Authors' note:
Con: So, how will they wake up this time, I wonder...
Darth: I'm betting... he's removed her bra during the night and is wearing it as a hat...wait...did women wear bras back when Corsets were in fashion?
Con: No... she just had her bodice...
Darth: Huh, wish I'd known this before. Would have made writing this all that much sexier.
Con: Oh? 0.o
Darth: She hasn't been wearing a bra this entire time! That is sexy!
Con: Oh, you poor thing. *Said flatly* So, anyway, I guess we should let them read on and see what happens, hmm?
Darth: I guess. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my grilled cheese sammich.
Con: I see... Oh, and by the way, she's not wearing underwear either. :-D
Darth: They didn't have any underwear in the middle ages? Damn. I was born too late.
Con: *Snort* Go eat your sammich. On with the chapter!
Charmed
Chapter 11: She's Jealous
Nami woke up with a groan, moving her leg more up and around whatever it was on, but then she blinked when she felt something warm down the backside of her pants. Her eyes flew open and she turned to see Luffy's hand down her pants, even though they were tight. However, the way she'd been laying, a small pocket had formed for him to slide his hand down it.
Screaming in angry rage, she slid down his body, seeing as his arms were wrapped around her too, but that only succeeded in untying the lace holding her leather bodice together as she managed to get out, which made her scream again as her breasts pushed the bodice aside, but she quickly grabbed it to close it. A few men snorted out of sleep and exited their tents quickly, thinking it was an ambush, their swords drawn. Even Zoro had quickly woken up, his swords drawn instantly. Robin rolled over and opened her eyes at the scream. She smiled, and sat up, stretching.
"Huh? Wha?" Luffy's eyes blinked open, just in time to catch a glimpse of Nami pulling her bodice closed. "Whazza?"
"What's going on! Who screamed! Is the princess safe!"
"Luffy, you idiot!" Nami screamed from within her tent. "How the hell do we keep waking up like that! Damn it! It was your fault this time!"
"She's probably fine," Robin said, climbing out of her tent. "This is normal."
"My fault?" Luffy yelled back. "How is this my fault? I wake up and you're closing your top. The hell were you doing while I was asleep?"
"Probably?" The men asked, but blinked to the mention of her top being opened and little trickles of blood dribbled from their noses.
However, Zoro just frowned, slowly putting his swords away, and still very much confused. "What the hell?"
"You had your hand down my pants, you perverted asshole!" Nami yelled back, the tent shaking up a bit as she quickly turned around to retie her bodice. "I was trying to get away from you!"
More blood trickled a bit to the mention of his hand down her pants. "This has nothing to do with the princess," Robin said. "But I can't say for certain what her condition is, not having seen her yet today."
"Down those pants?" Luffy pointed at the tight garments. "At least come up with a more believable story!"
"It was!" she yelled over her shoulder, just finishing up the tie before turning back to him. "Look!" she said, laying over him a bit again, unconsciously remembering he didn't fall asleep right away after waking up, and then she turned around and pointed. "See? There's a small pocket there, and you had your hand right down it!"
The men sucked up the blood that wanted to flow. What the hell were they doing in there?
"Uh-huh..." he swallowed at the soft weight of her body on him, and the excellent view he had down her top.
"What do you mean, uh huh!" she yelled, turning back to look at him before scowling. "You pervert! What're you doing looking down my bodice! I'm trying to show you the small pocket down my pants!" Though... was that any different?
"Umm... yeah... that's also nice," he said after glancing down her pants, getting a bit of a view of her bare cheek. Oh geez, she wasn't wearing underwear! His mouth dried out completely.
"Also nice! I wasn't trying to give you good views, asshole!" she said, slamming her fist into his chest. "Mmmoh!" she exclaimed, the flustered girl exiting the tent in an enraged huff and ignoring all the stares and nosebleeds as she stormed off.
"What? You're the one that lay back down on top of me!" he yelled after her, climbing out of the tent. He noticed the stares and nosebleeds. "What're you looking at!" He glared at the other men.
They shook their heads and quickly turned away, wiping the blood away. If they had to go through that with a woman that looked like her doing that to them, but then not get any action... they just might be angry too...
"Stupid idiot! Hate him so much!" she hissed angrily, another quiet rumble of thunder sounding in the distance. "Damn it!"
Luffy sat down heavily in front of the fire pit, tossing logs into it and snapping his fingers. A large sheet of flame shot up from the pit, lighting the wood instantly. Luffy jumped back, surprised. His fire had never been that powerful before. At best it was usually barely better than having a match, or flint. "Whoa!" All the men blinked over at Luffy before snickering. After all, emotion had a lot to do with magic abilities.
After walking some distance, Nami looked over her shoulder and bit her lip. Walking into the forest a bit, she found a nice little wooded enclosure and walked behind it, stripping quickly, she brought up her fingers and whispered her incantation and pointed up. The little rain cloud appeared, pouring water over her, causing her to gasp, "Ah, cold!"
Luffy squinted up into the clouds, and then held out his hand as two birds fell down dead into it. He started prepping the birds for cooking. He looked over at Robin. "Do you want one?"
"No," she shook her head, "I'll be fine with fruit."
Sighing deeply after getting used to the water, Nami ran her hands through her wet hair, letting the cold liquid soak her bare body, and then she ran her hands down it to clean it off a bit. Once he'd finished cleaning the birds and had them roasting, he looked up where Nami had disappeared off to. He decided to go make sure she was okay. Pulling her hair to her front, she washed it off better, and then ran her hands over her face to wash that off too. Then she ran her hands over her body one more time to make sure she was clean.
