Asteria Nightmare

Part three of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

Note: Sorry for the delayed post on this one! I got caught up in many things today.

Imagery: If you want to see an old sketch I did of the mysterious creature, follow this link:

http: / tinypic . com / r / 200sh9c / 7

Just delete the extra spaces. This is also linked in my profile if you prefer. (And forgive my less than adequate drawing skills)

Disclaimer: I do not own, or pretend to own, One Piece or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

"Ashes burning, you can smell it in the air,
Cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal.
So stand in line while banging numbers in your head,
You're now a slave until the end of time
And nothing stops the madness turning,
haunting, yearning, pull the trigger!"
~Nightmare, Avenged Sevenfold

Unexpectedly, everything went still.

Nami waited for Luffy to get up, for their captain to start laughing at what fun the fight was, or for that angry look to flit across his face as he resolved to thoroughly pound the offending creature. Luffy wouldn't be taken down so easily by something like this. Luffy was Luffy. He'd taken down half a dozen vicious opponents that were considered nigh on invincible; there was no way he would lose some sort of...of thing that went bump in the night.

But he wasn't moving. He really, truly wasn't moving, wasn't trying to get up, wasn't making a sound. Nami couldn't even tell at this distance if he was still breathing or not. He was just still, reminiscent of a corpse, dull and drab-looking against the brilliant leaves he'd been dropped on.

The creature shuffled to regard them now, but it was still within the cast shadows of the trees, and too dark to make out most details easily. It hissed low, warningly, and Usopp let out a low whimper beside her at the noise. Then it stooped over Luffy, and Nami saw a glint of something in the fading sunlight that might have been fangs as it lowered its head towards their captain.

Zoro hit it like a freight train, smashing into its side with a wordless roar. The creature had been bending for their captain too fast, and even Zoro, the closest to Luffy's prone body, wouldn't have been able to draw his swords and slice it up fast enough to prevent its killing momentum. So he checked it bodily in the side with one shoulder instead, ramming the creature off balance and—more importantly—knocking its flashing jaws away from their vulnerable captain.

Sanji-kun was there seconds later. As Zoro settled back defensively, drawing his weapons and planting his body protectively over that of his captain's, Sanji-kun rushed past him and spun his momentum into a lethal kick. The creature had not been knocked very far by Zoro's defensive rush, but their cook had a lot more time to set up his shot and let fly, without having to worry about their captain being hurt. His foot connected with the creature solidly as he roared, "Mouton Shot!"

Nami recognized this as one of Sanji-kun's finishing moves, and fully expected to hear bones breaking and see blood spurting. Neither happened. What she had not expected was to hear Sanji-kun's surprised grunt of discomfort as he connected, or to see him crash to the leaves on his back a moment later, even if he did roll to his feet immediately and did not appear terribly injured.

The creature wasn't injured—she knew that somehow. But even if Sanji-kun's attack had no effect on it whatsoever, it was still apparently subjected to physics, and Sanji-kun's kick had a lot of force behind it. The creature emitted a surprised hiss as it was sent flying, and smashed into the ground several yards away, rolling until it hit one of the bright fall trees. The tree shuddered and, with an almighty crack, split in two from the blow, crashing to the ground over the monster.

"What the hell is going on?" Nami nearly shrieked. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Don't know," Sanji-kun said, sounding grim, "but it's armored."

"Armored?" Usopp asked from beside Nami, trembling. "How could you tell? Did you see it?"

"I felt it," Sanji-kun said. He was gritting his teeth around his cigarette, and stood braced next to Zoro, who had taken a few steps forward now to stand defensively in front of their captain. Both watched the fallen tree warily, waiting for signs of the...the whatever-it-was.

"Perhaps you killed it?" Brook offered tentatively after a moment. His bony hands were clasped around the lacquered handle of his cane, where Nami knew his sword was hidden, but if the creature was armored Nami didn't now how much use a sword would even be.

Sanji-kun opened his mouth to answer, but the broken trunk of the tree shifted then, and seconds later the creature underneath shoved it aside and rolled to its feet. Sanji-kun's kick had propelled it a little ways out of the forest and near one of the last patches of sunlight, and as they watched the thing stepped into more visible light and hissed at them.

