Astro Unit
"This is amazing!" Nami laughed from the helm.
"I can't believe I just did that," Neo said holding her stomach. Her body trembled from the anxiety of stealing a ship. "I think I'm going to…" Her stomach lurched. She rushed over to the side of the ship. Leaning over she heaved.
"Poor baby," Hoshi said rubbing his paw on her head. "You really are innocent."
"Well, that's it," Nami said walking down the stairs. "We are finally away from that island." She walked over to Neo. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I'll be fine."
"Good," Nami said. "Hopefully none of us will get sick since we don't have a doctor on board."
"Then we need to hurry and get to your friends," Hoshi said. "Two of them are doctors. This Law character we're going after is one of them. So we won't be without a doctor for long."
"We'll be fine I'm sure," Nami said.
"Just put on the compass," Hoshi said.
"So how does this thing work again?" Nami asked. She lifted the compass to her eyes.
"Just put it over your eye and look for the stardust," Hoshi said. "You should be able to see your friends star trail among the islands dust."
"Let's see." Nami put the item over her eye. She gasped.
"What is it, Nami?" Neo asked.
"I can see a whole lot of small sparkling things," Nami said. "The brightest one is white. There are some lighter colors and very faint. There's a blue one, a yellow one, a green one, a brown one…"
"Those are the stardust trails I told you about," Hoshi said. "The brightest one is from the cluster we just came off of. The others belong to clusters in the area."
"So how do I find our friends whatever?" Nami looked around.
"Look for stardust that looks more like a ribbon," Hoshi said.
"A ribbon?" Nami asked. "I don't see anything that remotely resembles a ribbon."
"We might not be close enough for you to see it," Hoshi said. "I can still smell them. A person's scent travels on the air but trails do not."
"Are we still heading in the right direction?" Neo asked.
"We are." Hoshi nodded. "I'll do what I can to help get you to your friends. But the navigator will have to take over soon."
"I'll keep checking for the trails as we go along," Nami said. "For now we might as well explore the ship and see what we have."
"Wow. The thief had a good idea," Hoshi said.
"Shut up," Nami said.
Neo looked around. There were two doors on the main deck. One was under the helm and the other one was opposite of that. One level up was another door that also sat under the helm. "Where do you want to start?"
"Might as well start right here," Nami said walking over to the door opposite from the helm.
Neo followed her. The hinges creaked upon opening the door. She stepped inside with Nami. Maps were scattered over a table and desk. Three bookshelves were stuffed full of books and line on the back wall. "What is this place?"
"I'm not really sure," Nami said. "But something about it feels a bit familiar."
"It's the navigation room," Hoshi said. "And considering the information we have on you then it should be clear as to why you feel familiarity in here."
Nami walked up to the table. She picked up a map and looked at it.
"Can you read it?" Neo asked.
"I'm not sure," Nami said. She laid it back down. "I'll work with it later. Let's check out the other rooms."
Neo led them back outside. They walked over to the door opposite from where they were. Entering into it they found it was the kitchen. A square table sat in the room while a counter, stove, sink, and fridge, lined the left side of the room. They peaked through the cabinets and fridge.
"Looks like we have enough to last for a while," Nami said peaking into the pantry. "They must have stocked up at some time before we took the ship."
"I hope they have money with them," Neo said. "I wouldn't want them to starve."
"Leave it to you to be worried about strangers." Nami closed the pantry. She noticed an opening in the floor in the corner of the room. She walked over to it and found a ramp. "They must use this to go downstairs. I wonder why a ramp though."
The small group of three followed it. Once they reached the bottom they found a trolley and a few rooms. Hoshi said, "I guess that explains the ramp. They must use it to move crates down here."
"There's a ladder at the other end." Neo walked over to it and looked up.
"It must lead to the deck," Hoshi said. "I bet some of these rooms are for the crew. Then that one room on the top deck that we haven't looked at yet is probably for the captain."
Nami peeked into a room then another one. "Hey! There's some treasure in this room!"
"Of course you'd be the one to find that," Hoshi said.
