Chapter 32
Showoff
After a rather rushed departure from Nanohana, the pirates were sailing away to go to Erumalu, the starting point of their walk through the desert to reach Yuba.
Yuba was the city where the rebel army's headquarters were stationed, and Vivi wanted to go there to talk the rebels out of the civil war providing them information about Baroque Works and their boss, the Shichibukai named Crocodile's, evil intentions.
Right before leaving the island, Vivi sent Caru to deliver a letter informing her father of the latest developments of the situation.
Watching as the ship sailed on smooth waters, Eli was leaning on the railing waiting for Ace to rush out of the port of Nanohana.
I hope he's okay... Eli thought, scanning the waters as the port shrunk slowly.
"He's fine," Luffy said cheerily, patting the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry."
Oh my god.. The rascal can read minds... Eli thought, staring at Luffy with wide stupefied eyes. What am I thinking ? She concentrated deeply on his mind, her stare growing more intense. Hey, I'm thinking about about bunnies, white fluffy bunnies ! Can you hear me ?
Luffy tilted his head on the side questioningly.
Ah ! I knew you were bluffing !
"Elisabeth~" Sanji called out. "I found you an outfit for the walk through the desert."
"For the desert, you say..." Eli curiously watched the outfit that Sanji handed her with heart-shaped eyes.
Sanji nodded his head rapidly, a goofy smile on his face.
It was when the girl saw Nami and Vivi that she understood why the pervy cook seemed so eager to make her wear the said outfit. The girls were wearing oriental dancer's clothes. Observing them Eli couldn't help but thinking that little was left to the imagination.
Both of them were wearing approximately the same: a plunging bra with a fringe of beads, giving a nice eyeful of the girls' huge breasts, and a long flowing skirt worn low on the hips. Apparently Sanji cared for details since they also wore a full set of jewelry: earrings, a necklace, two bracelets on Nami upper arms, and as for Vivi a simple wrist bracelet.
"I'm not sure..." Eli sighed, watching the girls' busts bouncing provocatively.
"Don't be so shy," Nami said, barely hiding her amusement while she pushed the unwilling girl to the storage room.
Eli sighed again and walked slowly to the bedroom to change.
For 'some' reason her outfit was slightly different from the two girls'. It had a very short tube top instead of the bra, and her skirt had a very high slit on each side, completely revealing the girl's slender legs each time she took a step. As for the jewelry, Eli decided to leave it behind, except for a nice beaded bracelet that she put around her left ankle.
Overall, it wasn't that bad. It was actually kind of fun dressing up like this, and the outfit wasn't showing any more than she usually did, so Eli decided to keep it at least until they reached Erumalu since she anticipated that it would be a bother for walking.
"Sanji," Eli called out when she came back on the deck.
"Oh, Elisabeth~" The love cook swirled toward her, his hands clasped together. "You look wonderfewl~"
"I was wondering..." Eli brought a finger to her cheek questioningly. "...why my top is different from Nami and Vivi's ?"
"Oh, they didn't have your size," Sanji replied, obviously without thinking, his famous heart-shaped eyes checking her out insistently.
Eli's eyebrows went up. "Oh really ?" she said coldly, her face darkening angrily. "And what is my size, Sanji ?"
The young man must have understood the big mistake he had made since he gaped at her, stepping back slowly.
"Tell me, please," she snarled, towering over him threateningly.
"Agabahhgaahhh..." Sanji sputtered, with fear in his eyes.
As he started running away, Eli chased him, smirking evilly. The thing was, she wasn't really mad at him, but Sanji was so much fun to mess with, she just couldn't let that go.
However, her funny chase was soon interrupted by the sound of a quite indecent low whistle. Eli stopped running and looked over her shoulder. Her questioning eyes fell on Ace checking her out outrageously. Eli sighed deeply, rolling her eyes in annoyance. He was once more mocking her and her lack of sex appeal. To her old friend, she must have had only looked about the same but ridiculously disguised in a provoking outfit totally unsuited for the boyish girl she was.
And he was right.