Nami found her throat clench unexpectedly tight with the sudden effort to keep from screaming. The thing was disgusting, hideous, unearthly...there was no other way to describe such a creature. Its head was that of an enormous panther or wildcat, but the rest of it resembled a positively massive spider. The panther-head was affixed to a bulbous, disgustingly hairy body, like that of a tarantula, and a whiplike tail with a bladed end, almost like that of a scorpion's, emerged from the very back of its bloated abdomen. The creature had eight legs; four resembled spindly spider legs, each ending in a sharp claw, while its very front two and back two legs looked more like warped, distorted cat appendages with far too many joints. Each of the twisted cat-legs ended in something vaguely reminiscent of a cat's paw, but with only two toes. And while the creature's face was clearly mostly that of a panther's, it had eight glittering, bulbous eyes, and two sets of twitching mandibles were set just behind the creature's more mammalian jaws.

It took Nami a second more to realize that one of those sets of mandibles was currently curled inside the creature's open mouth, and that there was something glittering inside it, though she couldn't make out what it was. The mandibles operated almost like a finger and thumb, carefully holding the glinting object in place with surprising delicacy.

It turned to face them, rotating its entire body as it did so, and its four pure-spider legs made the strange clicking noise Nami had heard earlier when it first attacked. The mandibles that weren't holding anything clacked together, a quick tap-tap that Nami interpreted as considering.

"Nightmare," Chopper whispered in horror, and the stories flashed back into her head all too suddenly: stories of nightmares that had stolen the victims' dreams. This had to be what those survivors had meant. They hadn't meant night-terrors at all; they had been entirely literal about what they had encountered.

The Nightmare took a slow step forward, extending one long, disjointed catlike limb with such such grace it was startling. The movement seemed to break the spell for them all. Nami's hands flew to the straps that held her Clima-Tact in place on her leg, and although she could practically hear Usopp's trembling she could also hear his hand diving into his bag for his slingshot, and the rasp of Brook's sword as it started to draw free.

The Nightmare raised its head and shrieked, whipping its blade-like tail to and fro. She heard a momentarily whistle of wind, and unexpectedly felt like she'd been hit in the chest with one of Luffy's punches, or like she had been dropped into an icy lake. Raw terror, raging despair, pure dread, seized her heart like a vice and refused to let go. She had only felt like this a few times in her life, moments in battles or events so profound, so utterly beyond her control, that she was sure her life was over, her happiness at an end. Bellemere's death. Joining Arlong. When he'd cheated, taken all her money away. When Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger had chased her, gone for the final kill. When Eneru stood over her amidst the fallen, including her own friends. When Kuma demanded Luffy's head, and attacked them all when they refused. The feelings were so real, so strong, so primal, and she found herself freezing in place before she even realized what she was doing. Her fingers brushed the Clima-Tact's surface, but she was too scared to act, too afraid to make herself obvious to the creature, and maybe, just maybe, if she stayed still it wouldn't notice her, oh God don't let it notice her—

The others weren't moving either. The sounds beside her had stopped, and even Zoro and Sanji-kun had frozen, looking stunned but trembling in place regardless. Nami knew then, in some far corner of her mind, the part not overcome with raw, screaming panic, that this wasn't just her; that the creature, the Nightmare, had done something to them, something to stun them with their own fear. But that little corner of her mind was too easily smothered by the screaming—oh God, don't let it see me, don't let it notice me, I can hear screaming, I can hear sobbing, I can hear it all, you lose, you lose, you lose, don't let it do that to me, don't see me, don't see me, don't see me—and though she struggled valiantly to free herself, it was too hard to extricate herself from the pressures of sheer pain and despair.

Then the creature charged.

It rocketed forward, so fast, too fast, aiming straight for the prone Luffy and his two frozen guardians. Its maw opened wide, its free mandibles clacked hungrily over the click-click of its many spider legs as it moved, and its blade tail whipped, ready to kill. Nami knew in that moment with absolute certainty that Zoro and Sanji-kun were going to die, and the thought only fueled her induced terror-driven state, sending up a low, mourning wail in her head as she watched the creature close in and did not—could not—act.

