavor pouring over her taste buds. "I love this fruit. But I'm really getting tired of eating it. I can't wait to get out of here." She lifted up her baton and looked at it. "I just hope you're powerful enough to help keep me out of trouble. I'm still not sure where you came from, but I'm glad I have you."

Nami sighed. Her mind once again drifted off back to when she first woke up in this place eight days ago.

She opened her eyes to the purple shaded sky above her. Her head buzzed and was cloudy. She couldn't remember anything. Pushing herself up she glanced around her surroundings. The first thing that caught her eye was the odd looking body of water right in front of her. "What the heck?"

She looked up at the sky then back to the water. Something was clearly wrong with both of them. They were the wrong colors, or so she thought. The sky shouldn't be purple. And the water shouldn't look black with stars. She moved to stand up but stopped when she noticed something was in her hand. Lifting it up she found she was holding a vertical yellow and orange striped baton of some sort. "This is odd. I wonder why I have this thing."

Ignoring it for the time, she pushed herself to her feet and walked over to the edge of the water. The waves lapped up to her heels, threatening to get her feet wet. She walked out into the water and scooped up a handful of it. The water was still dark and starry. "That's impossible. How is this happening? Where the heck am I?"

Letting the water fall from her hand she turned back to the beach. A thick forest laid out before her. The bark was blue grey while the leaves were a murky purple color. The trunks of the trees were round at the bottom then had a skinny part before rounding out again. The branches reached out and twisted in all directions. "This place is just odd all over."

She placed her baton free hand on her hip. "Well, what should I do? I can't just stand around here all day." She looked up at the sky. "Or night? I can't tell which it actually is. There's light so I can see but the sky's purple. How's that possible? Anyway, I might as well look around and see if I can find some civilization. They might be able to tell me what's going on."

Turning to her right, Nami walked down the beach. Several minutes passed and nothing but more beach and trees appeared. "Don't tell me I'm the only one here. That's not going to be good at all. I won't be able to get off this island."

Sweat started to bead on her skin as she continued her long and boring trek along the hot beach. "Fells like it's getting hotter."

Several more minutes of walking let her up to a rock formation. Placing her hand on the rock, with the intention of climbing it, she jerked back when heat burned her hand. "Ouch! That's hot! What in the world is up with this place?! There's no blasted sun here!"

She shook her hand. With her hand still burning she walked over to the sea and placed her hand into the water. The throbbing subsided to the touch of the cool water. Pulling her hand back she examined her flesh. Her skin was slightly red but no damage had been done. She sighed and turned back to the rock formation. "Well, I can't climb it. So I guess I have to go through the forest or just sit here waiting for who knows how long before I'm found."

She stared at the forest for a few minutes before walking towards it. Entering into the forest she found it a lot cooler than out on the beach. A light purple fruit hanging down from a vine caught her attention. The sight of it made her stomach grumbled. With little thought she reached up and plucked one off of the vine. She dug her nail into it. Dark purple juice poured out of the skin. It was followed by a rotten smell. "Yuck. No way this is eatable smelling like that."

She tossed the fruit away and kept walked for a little over an hour. Her feet ached. Her legs were screaming at her to stop. Her stomach bellowed for food. "I'm so hungry."

Finally the sound of shouting caught her attention. The forest thinned out and she found herself at the edge of a city. Her eyes ran over the tops of the building, none of them were the same height. Looking down she found there were crowds upon crowds wondering around several booths. And on those booths were food. Several colorful fruits and other foods, that didn't look familiar at all to her, were sat out for the taking. She reached into her pocket and found some cash inside. "Good. At least I won't have to starve while I'm here."

She walked into the bazaar and right to a fruit stand. "I'll take two of those."

The man behind the booth held up two yellow and white spotted fruits. "That'll be three bits."

Nami handed over a bill.

"What is this?" the man asked.

"Money," Nami said.

"It's useless paper," the man said placing the fruit back down. "The fruit is two bits."

"But this is what I have!" Nami said.

"Then move along!" The man turned to another costumer. "How may I help you?"

"What a jerk!" Nami turned and walked away. Without thinking she slipped her hand up to the fruit and grabbed one. She held it tight against her stomach as she hurried through the city. Her heart thudded against her chest. She expected someone to yell at her but it didn't happen. Ducking down an alley she peaked back out and found no one following her. "Huh." She looked at the fruit in her hand. "I wonder how I was able to do that and not get caught? All well."