"I know that I look stupid, but come on... it's fun !" Eli grinned. "And did you see Nami and Vivi yet ?" She walked to him and turned his head toward Nami. "We've got to take pictures of them. I'm sure they would sell."
Ace looked kind of confused, diving in her eyes as if he wanted to read her mind.
Eli titled her head to the side. "Don't you think ?"
"Yup," he said half-heartedly, looking away.
The girl must have had misheard the lack of enthusiasm in his reply, since she started laughing childishly picturing Sanji as her first client for those sexy photos.
"AAH !" Vivi yelled in fear, jerking the pirates out of their occupations. The princess was pointing her hand in the direction of five ships sailing threateningly toward the Merry. "It's Baroque Works !"
The crew gathered on the ship's bow to watch their enemies. There were five big ships sporting the Baroque Works emblem on their sails. Quickly, Nami started yelling orders to get the ship to move, but while they obediently ran to their designated posts, Ace jumped off the railing and onto his raft, and he rushed toward the enemies' ships at full speed. Of course, the rest of the crew became intrigued and went to the railing to see what the young man had in mind.
"Get past us if you can, hammer boy !" the Baroque Works lackeys yelled scornfully.
The pirates gawked seeing Ace propelling himself high up in the air while sending his raft underwater. His legs turned into fire and he made a series of graceful somersaults in the air above the five ships.
The strawhats could hear the Baroque Works dogs yell. "Wah !" "He jumped !" "SHOOT HIM !" They were obviously as surprised as the pirates.
Eli's eyes were following the multiple and spectacular twists that Ace was executing in the air, leaving a trail of flames behind him. It was utterly mind-blowing...
Once he cleared the ships, Ace landed perfectly on a just-emerged Striker on the other side of them, performed a swift U-turn, and hurled his inflamed fist toward the belligerent fleet.
"FIRE FIST !"
His powerful attack engulfed the five ships in a raging inferno, destroying the fleet on the spot.
While the rest of the pirates acclaimed the proud young man for his spectacular performance, Eli was speechless, her gaze following the young man as he returned to the Merry proudly.
Do not cheer, don't even smile ! she ordered herself.
As Ace jumped on the deck, Eli went past him. "Showoff..." she muttered haughtily.
"Aw, come on..." Ace whined, a boyish smile on his freckled face while tipping the brim of his hat with his forefinger. "Admit it, it was pretty cool."
Eli huffed and walked away. I'd never admit that...
"Here, wear this," Vivi said, handing Luffy and Eli a pile of long cloaks.
"But it's hot," Luffy said, pouting slightly at the sight of the heavy clothing.
"We have to wear it because it's hot," Vivi explained. "The desert gets over 50° Celsius..."
Sanji is not going to like this... Eli thought, going though the pile of cloaks to choose one.
"We'll get badly sunburned if our skin is exposed," Nami added.
"WHAAAAAT ?" Sanji screamed, completely horrified. "You're going to wear those ?"
Ah, faster than I expected !
Eli had never been in a desert before. Her home country was really hot but the maximum temperature never reached 50° Celsius. Even then, she got easily sunburned. The girl chose a cream colored cloak with a blue border.
Since water was scarce in Alabasta, Eli decided to take one last shower before the long walk that lay ahead of her. She also picked more comfortable clothes: a blue sleeveless T-shirt and gray puffy shorts.
Singing loudly under the fresh water, the girl didn't hear the bathroom door opening.
"Erm..."
"GAAAH !" Eli screamed in surprise, almost tripping in the bathtub at the sudden disturbance of her relaxation time.
After regaining her balance, she quickly slipped her head behind the curtain to peer at the intruder.
"You know, with your horrible singing skills, you could probably make rain fall on Alabasta," Ace mocked.
"The door was locked..." Eli frowned at the young man. "Don't tell me you actually broke in just to annoy me."
"No it wasn't."
"Yes it was."
"No..." Ace demonstrated locking the door. "...it wasn't."
Eli's eyes widened hearing the alarming 'click'. "Okay... now... unlock the door... open it... step outside... and close it behind you," she detailed slowly, as if she was dealing with a dangerous bomb defusing operation.