There were still a few yards between the Nightmare and her crew-mates when Zoro broke out of his own stunned state, wrenching his body sideways violently, as though crawling out of a deep mire. He let out a rasping, shuddering breath, and then slapped Sanji-kun, still frozen beside him, with the flat of one sword. The cook stumbled sideways at the force of the blow, but it seemed to have the intended effect; with a curse Sanji-kun staggered back to his feet—he still looked pale, but in control again—and launched himself once more at the creature.

His kick was powerful, if somewhat shakier looking than usual, and yet it had no effect whatsoever. The Nightmare dug its claws deeply through the leaves into the loam and managed to swerve aside at the last minute, a feat of dexterous maneuvering probably only manageable because of the multitude of legs it possessed, and Sanji-kun hit the dirt without ever touching it. With a furious shriek, like that of a war-cry, it charged straight at Zoro and the motionless figure only a few feet behind him.

Zoro was equal to that, and as the creature shot forward, he met it head on, swords flashing.

All three blades flew true; Nami was no expert, but she had seen Zoro fight enough by now to know that much, at least. And yet, much like Sanji-kun's first kick, the blades in his hands seemed to have no effect. Armored, Sanji-kun had reported grimly, and it looked like his assessment had been right on the ball. The two katana blades in Zoro's hands clacked off something that sounded like bone, though she knew it wasn't that. Zoro could cut through steel, for crying out loud, bone wouldn't be a problem at all. It was probably some sort of strange, unearthly chitin, based on its bug-like appearance...something resistant to even katana blades.

Or...perhaps only some katana blades, she thought, her confusion now fighting with the raw terror that still filled her mind. The two swords in Zoro's hands had been repelled easily, bouncing off the Nightmare's hide without causing so much as a scratch. But the one in his mouth, the white katana that he always seemed to favor, cleanly cut into and through the blade-tail as it rushed at Zoro's head, sending the stabbing appendage flying and leaving little more than a stump that oozed oily black smoke-like blood.

The creature screamed, and this time it wasn't meant to intimidate or spread its horrible terror; this time it was clearly in pain. It shrieked in agony and backpedaled on all eight legs, scrabbling away from Zoro as fast as it could, as though suddenly afraid it had found prey that could bite it back. Zoro took a step forward to continue the attack, but before he could so much as take a breath the Nightmare spun and, still screaming, thudded into the trees and vanished amongst the shadows.

As if by magic, the raging despair, the vibrant terror, vanished from Nami's mind as if it had never been. It was almost as though she couldn't even remember why she had been afraid to begin with, and though she had faint remnants of fearful memories it had dragged out, they seemed far away, distant. All that was left was that feeling of icy cold, of breathlessness, as if she'd swam a mile in frigid water. She thudded to her knees on the side of the dune, confused, and dragged Sanji-kun's jacket closer around herself as she shivered.

"Y-you felt it t-too?" Usopp chattered beside her, and she turned to look at him mutely. He, too, had collapsed to the ground, and was still shaking hard, and breathing as if he'd run a mile. Behind him, Chopper was whimpering and pulling the brim of his hat down further over his eyes, as if to hide, and Brook had one skeletal hand clutched to the left side of his chest and looked too shocked to even make a damn skull joke about the fact that he had no heart.

"Y-yes," Nami stammered, and cursed herself for letting the creature affect her so badly. Now that it wasn't there anymore, it felt silly to be scared so badly when she couldn't even really remember what had caused it.

"I'm st-starting to understand those stories m-more," Usopp said. His shivering was slowing, and the edges of panic in his expression were receding, but he still looked afraid. "That thing was d-definitely a nightmare if I ever s-saw one..."

"Agreed," Nami said slowly, after taking a few breaths to try and calm her steadied nerves. She was about to say more, but right then the crunch of footsteps over dead leaves drew her attention, and she tuned in to a second conversation coming their way.

"—don't understand why you were able to hurt it, but I wasn't," Sanji-kun was saying, but he didn't sound argumentative; more contemplative and frustrated than anything else.