"Hey! It's a good thing! We might need to buy supplies for the ship if it gets damaged!" Nami said closing the door. "We better get back up to the deck."
Neo nodded. She followed Nami back up the ramp and out onto the deck. They checked the last room, finding it was the captain's quarters before heading up to the helm. Nami took control of it and placed the compass back over her eye.
A couple hour passed by before Nami spoke up. She said, "Hey, I see that ribbon thing you were talking about. There are two them."
"Then those are your two friends I sensed before," Hoshi said.
"How long before we get to them?" Neo asked.
"Depends on the wind." Hoshi looked up to the sails. They were barely full with any wind. "With your control over wind we can easily catch up to them but it's still going to take a few days most likely."
"Would you two like me to cook something? then" Neo asked. "It's been a while since we've eaten anything."
"If you feel up to it," Nami said. "But don't put yourself out. You need to take care of yourself and your baby."
"I'm okay." Neo nodded. "But I would like a snack." She placed her hand over her stomach. "I think baby's hungry too."
"Okay. Take it easy. I'll stay out here and keep the ship on track until it's ready," Nami said.
"I'll keep you company," Hoshi said.
"Then let's go see what we can make," Neo said. She headed for the stairs and entered into the kitchen. Going through the cabinets again she found a couple cookbooks. After flipping through them she decided to make them some onigiri with some fresh fruit. After gathering all the ingredients Hoshi jumped onto the counter so she could work without him on her shoulders. Finishing up the onigiri, she made them some tea, placed it all on a tray, and headed back to the helm. "It's ready. I hope you like onigiri."
"Not sure," Nami said. "But while you were gone I found a couple chairs and a small table."
Neo placed the tray down on the table near the helm.
"You feeling okay? You don't look so good." Nami grabbed an onigiri.
"That nightmare really shook me up. I don't feel like myself anymore," Neo said sitting down.
"I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do for you," Nami said.
"Maybe I'll be fine after a good night's sleep," Neo said.
"Maybe." Nami nodded before taking a bite of her food. "Hey! This is really good!"
"Reluctantly, I agree with the thief," Hoshi said before licking some rice off his paw.
"Thank you," Neo said. "I'm not sure how I did it. I just did by following the recipe."
"Maybe you are your crew's cook?" Nami suggested. "Or you have to be to be able to cook this good."
"Maybe," Neo said. "But the picture didn't say anything about that."
"You could still be a cook," Nami said. "That picture isn't big enough to put our entire lives on it."
"That's true," Neo said before something hit the ship. They all grabbed onto something to stabilize themselves.
"What the heck was that?!" Nami asked before something else hit the ship, rocking it for a second time.
Hoshi leaped off the table and ran over to the railing. Leaping up on it he gasped. "Crap! It's an Astro Unit!"
"A what?" Nami asked.
"Minions that work for Kuro! They must have been in the area when we stole this ship!" Hoshi said. "They probably saw us leaving that cluster!"
The ship rocked again.
"What do we do?!" Nami asked.
"Let's try and out run them! But if that doesn't work we'll have to fight!" Hoshi said.
"Just great!" Nami said.
Neo summoned her wind crystals. Pulling a gale from the air, she filled the sails. They billowed out and the ship picked up speed.
"In coming!" Nami shouted.
Neo looked up to see three people, holding crystal spears, were sailing through the air. They landed on the deck of the ship.
"Crap! Get ready to fight!" Hoshi shouted.
"This is just great!" Nami twirled her baton.
Neo stood ready with her crystals surrounding her.
The three intruders charged at them. They split up and divided into one on one battles.
Neo leaped her right when guy attacking her thrust his spear at her. The spear split open her skin on her upper left arm. She winced at the pain before slamming a gust of wind down on the man, pinning him against the ship.
"They haven't said a word!" Nami said dodging the spear that was thrust at her.
"They don't usually!" Hoshi said dodging his own spear. "They know mostly to obey and only speak when necessary!"
The three Astro Units leaped back, the one escaping Neo's winds. Their spears sparkled and cracked with energy.
"What's going on?" Nami asked.