Nami sat down on a step and sunk her teeth into the fruit. A honey like substance passed over her teeth, coating her taste buds. As she ate her prize she watched the people before her. They all had dark skin and hair with slightly pointed ears. And they all were dressed in robe like clothing. Some were long and had hoods on them while others were short, above the knees, some with hoods and some without. A few people walked by with a strange looking creature that put her in mind of a caterpillar with long brown hair. "Creepy looking creature. I guess I need to figure out what I should do from here. I don't really want to stay in this place. It's far too hot."

Finishing up her fruit she headed back into the crowds to see what else this place offered in the forms of food and on ways to get out of here. Walking down the street she got the strange desire to try and steal something again. She came upon a booth that looked to be selling a form of dark colored nuts. With her heart beating fast, she walked up to the booth and scanned her eyes over it. Carefully, she looked at the people around her. No one was looking at her. Somehow she knew the right moment to strike. She swiped a small handful of the nuts and kept walking. Swallowing she waited for someone to catch her. It didn't happen. Smiling she brought the nuts to her lips and popped one into her mouth. "Not bad. Crunchy with a bit of a bitter taste."

For a couple hours she wondered through the bazaar until she found herself at the other end of the city. There she found a dock with some ships lined up. She walked down to it. Sitting near the dock was an old man sitting on a stump that looked about to fall asleep. She walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me?"

"Huh?" The man looked up at her.

"Could you tell me how I can get off of this island?" Nami asked.

"Island?" The old man blinked. "I don't know about an island but you can get off this cluster by ship if you have one."

"Cluster?" Nami asked.

"That's what you're standing on," the old man said. "Are you feeling okay, child?" He eyed her. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Uh, I don't think so," Nami said.

"How can you not think so?" the old man asked.

"I'm not to sure of that myself," Nami said. "But never mind that. What do I do if I don't have a ship?"

"You might be able to have someone take you somewhere," the old man said. "But it will cost you quite a bit."

"How much, exactly?" Nami asked.

"Most ask for a million bits," he said.

"A million bits?" Nami sighed. "That's going to take forever. I might as well just steal a ship."

The old man laughed. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Thievery around here is punishable by hanging."

Nami shivered. "Thanks for the warning."

"Any time," he said.

Nami walked away. Coming back to the bazaar she weighed her options. She could just give up on leaving and stay here and find a job, or she could steal her way to freedom. But stealing a ship could mean her death. And a ship was a lot harder to steal than money. "Well, I do seem to have a gift for stealing. I guess I could stay here a while and work my way up to buying a ship. But I'm going to need to blend in a little bit better though. With my coloring I'll stand out too much with everyone's dark skin and hair. And I'll need to hide my gains in something other than my hands."

Finalizing her decision with a nod she walked into the bazaar and found a booth that was selling robes. She picked out a few and stepped into a changing area. Pulling the curtain closed she tried on three different outfits. "Wow. This fabric is really soft. And I feel a lot cooler than I did before."

Changing back into her normal clothes, she stepped out of the changing area.

"Did you find anything you like?" a young woman asked.

"Not really, but they are very lovely," Nami said. "What is this fabric? It's really soft and cooling."

"I hand made it from the silk of my catermel" the woman said. She walked over to the strange caterpillar like animal Nami saw before and stroked its long nose. "The silk falls off her hair. It makes a wonderful fabric."

Nami took her moment when the woman turned around and tucked one of the robes up her pant leg. She smiled when the woman looked at her. She placed the robs back on the hangers. "I see. Well, I need to get going now."

"Okay. Please come again," the woman said.

"I sure will." Nami hurried away. Feeling like she had tested her luck enough for the day, she hurried out of the city and back into the forest. "Well, that was pretty easy. Next I need to find a place I can stay and stash what I manage to gather. Surely the forest will give me somewhere to stay. I didn't see any creepy animals that would cause me problems."

Nami walked through the forest, snacking on the nuts she had left inside of her pocket. She walked for about an hour before finally giving up and sitting down on a log. "What a pain. I haven't found anything. Maybe I could just live in a tree."