"Maybe you hit it in the wrong spot," Zoro offered. His voice was muffled, and as Nami looked up she noted he still had that white sword clenched in his teeth, and was walking in a careful sideways step to accompany the cook while keeping an eye on where the Nightmare had disappeared.

"That can't be it, I hit it right in the head, I think," Sanji-kun said. "Though it was kinda hard to tell in the dark...maybe it's like Luffy? Blunt force trauma won't hurt it, but cutting will?"

"Only one of my swords worked," Zoro said, with a quick shake of his head. He sounded both confused and angry by that. "You were right, it's definitely armored pretty good. Maybe the tail was just its weak spot."

"Dammit," Sanji-kun swore. "I will find a way to kick that piece of shit's ass once...Chopper! Hey, Chopper! Snap out of it, you have to look at Luffy, now!"

Sanji-kun and Zoro had rejoined the group now, and now that they were closer Nami could make out more details through the early-evening gloom. Zoro was still facing back the way the creature had run, all three swords out and at the ready should the creature attack. That left Sanji-kun carrying a limp, huddled form in his arms. It was hard to tell in the dark, but the tip of Sanji-kun's fresh cigarette lit up his face enough to show his clear concern as he looked down at their captain.

And Nami could see why, after a moment. Luffy looked...wrong. Very wrong. He flopped bonelessly, head flopped backward over one of Sanji-kun's arms, his own arms dangling. His eyes were closed, and he was pale; far, far too pale, Nami could tell, even in the moon-lit dark. Nami had seen him in similar situations before, after fighting some of his tougher opponents, but he had always been seriously damaged then, covered in so many gashes and bruises it was almost acceptable to see him passed out cold for a few days, just because it made him almost normal. But there was almost nothing wrong with Luffy this time. She could see a few minor puncture wounds, where the nightmare's mandibles or teeth had probably bitten into him when Luffy had been grabbed, but such tiny wounds were nothing compared to what Luffy went through on Skypiea, or at Enies Lobby, or Thriller Bark.

And he felt so...lifeless. That was, ultimately, what terrified her, when she looked at that prone body that Sanji-kun was now carefully laying on the leaves. Even when he'd been knocked out cold in the past, there was still some hint of Luffy there while he slept; sleep-eating, or muttering nonsensical things, or even a tiny grin as he dreamed. But none of that was here now. It was as though Luffy was empty, or just...gone.

Somehow, it was a very, very frighting prospect, to think of Luffy well and truly having vanished from their lives.

"I can't figure out what's wrong with him," Sanji-kun was saying, as Usopp nudged their still-shivering ship's doctor forward towards the body. There was a definite tone of anxiety in Sanji-kun's voice now, poorly masked, and even Zoro of all people looked concerned as he glanced over his shoulder back at the proceedings. They were scared too, and that was almost as terrifying as the thought of Luffy disappearing.

Poor Chopper looked dazed, but set to work as best as he was able, examining Luffy's prone body quickly. "He's still breathing, and his heart's still beating," the reindeer announced slowly as he worked. "Everything seems to be in working order...he's got four puncture wounds, but that wouldn't be enough to do...this," Chopper added, looking anxious. "We'll need to bring him back to the ship so I can test for poison, though...that...that thing might transfer something by bite. Luffy's not showing any symptoms of anything, but..."

Everyone sat in confused silence for a moment, staring at their unmoving captain. His chest rose and fell quietly as if in a deep sleep, and after a moment Brook reached out and almost tentatively shook one shoulder, as though trying to wake him. Luffy did not respond.

"Perfectly healthy," Usopp said slowly, "but they waste away anyway."

As one their gazes flashed to his face, and he looked ill as he glanced around at them all. "The stories," he elaborated, at their unspoken questions. "Back on Adamantina. The survivors, the ones that got back to their homes...they were perfectly healthy, and the doctors never found anything wrong with them, but they just wasted away and died..."

Nami bit her lip, and Chopper panicked. "It can't be nightmare sickness," he said anxiously. "It can't be! I've never heard of it before, I don't know how to cure it—" he froze, and clamped his little hooves over his mouth, looking terrified and ashamed.