"They have been giving multiple star flakes from Kuro!" Hoshi said. "And they can use more that one at a time!"
"That's just great!" Nami said just before her body, Hoshi, and Neo's was lifted off the ground by some unseen force. "What the heck just happened?! I can't get down!"
"It's a gravitational trick. It deletes the gravitation around a person's body, rendering them incapable of escaping," Hoshi said running in the air.
"Maybe for a normal person," Neo said. She gathered winds around them and pulled them away from the gravitational field.
"Way to go, Neo!" Nami said as they landed on the deck.
Before Neo could respond an electrical attack hit her. She screamed and dropped to her knees.
"Neo!" Nami knelt down beside her.
"L-look out!" Neo said.
Nami looked up to see several meteors flying at them.
"I've got no choice," Hoshi said. His body started to glow. Leaping into the air, his body shifted into a human shape but still kept his guardian features. He landed between the Astro Units and Nami and Neo and blocked the meteors with an invisible shield.
"Hoshi!" Neo said.
"What happened to him? He's human. Or looks human," Nami said.
"This is my battle form," Hoshi said before charging at the three intruders. He swiped his now four inch long claws at the men, slicing open their uniforms. One man sliced his spear on Hoshi's side. Blood splattered onto the floor. "Grab their spears!"
Neo snapped out three vines. She wrapped them around the spears and yanked them from the Astro Unit's hands then tossed them into the sea. She then wrapped her vines around their bodies. With a hard push of her winds, she flung them towards their own ship then focused on getting them out of there. She pushed wind into their sails while pushing the other ship away from them. Within a few minutes they were miles away from the Astro Unit. Despite the tiredness gathering in her body, she turned and ran over to Hoshi, picking him up and sat him on her lap. The cut on his side was deep. Blood seeped out of the wound. Tears burned her eyes. "Hoshi, what do we do?! You're hurt!"
"You're bleeding," Nami said. "I'll get the first aid kit! Surely they have one somewhere!" She pushed up to her feet but paused when another crystal, a bigger one, appeared beside Neo. "What the heck is that?"
"Huh?" Neo turned her eyes to the crystal. It's glow spread out over the cut on her arm and the one on Hoshi.
"It's…it's your solar crystal." Hoshi winced. "Remember you have it."
"And it heals!" Neo said. "You're going to be okay!"
"Looks like it," Hoshi said. "I feel a little better already."
"I'm so glad!" Neo hugged him carefully. "I'm so glad you're okay."
…
"Huh?" Law flinched when pain shot across his arm. The book he held fell from his hands and landed on the desk with a thud. Rolling up his sleeve he looked but found nothing there. "That's odd." The stinging remained as a bad feeling washed over him. He kneaded his eyebrows in worry. He had felt off about her all day. But now he was even more worried about her. Something was happening. "She's in trouble."
Standing up he headed for the door. But before he could touch the knob, the bad feeling disappeared as quickly as it came. He sighed, hoping she was okay and safe now. Turning around he started to go back to his desk when he heard someone out on the deck shouting something incoherent. Opening the door he stepped out to see that Luffy was trying to steer the ship. "What's that idiot doing now?"
"Will you let that go?! If you don't stop it your going to run us into the reef!" a pirate said.
"What are you talking about? There's nothing around here," Luffy said.
"It's under the surface of the sea, you idiot!" the man screamed.
"Really?" Luffy looked out to the sea. "I don't see anything."
"You're such an idiot!" The man punched Luffy over the head. "I said it's underwater!"
"Hey! What was that for?!" Luffy asked. "I was just trying to help!"
"I don't need your help! Now go away!"
Law didn't wait for the conclusion of this fight. He walked back into his room, closed the door, walked over to the desk, and sat down. He didn't pick the book back up. Instead he just sat there, wishing he could contact her somehow so he could ask her what happened. Sitting there his eyes started to become heavy. His body sunk down in his chair. He crossed his arms over the desk, rested his head on them, and fell asleep.
…
Neo yawned as her solar crystal finished healing them and faded away. "Looks like we're fine."