With sigh she stood back up. The heel of her shoe caught on a vine, causing her to fall backwards with a startled cry. She fell into the bushes behind her, hitting the ground hard. "Ouch. That hurt."

Rolling over she stood up and came face to face with a small stream. "Wow. I didn't know there was stream in here."

Standing up, she stepped over the stream and kept walking. Her eyes widened when she came upon a cave. She stepped into it. Glowing mushrooms decorated the cave. "Hello?"

Silence replied.

"Well, it looks like I found myself a place to hide," Nami said.

Nami twirled her baton. It was a week after she found this cave that she learned her baton could do all sorts of things dealing with the weather. "I guess this place hasn't been all that bad. Still, I'm ready to get out of here. This hot weather is ruining my hair and skin."

…

"What is this place? It's so hot," Neo said lowering them to the island. She scanned her eyes over the buildings in front of her. None of them appeared to be the same in height. It gave the skyline an odd, uneven look.

"It's a desolate cluster," Hoshi said. "A very dismal place. Honestly." He shook his head. "I'll never understand why people want to live in places like this. This heat is going to kill my shiny soft fur."

"Where does the heat come from?" Neo asked.

"From the cluster's core," Hoshi said. "Each cluster has a different climate. Some aren't hospitable at all. Some can be lived on but they cause a lot of hardships to those who live here. We'll probably run into those during our travels. I just hope we don't go to many clusters like this one. I can already feel my fur drying out."

"Don't worry, Hoshi," Neo said. Keeping one crystal out she pulled a light breeze around them. "I can give us a cool breeze."

"I knew I liked you," Hoshi said enjoying the cool breeze that teased his fur.

"So where's the navigator?" Neo asked.

"She's quite a distance from here," Hoshi said. "Maybe we shouldn't have landed just yet."

"No problem." Neo lifted them back into the air. "Just point the way."

"Head towards the center," Hoshi said. "She's in that direction, off to the right a bit."

"Okay." Neo nodded and flew towards the center of the island. Sensing strange animals below she flew low enough to see them. One unparticular caught her eye. It looked like a squiggly line with long brown fur to her. "What is that thing? The shaggy brown thing?"

"Oh, that's a catermel," Hoshi said. "It's one of the creatures that thrives in this hot weather, though I have no idea how with all that fur on it. It also creates a soft, breathable thread that the inhabitants here use to make their clothes."

"I see," Neo said. "Think we can stop and play with it for a while?"
"You're very childlike," Hoshi said looking up at her.

"I'm sorry." Heat rose on Neo's cheeks. "I don't mean to be."

"You're so cute when you blush." Hoshi smiled. "And it's nothing to be embarrassed about. It suits you."

"Thank you," Neo said.

"We're almost there. Turn to the right a bit," Hoshi said.

Neo followed his direction. She glanced down as he scanned over the treetops.

"There!" Hoshi pointed down to one of the taller trees. "She's down there."

"Okay." Neo lowered them down to the treetops. Feeling out where the branches were at she easily weaved her way through them until she landed on the forest floor.

"She should be right through those red bushes," Hoshi said.

Neo walked forward and pushed between two of the bushes. Sensing the branch on the other side, she ducked down and easily avoided it. Looking back she noticed bells were tied along the ends of the branches. She wondered why they were there but didn't ask.

"She's in that cave," Hoshi said.

"Should we just go in?" Neo asked.

"Why wouldn't me?" Hoshi looked up at her.

"Well, if she's in there it's probably her home," Neo said.

"I guarantee this isn't her home," Hoshi said. "Remember you all are lost and have no memories but for your names."

"Right," Neo said but she didn't move forward.

"Are we going to go in or stand out here all day?" Hoshi asked

"Okay, we're going in," Neo said. With a deep breath she entered into the cave. Her eyes roamed over the glowing mushrooms that lit up her surroundings. She then noticed an orange haired girl laying on the pile of treasure sleeping. "Um…e-excuse me?"

"Huh?" the girl woke up. When she noticed Neo and Hoshi there she jumped to her feet. "What the heck are you doing in here?! How did you even get in here?! My trap should have alerted me to you!" She looked around and grabbed a baton off the floor. "I won't let you take my treasure!"

"W-wait," Neo said taking a step back. "We're not here for your treasure."