"Pack up," Zoro ordered suddenly. "Let's move. Sanji, you got his hat, right?"

"Yeah," the cook answered, and Nami noted for the first time that the neck-cord of Luffy's hat was looped to Sanji-kun's belt, holding it in place.

"Give it to Usopp or something. We're going back to the ship. I'll go last. I don't know why only one of my swords worked, but if I'm the only one that can fight it at all, then I'm acting as rear guard." His tone left no room for debate. He was unofficially the first mate, though he'd never admit it himself, and with Luffy down it fell to him to protect the crew.

Surprisingly, Sanji-kun didn't argue, merely untied the straw hat from his belt and handed it off to Usopp. The sniper accepted it solemnly and carefully placed their captain's treasure on his own head, underneath his prized goggles, for safekeeping.

Chopper was still shaken, looking horrified with himself for being unable to heal Luffy. So Sanji-kun once more took up the burden of his captain and lifted him carefully, standing quickly.

"Allow me to go first, Sanji-san," Brook offered. "In case anything dangerous lies before us. If Zoro-san's sword is able to cut these Nightmares, than perhaps mine can as well." Sanji-kun nodded, accepting without argument—he knew, they all knew, what an important burden he was currently carrying, and how important it was to defend it. So Brook took point, his cane sword out and at the ready, and Sanji-kun followed, with Luffy dangling limply in his arms.

"C'mon, Chopper," Nami said encouragingly, and reached down to take one of Chopper's hooves in her own. Normally the little reindeer would probably run to Zoro for comfort right about now, but as Zoro was currently preoccupied with keeping them all alive, there wasn't much of an option for that.

"I'm s-sorry, Nami," the doctor sniffled.

"What? What for?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"I c-can't...I d-don't know how to f-fix Luffy," the reindeer whimpered. "I've n-never even heard of n-nightmare sickness bef-fore...Luffy's going to d-die and it'll be all m-my fault..."

"Don't be silly," Nami said, forcing more cheer into her voice than she felt. "This is Luffy we're talking about. He doesn't just drop dead! You ought to know that by now. Besides," she added, "we don't know for sure what this nightmare sickness even is. What if it really is poison?"

Chopper looked at her with a glimmer of hope amidst the confusion, and Usopp, sensing what she was getting at, hastily jumped in to help. "Yeah!" he encouraged. "I mean, nobody ever recorded what those Nightmares really are before. They might call it 'nightmare sickness' over on Adamantina, but it's probably just that everybody got bitten and poisoned and didn't get an antidote. But you know how to treat poisons, right Chopper?"

The reindeer frowned. "I've never heard of a poison with these sorts of symptoms before, so I don't know an antidote for it yet..." He considered, and then added slowly, "but if you could catch one of those...things for me, or get a sample of the poison, then I could examine it and form an antidote based off of that..."

"There you go," Nami said. "So, see, it's not as hopeless as you make it sound. We'll be able to fix Luffy up just fine, all thanks to you!"

Nami wasn't entirely sure she believed the words herself, but Chopper looked more encouraged, and even Usopp seemed to be working himself up into his own idea, as he did with dozens of his other lies. Hopefully it would be enough to get them through this, at least.

"We can discuss this later, on the ship," came Zoro's muffled voice. "Move. Now." The swordsman was behind the three of them, and gestured them forward with the two katana in his hands. With a start, Nami realized just how far ahead Brook and Sanji-kun had gotten, and hastily ran to catch up along with Usopp and Chopper. Zoro brought up the rear, swords at the ready and constantly on the alert.

But they passed back down onto the beach without any incident, and despite jumping at shadows and creaking noises in the old fishing village, they encountered no further Nightmares there, either. Robin, it appeared, had already headed back to the ship, so they headed down to the stone docks and the Thousand Sunny, which seemed blissfully warm and welcoming through the cold, empty gloom.