"I'm glad," Nami said. "I was really worried there."
"So am I," Hoshi said. "That was way too close for comfort."
"So what was that?" Nami asked.
"That was my ultimate form," Hoshi said. "I use it for fighting. But it really drains my magic and energy. So I only have a few minutes in that form before I revert back to my normal self. I won't be able to turn back into that form for two weeks now."
"Two weeks? I hope we get to our friends before then," Nami said. "I'm not sure we can stand up to those Astro Unit guys by ourselves."
"They were scary," Neo said before yawning again. "I'm sleepy."
"You should rest," Nami said. "Why don't you go to sleep in the captain's quarters? I can change the sheets for you. You'll need some clean ones."
"I'd rather just sleep right here," Neo said.
"If you really want to," Nami said.
"I do. It's nice and warm." Neo nodded, laid down, and instantly fell asleep.
"She was really sleepy," Nami said.
Hoshi nodded.
"I'm going to find her a pillow and a blanket. Stay with her." Nami got up and disappeared into the ship for a few minutes before coming back with a blanket and a pillow under her arm. "We're in luck. The owners of this ship kept things clean."
"Good," Hoshi said.
Nami placed the pillow underneath Neo's head before placing the blanket over her. After making sure her blue haired friend was tucked in, she headed back up to the helm, leaving Neo to sleep, and Hoshi to watch over her.
…
Neo blinked when she noticed she wasn't anywhere on the ship. Looking around she found she was surrounded by a field full of flowers. A butterfly flew over to her and landed on her finger when she lifted her hand up. She smiled. Then she sensed him. He was near her. Turning around she saw him. Law was standing a few yards away from her. The butterfly flew away from her finger. "Um, hi."
He rushed towards her. Getting in front of her he wrapped his arms around her. "What happened? You were in trouble. You were hurt. I could feel it."
"I'm sorry." Neo clenched the back of his shirt. "I had a bad dream about you. And then we were attacked by these Astro Unit guys. I got hurt. Hoshi got hurt too."
"Hoshi?" Law pulled back from her.
"He's a guardian," Neo said. "He found me and then Nami. He's helping us come find you too."
"I'm not sure I understand," Law said.
"I know." Neo nodded. "I still don't get I either. But we can trust him." She leaned into his chest. "Will you just stay with me for a while? I feel better with you around."
"Of course." Law wrapped his arms back around her. "I'm here. My name is Law."
Neo nodded. "I know. Your name is on this picture Hoshi gave me." She yawned. "I'm tired."
"Let's lay down here." Law guided her to the ground. He pulled her into his arms. "Sleep. I'll watch over you for now."
Neo nodded again and closed her eyes.
Law stayed away for hours just stroking her hair and watching her sleep. Finally, she woke up.
Neo shifted against his side before opening her eyes. "Hey. Sorry. Did I sleep for long?"
"Don't worry about it," Law said. "You needed your rest. Do you feel better?"
"I do." Neo nodded.
"I'm glad," Law said. "I know it might be out of your control but please avoid fighting until you can find me. I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'll try," Neo said. "But those Astro Units are after us. The man they work for is trying to kill us because of something we might have done. I'm not sure. We won't know until we find all of our friends. I'm sorry."
"It's all right," Law said. "I'm sure all of this will make more sense once we've found each other."
"How are you doing?" Neo asked. "Have they tried to hurt you?"
"No, they haven't," Law said. "Don't worry about that. You're only going to make yourself sick. Just worry about yourself for now."
Neo swallowed while also thinking of their baby. She wondered if she should tell him about that or wait until they could see each other in person.
"Something wrong?" Law asked when she got quiet.
"No, it's nothing," Neo said before feeling some kind of pull on her body and mind. "I think I have to go now. I'm sorry. I wish I could stay for a while longer."
"It's fine," Law said. "We'll see each other again."
They sat up. Neo looked at him before he cupped her face. Her heart hammered in her chest as he leaned in closer to her, to her lips.
Neo opened her eyes to her heart racing in her chest. "Why so soon?"