Ace's eyes lit with malice while his famous roguish smile formed on his freckled face.
Oh please... Eli sighed.
The girl finished her shower at light speed. Thankfully, her clothes were within easy reach. She got dressed swiftly without wasting time drying herself, and opened the shower curtain briskly, frowning at the smirking young man.
Seeing her dripping wet, Ace burst out in laughter.
"Oh, you think that's funny ?" Eli sneered. She grabbed the shower head and splashed him with a powerful spray of cold water. "Take that, Flame Boy !"
"We made it !" Luffy yelled overjoyed, jumping off the Merry. "YUPA !"
"It's 'Yuba'," Eli corrected, joining her captain.
"Right, Yuba." Luffy put his hands on his hips and looked around. "So where's the leader ?"
"But we're not in Yuba yet, Luffy." Eli sighed at the impatient boy, fixing the hood of her cloak.
"That's right, we are in Erumalu, the green town." Vivi smiled, and explained once more their upcoming trip.
The pirates had just crossed the Sandora river and docked at Erumalu. They now had almost a day of walking through the desert ahead of them to reach a town called Ido where they would rest for the night. After that, they would have one more day of walking in the desert to reach, at last, Yuba.
How the princess managed to keep her cool after having to explain the travel plans for a third time to the dumb captain was a total mystery to Eli, but she concluded that patience was probably a quality required for being a good princess.
Despite of its name, Erumalu was far from green. Apparently, the town was ravaged by sandstorms, and all that was left were ruins heavily buried under the sand.
"What the hell is that turtle ?" Usopp yelled. The marksman was pointing at a small and cute creature that had just emerged from the river. It looked like a seal with a turtle shell.
"KUO !" the turtle-seal said, launching its tiny fist in the air.
"It's a Kung Fu Dugong ! Get away from it, Usopp !" Vivi warned, apparently scared for the long nosed pirate. "No Eli, don't touch it !" The princess yelled seeing the animal-lover appearing next to the dugong.
"Kuo kuoh kuooo kuo kuo kuooh, kuuo !" the dugong said, scowling at the two puzzled pirates.
"You must fight and defeat me if you want to pass, you wimps." Chopper translated.
"Ah ! Don't worry, Eli, I'll protect you !" Usopp boasted. Apparently, he saw the little and harmless creature as an opportunity to shine. "Here I come !" he yelled, rushing toward the little dugong.
It didn't take the animal more than five seconds to knock out the poor boy. Obviously proud of his utter victory, the dugong stood next to the unconscious marksman striking a triumphal pose.
"Kung fu dugongs are strong !" Vivi said, a little bit too late.
"I won !" Luffy said proudly, raising his arms in the air after defeating the animal even faster than the previous fight.
Uh oh... Eli's wide eyes blinked in awe as she saw a whole bunch of dugongs emerging from the water.
"Kuo." They all gathered around Luffy... and bowed respectfully before him.
Vivi explained to the pirates that kung fu dugongs were proud creatures, and their code stated that they had to become the disciples of anyone who defeated them, and in this case, that would be Luffy.
After a little interlude during which Luffy gave a fighting lesson to the eager students, a very cute scene that the ship's chronicler had to draw, the pirates waved the dugongs goodbye and walked away dragging Eli as she wanted to hug each and every one of those cute creatures.
And so, their perilous journey through the desert of Alabasta commenced...
to be continued
Betaed by Iwin Ulose.
Yes Eli has a low self esteem issue... But who wouldn't next to Nami and Vivi ?
(go to my profile if you want to see a little, and not so good illustration of Eli's Alabastan outfit)
Caru : done.
Saber-toothed cat : done.
Hiking Bears : done.
Chopper : done (multiple times).
Dugong : done.
What is the next creature Eli will hug ?
I was glad to have so many reviews after the last chapter, but I also felt that I didn't really derserve them snice I kinda had to ask for them...
I just wanted to remind you that we write not only for our own pleasure, I think I'm speaking for every writers when I say that knowing that you, readers, actually enjoy reading our story keeps us going.
Anyway thank you and see you soon :)