Franky greeted them with an enthusiastic "Ow!" and accompanying dance, claiming he had good news, but froze in mid-step when he caught sight of their unconscious captain. "What happened, sis?" he asked Nami, bewildered, as Chopper had Sanji-kun rush Luffy to the infirmary for a more thorough inspection. Robin approached quietly from behind, eyes widening slightly as she caught sight of Luffy's condition, and awaited Nami's explanation with a frown.

"It's a long story," Nami said shakily, and slowly began to tell them what happened, with some help from Usopp. Sanji-kun emerged halfway through the story and vanished into the galley, probably to brood over what had just happened while he cooked dinner. And Zoro paced restlessly back and forth across the decks, constantly keeping an eye out on the village in the shadows, as though expecting another attack.

Dinner, an hour later, was a subdued affair. Sanji-kun had made less than usual, mostly because of Luffy's absence (Nami winced at the thought), but also because he had probably picked up on the mood of the ship. Nami didn't feel especially hungry tonight, and judging by everyone else's faces and the way they picked at their plates, nobody else did, either. Zoro hadn't even bothered to come in for the meal; he was still pacing outside on his self-appointed watch. It wasn't that Sanji-kun's food was anything less than perfect, as usual. It was just that the night's events seemed to have taken over their minds and killed their appetites. Nami kept remembering enticing Luffy to return to the ship for dinner, only to have that memory overlaid with Luffy's heart-wrenching scream, or the way the Nightmare had frozen her with terror, or the way Zoro's and Sanji-kun's attacks against it had been all but useless.

Finally she sighed, put down her fork, and said with the air of one desperate for some sort of distraction, "You said you had good news earlier, Franky. What was it?"

"Eh? Oh...right, sis," the cyborg said, and noticeably tried to make himself more optimistic as he explained, "I was able to take a look at the hull damage again. It's not as bad as I first thought. I didn't have time to start fixing it today since there wasn't much sunlight left, but I should be able to have it all patched up tomorrow. We'll be ship-shape again by noon."

"That's a relief," Nami said tiredly. "We'll be able to escape at least, if we have to."

"And if we don't hit that storm again," Usopp said pessimistically, voicing what Nami, at least, had been thinking. The scream the creature made today had been far too similar to the shrieking she had heard in the storm; there had to be a connection there, somewhere.

"But we can't leave without trying to get that poison sample, first," Chopper argued. "I can't help Luffy without it." His lower lip trembled, but he seemed more determined than he had earlier. His re-examination of their captain, this time with the aid of his tools, had turned up the same results as before: other than four minor puncture wounds, Luffy was a picture of health, other than the fact that he wasn't waking up.

"There might be clues in the other villages, as well," Robin offered. The others stared at her in confusion, and she added, "In the fishing village, I found a building that was probably once a small chapel. There was writing on the stone walls inside, in the same script that inscribes the poneglyphs. They were not well preserved, and most of it was difficult to read, but it seems the villagers were familiar with 'Nightmares' as well. The writings also mentioned something known as the Temple of Dreams, located in a city somewhere on this island, from what I could gather." She shrugged. "If the ancient inhabitants of Asteria were familiar with these creatures, and the dualities of nightmares and dreams, they may have known a cure for the illness these nightmares cause."

"Then what do we do?" Usopp asked, anxiously. "We don't even know how to fight those things. As far was we know, Zoro got lucky when he managed to slice that one at all. Are we supposed to just bait one out and hope we get lucky enough for it to not do whatever it did to Luffy, to us too? Ask it if it'll leave us alone long enough to go to these other towns?" There was a note of hysteria at the end of his voice.

Nami slammed her hand down on the table, and several of her fellow crew members jumped. "There's nothing at all we can do tonight," she said quietly. "For now, all we can do is set a double-watch to make sure we're one step ahead of those things and they don't get on our ship. Tomorrow, when it's light out, Franky will stay here to fix the Sunny in case we need to make a quick getaway, and the rest of us will go look for one of these other villages to see if Robin can decipher a cure."

"Sunlight might be helpful," Brook offered brightly. "Perhaps these Nightmares are like the shadow-zombies on Thriller Bark, and dislike the sun. It did not attack any of us until just before the sun finished setting, after all."