"Why what so soon?" Hoshi appeared in her vision.
"I was having a sweet dream," Neo said. "I woke up way too soon." She sighed and pulled her blanket around her body. "He was going to kiss me."
"Oh, dreaming of your husband?" Hoshi asked.
Neo's cheeks flushed. She nodded. Her stomach then growled. "I'm hungry. I'm going to make us something to eat."
"You feeling up to it?" Hoshi asked.
Neo nodded and sat up.
"Hey, looks who's finally awake," Nami called from the helm. "How you feeling?"
"A lot better," Neo said. "I'm going to cook something for us. How long have I been asleep?"
"About three hours," Nami said. "So far we haven't seen any sigh of those Astro Units But that doesn't mean they're still not after us. We should keep on our toes."
"That's good. Do you need anything before I start cooking?" Neo asked.
"No, I'm good," Nami said.
Neo nodded and with Hoshi following they headed into the kitchen. Digging through the fridge she pulled out three steaks and some vegetables as Hoshi jumped up on the counter to watch her. While placing the vegetables on the counter she used her wind crystals to hold the steaks into the air while using her fire crystals to thaw them. She pulled out the necessary pans and placed then on the burners. The steaks sizzled as she placed them on the hot pan. She then chopped up the vegetables and added them to the pan. Once everything was finished she lifted it all up with her winds and headed out to the help.
"Someone's in a good mood after her nap," Nami said when Neo and Hoshi reached her.
"Apparently so," Neo replied placing the food and drinks down on the table. "I'm not sure what happened. I had this really great dream about Law. And when I woke up I felt whole lot better than I have since I had that nightmare."
"I'm glad," Nami said. "We need you focused on our mission so we don't get hurt out here."
"I'll do my best," Neo said.
"That's all we can ask for." Nami smiled. "By the way, I checked the trail before while you were inside cooking. Their trails are getting thicker."
"Then that means we're getting closer to them," Hoshi said. "If we're lucky will catch up with them in a few days. Using Neo's wind crystals put us far ahead."
"Maybe I should use them again before we go to bed?" Neo suggested. "That way we'll be even farther away from the Astro Unit."
"It might not be a bad idea," Nami said.
"Well, I suppose it won't hurt," Hoshi said. "If you're feeling up to. If not then don't do it."
"I'm fine," Neo said. "That nap and dream really helped me out."
"Then go ahead." Hoshi nodded.
Neo nodded back then summoned her wind crystals again. She filled the sails with a hard enough breeze to push them along. She left her crystals out for almost two hours before finally letting the wind die down. "That should do it."
"We really need to figure out where we're going to sleep," Nami said. "And what about guards? I'm not sure how long the three of us can stay up at night."
"I could ask some of the creatures in the area to warn us if someone's coming closer," Neo said.
"That could work," Nami said. "Now what about sleeping? Someone should probably stay up in the captain's quarters. That way we should be able to hear if someone sneaks on board.
"Hey, Nami?" Neo asked.
"What's up?" Nami replied.
"I was just wondering," Neo said.
"Yes?" Nami prompted when Neo didn't continue.
"I might just be acting silly but I would like it if you and Hoshi stayed with me," Neo said twiddling her thumbs. "I feel less lonely when you two are around."
"I see. It's fine with me," Nami said.
"I suppose I could share a bed with her," Hoshi said.
"We could stay in the captain's quarters," Neo said. "That way we're all together if something happens."
"That's a good idea," Nami said. "All right then, it's settled. We'll stay inside of the captain's quarters. Let's go." She led them into the room. "Let me change the sheets first."
"Okay." Neo nodded. She waited patiently as Nami pulled the dirty sheets off the bed and replaced them with clean sheets from the closet. "Would it be alright if I slept near the wall?"
"If that's what you want," Nami said. "I don't mind."
"Thanks." Neo crawled onto the bed. Laying down she pulled the covers over her. Hoshi jumped up on the bed and curled up near her chest. "Good night, guys."
"Good night, Neo," Nami and Hoshi said.
Nami crawled under the covers. They all closed their eyes and fell asleep.