"Yeah, right," she said. "You just happened to wonder into my cave by accident. Did that brat Sirius tell you about me? Did he ask you to come here and steal my treasure?"

"Oh, yeah, she's a real charmer," Hoshi said with a roll of his eyes.

Neo could feel him rolling his eyes without having to look.

The girl screamed. "Th-that creature just spoke! How's that possible?!"

"And bright, too." Hoshi swished his tail.

"Shut up! I'm just shocked that's all!" she screamed. "I never heard of an animal speaking before!"

"Actually, you have," Hoshi said. "Two of them actually. Probably even more."

"You're insane!" she said.

"Just shut up and come with us," Hoshi said.

"Hoshi, you're not being very nice," Neo said.

"Well, I did warn you," Hoshi said. "Besides, she's being difficult."

"Let me try," Neo said. She looked over at the girl. "Look, Nami, I know this is going to sound weird but-"

"Wait! How did you know my name?!" Nami asked.

"Because of this." Neo reached into her pocket and pulled out the picture. She held it out to her friend. "Like I was saying, this is going to sound weird, but we're actually friends."

Nami eyed them before taking a couple steps closer.

Neo waited patiently for the orange haired girl to get close enough to look at the picture.

"Take your time, why don't you?" Hoshi grumbled.

"Shut up. It's natural to be a bit cautious," Nami said before looking at the picture.

"You're just trying to save your treasure," Hoshi said.

"Well, duh," Nami said then she hummed. "This is weird. That's me all right, but I don't remember any of those people."

"I know," Neo said. "I don't remember them either." She flipped the picture to show her the back. "But this note says that you're a navigator."

"A navigator?" Nami ran her eyes over the information on the back of the picture. "You're married and you have a child?" She looked back up at Neo. "But you look like a child yourself."

"Yeah, I'm not sure why that is," Neo said. She placed a hand on her stomach. "And I'm pregnant still."

"I see." Nami looked down at Neo's stomach.

"So let's get going already," Hoshi said.

"Sorry, but I don't buy this," Nami said.

"You can't be serious," Hoshi said.

"So what if you have a picture of me? That could be a fake," Nami said.

"A fake?" Hoshi said. "How can it be a fake?!"

"Well, I don't know," Nami said. "Maybe you used magic to create it."

"That's just stupid!" Hoshi's fur stood on its ends.

"Hoshi, please, calm down," Neo said. "Nami, will you at least hear us out?"

"Fine," Nami said. "Tell me what you have to say."

"Basically, I'm on a journey to find everyone in that picture," Hoshi said. "I'm a guardian who was summoned by the girl with the white hair. Her name is Tsuki. I'm unaware of the details that lead up to you all losing your memories but that picture is proof that you all are friends."

"And you just happened to be able to find us two?" Nami asked.

"I can sense you all," Hoshi said. "Or at least when I'm close enough. You two weren't all that far apart from each other. So I went for Neo first and then we came to find you."

"I still don't buy it," Nami said. "I still think you're after my treasure."

"Nami, I can assure you we are not after your treasure," Neo said. "We just want answers. And I'm sure you do too."

"Sorry to burst your bubbles but I have my own plans," Nami said. "And it doesn't involved traveling with a sarcastic…um…what exactly are you? You kind of look like a cat."

"I'm a guardian," Hoshi said. "And I'm here to protect your butts."

"Protect us from what?" Nami asked.

"Kuro," Hoshi said. "He's looking for you all. And when he finds you he's going to kill you."

Nami stared at the creature before busting up laughing. "Oh, you almost had me! That's cute! Funny story, but I don't have time to play with you two right now."

"It's true," Hoshi said.

"Sure thing," Nami said shooed them out of her cave. "Get out of here now. I have work to do. And don't try and steal my treasure."

Neo summoned her a wind crystal and lifted Nami into the air.

"What the heck?! How are you able to do this?!" Nami asked. "Put me down!"

"I can't do that, Nami," Neo said. "You have to believe us." She showed her the picture again. "We need to find our friends. Please, come with us."

FanficReader1212: Don't worry. We still have chapters left. I'm just being a bit lazy in getting them out.

Sarge1130: Hm, you're right. There are some similarities between the stories. I guess well see if Hoshi has another form or not.