Sanji-kun nodded in agreement. "It stayed in the shadows when it could, too," he agreed. "It's worth a shot."

"Right," Nami agreed. "And if one does attack, we have a little more warning this time. We know Zoro, at least, can cut one, and they don't seem to like it when their prey fights back. We might be able to scare them off instead, or even get a venom sample." She hastily cut off the if it even is poison after a quick glance at Chopper; no point in crushing his hopes when they had no conclusive answers either way, after all.

"Alright," Nami concluded. "Are we all clear on the plan?" As one, they nodded, each and every one of them looking grim but determined. No matter what, they would not let these things beat them, and they would not let these monsters take their captain from them.

"Good. Then rest up, because we're probably going to be doing a lot of running and fighting tomorrow," she finished.

"Eat up too," Sanji-kun added, gesturing at his meal more insistently than before the conversation had started. "We'll need our strength." Everyone dug back into their meals, with noticeably more appetite than before, now that they had a plan. Nami especially found herself finishing up her meal quickly, before excusing herself (she refused the seconds Sanji-kun offered politely) and heading out to find Zoro on deck to explain the new plan.

It didn't really matter that she wasn't going to bed right away, like she'd lectured everyone else on doing. She knew she wasn't going to be getting any rest tonight, anyway. Nightmares of an entirely different kind would certainly see to that.

The next morning, everyone was up before the sun even started to rise. Nami didn't find this particularly surprising. While her crew could quite often be lazy and thoroughly useless, each and every one of them knew the significance of their daylight hours while on this island, and nobody wanted to waste any more time than they had to. Especially when their captain's life was potentially at stake. Luffy wouldn't hesitate to do anything to save one of them, and they were just as willing to return the favor. And besides, the fact that none of them had rested well to begin with probably helped.

So it was that Sanji-kun was up even earlier than usual, well before the crack of dawn, preparing a simple early breakfast as well as packing food supplies for their excursion onto the island that day. Franky had set about bringing all his supplies up onto the deck and setting them in place, waiting only for the sun to rise a little so that he could see what he was doing, and Usopp eagerly helped him prepare after rechecking his own artillery. Nami spent her pre-dawn hours trying to plan out a route on the island with the map she'd stolen, but that proved almost useless; the map offered a general shape of the island, but little about what actually resided on it. She gave up and eventually resigned herself to helping Robin pack a few other emergency supplies alongside Sanji-kun's food rations. Even Zoro was up early, resuming his self-appointed guardianship duties by keeping a wary eye on the island while the rest of them worked. Nami wasn't sure how much good it would do, but it was strangely reassuring to know somebody was watching their backs all the same.

All of them visited Luffy as well, but unfortunately there hadn't been much change there, either. Chopper had spent the night in the infirmary, curled up in Brain Point next to their captain to keep an eye on his progress, but there hadn't been any...good or bad. Luffy did not get worse, or develop any of the classic symptoms of poison: fever, convulsions, deteriorating tissue, and a dozen other nasty side-effects of venom injection were thankfully absent. But he didn't get better either. He just remained pale as death and looked for all the world as though he were asleep, yet never woke up no matter how much he was called or shaken.

Nami knew they had plenty to be thankful for...the fact that Luffy wasn't dying of poison too fast for them to stop was relieving. And yet, she almost wished that there was some evidence of a physical attack, a struggle against death, as she watched Luffy's blank face during one of her visits. If it was a fight, Luffy could win it; of that she was sure. Luffy lived through all the other fights. He could live through any battle, internal or not. But seeing him so still, so pale, so...empty...it was more disturbing than she cared to admit. Because if there wasn't a battle, then maybe Luffy really could die from this, whatever this was.

No, she told herself firmly. No, we're not going to let that happen. We'll go find that...that Nightmare thing...and Zoro will slice it up like he did the first time. We'll collect the venom—please let it be venom—and Chopper will fix up an antidote, and within a day Luffy will be driving us all crazy with his stupid ideas and his demands for meat and everything else again. Yeah. Yeah, it would happen just like that. Gritting her teeth and sincerely hoping she wasn't fooling herself, she gave Luffy's rubbery hand a quick squeeze and left the infirmary to meet with the others on deck.

Everyone was assembling now for the final preparations. The packs that Sanji-kun and Robin had assembled were all lying in a small pile now, awaiting distribution. The rest of the crew was standing in an anxious circle, subdued but determined. Their captain was in danger, but they had a plan to try and fix it, and that was all that mattered. Even Usopp, though obviously terrified of the Nightmares, had his fist clenched in readiness around the handle of his Kabuto slingshot and looked fully prepared to use it.

Luffy had that effect on people, Nami thought with a wan smile. Even when he was dying.

"Okay," she addressed them, stooping to pick up one of the packs as she did so. "I think we've got enough sunlight to start moving by safely. Remember these things are dangerous, so don't try to fight one on your own...just lead it to Zoro if you can so he can cut it. We need to kill one so we can let Chopper study it and figure out how to help Luffy."

They nodded in agreement, and Zoro, Sanji-kun, Robin and Usopp all stooped to pick up their own packs. Franky cracked his enormous knuckles and growled low in his throat.

"I wish I could go with you guys," he said with a sigh. "They might be armored, but so am I. I'd love to see'em try to take me down."

"You have your own job, Franky," Nami said, as she started assembling her Clima-Tact. She had learned from last night that it was better to have it at the ready at all times. "It's just as important."

"I know, I know," he said. "I got it, sis, don't worry about it. Sunny'll be ready to go by the time you get back, I promise. It should be no problem...I'm feeling especially productive this week."

"I'm going to stay here, too," Chopper added. Nami stared at him in surprise, as did a few others, and the reindeer went on to explain quickly. "I've been thinking about it," he said slowly, "and we really can't take Luffy with us. I mean, he hasn't woken up at all...what if one of those things hurts him more? It tried to...to eat him last night, or something, after it did...whatever it did to him to poison him." Sanji-kun grimaced around his cigarette, Zoro glowered, and Usopp frowned.

"But," continued Chopper, quicker now, "we still don't know what's wrong with Luffy, and I don't think I should leave him at a time like this. What if he needs medical aid? We have to leave Luffy behind safe on the Thousand Sunny, so I need to stay with him."

"That's fine, Chopper," Nami said. "It makes sense. Besides, if those things attack, Franky's probably going to need backup. It'll be safer to stay in groups as long as we're dealing with these Nightmares."

"In that case," Brook said delicately, "allow me to stay behind, as well." The crews' stares turned to the skeleton, and he drew his sword in a quick flourish, allowing it to flash in the morning sunlight. "The same argument that I offered to Sanji-san last night still stands," the musician said. "Zoro-san's sword was able to cut the creature when no other attack worked. Perhaps my sword will be of use as well. If that is so, I will gladly offer it in order to protect my captain and crew!" For once, his sentence was devoid of a single skull joke, which only succeeded in emphasizing just how solemn the moment was for all of them.

"Fine," Zoro said shortly. He was fingering one of his katana now, the white one, and he looked impatient. "Franky, Chopper, and Brook stay behind to guard Luffy and fix the ship. The rest of us go find those things and kill'em. Let's move."

Usopp looked anxious. "Are we really sure it's a good idea to split up like this?" he asked, eyeing the fishing village in the distance warily. "That thing was really strong. What if it takes all of us to beat one?"

"In a battle, it might take all of us," Robin observed, as she settled her pack more comfortably on her shoulders, "but a smaller group is more advantageous for avoiding an encounter with the creatures at all. With all of us we would most assuredly attract these Nightmares' attention. With a smaller group we stand more of a chance of not being noticed."

Usopp still did not look entirely convinced, but the rest of what Nami had dubbed as the Recovery Team was already moving for the railings and jumping down onto the slippery stone docks. The sniper swallowed, glanced in the direction of the infirmary, and then grit his teeth in determination. "Right, then," he said with a nod. "Let's find these nightmares and teach them not to mess with our dreams!"

I would say something witty here, but I'm really not, so I won't.

As usual, if you decide to leave a review, let me know your honest opinion! What is good, what is bad, what parts did you like, what could be improved?

~VelkynKarma