Luffy walked past the trees, and then stopped when he heard movement off to the side. He glanced over, and his eyes widened. Nami's eyes were closed and her head was tilted up to the water, still completely unclothed as the water ran over her. After a moment, she sighed and opened her eyes before reaching up and dispersing the cloud. Then she grabbed her hair to ring out the water, her body still drenched with it.
Luffy gasped and hid behind a tree. He clamped his hands over his mouth and desperately tried to remember the invisibility spell. He knew she was beautiful, but had no idea how much seeing her naked would have affected him. Thinking she heard a noise, she quickly turned her head towards it and backed up a bit with a deep frown. "Who's there?" she asked before quickly grabbing for her clothes to put on.
Invisibility spell, invisibility spell, why the hell couldn't he remember it?
Pulling her clothes on quickly, she then walked over to where she'd heard the sound, bringing her fingers up just in case, her brows dipping down further. Luffy froze when he heard her approaching. His only hope now was that she passed him by.
He was not so lucky as she froze, staring right back at him, her face slowly brightening in color before getting extremely angry, her head lowering slowly. Luf-fy!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, causing a large group of birds to squawk and flew away as a large group of storm clouds began to form and wind began to blow.
"Eh?" A few of the man questioned and blinked before looking at the ominous clouds forming ahead, and the thunder much louder and lightning much brighter as it flashed.
"Sorry-sorry-sorry," he yelped. "I just wanted to tell you breakfast was almost ready. I didn't know you were... naked... Sorry-sorry-sorry." He backed up, waving his hands in front of him.
She slowly began to bare her teeth at him and yelled, "Get out of here!" And a crack of lightning struck some distance behind her.
"Yes ma'am!" He turned around and ran away from the irate woman.
At the loud sound of the lightning cracking and the woman yelling once more, the men all shuddered, hoping the young man had survived. After Luffy had ran away, she forced herself to relax, taking deep breaths until finally the clouds went away, but she didn't go back to the camp just yet.
Once Luffy had made it to the safety of the camp, he bent over and rested his hands on his knees, panting. "Oooh, you made it out alive!" One of the men exclaimed with a grin.
"What'd ya do? Walk up on her naked?" They all laughed at that one, though the man had been joking.
"Yeah," Luffy gasped. "Umm... no… no, I didn't..." Perky… They blinked at him. Well, which one was it? Yes or no?
After awhile, Nami finally made her way back to the camp, though she couldn't quite shake her irritation, and so the lighter grey clouds still remained. Luffy checked the birds, they were almost done. When he looked up and saw Nami coming, he quickly turned back to the birds. Spotting him, she fumed, her cheeks puffing out a bit and the clouds darkening slightly, but she just huffed loudly, her chin turning up quickly as she went to sit by Robin instead of by the fire.
"What happened?" Robin looked up at Nami, offering her an apple.
Plopping down, she took the apple and bit into it roughly. "Asshole came up on my while I was bathing," she grumbled only loud enough for the woman to hear.
"Oh," Robin's eyes widened. "Did he...?"
She sighed deeply then. "I don't think he meant to though... I guess-I mean, he didn't know... or anything," she said, flushing a bit at being honest. "But still...! Who knows how long he'd been watching before I heard something!"
Robin glanced over at Luffy who was keeping his head down, examining the birds. "From the way he's acting, I doubt for very long. He seems quite embarrassed."
Looking over at Luffy, Nami pursed her lips, but her cheeks flushed more. "Hmph!"
"Here," Luffy said, offering Nami one of the birds on a plate, the best one. He refused to look at Nami, his face painted by a deep flush.
Looking up at him, her lips stuck out further, but she took the plate, huffing again and turning away from him.
Luffy sat down with the other bird and started eating. He occasionally glanced up at Nami. He wondered what her body would feel like pressed against his naked. He shook his head. Bad train of thought, very bad train of thought.
Nami pursed her lips further, watching as he shook his head. What was he trying to do? Shake her image from his head! She thought, her cheeks puffing out and reddening, 'Asshole!'
Once he'd finished eating, he set the plate on the ground, throwing the bones into the fire. After she finished eating as well, she went up to him and held her hand out. "Give me your plate," she said in a voice, filled with irritation. Luffy handed her his plate. He glanced at her irritated face, and looked away, a blush on his face. Nami's own joined his flush as she took it from him and walked away to wash them.
Soon afterwards, the order to break camp was given and they made their way packing away. Nami gathered her things up before going over to Robin, waiting for Luffy. After packing up the tent, Luffy gathered up his gear and headed over to Nami and Robin.
"Looks like things are easy so far. I wonder if we'll run into some trouble today," Nami muttered with a frown.
"Perhaps, we can only hope that we don't, however," Robin replied as she looked over the camp and people.
"Mmm..." Nami replied as she went to her waiting horse. Tying her bag down, she then mounted it, a few men watching her as she did with a sigh before waiting for Robin, the other beautiful woman to do the same.
Luffy whistled and Merry trotted over. He climbed onto the horse, almost reaching down to help Nami up, when he remembered that she had her own horse now. Watching the group of three, the princess smiled, thinking they were very interesting indeed. Though, the mage, himself, was quite cute. Her cheeks flushed a bit as a hand came up to her cheek, feeling flustered. She urged her horse forward, though her bodyguards didn't seem too happy.
"Hmph," Luffy sighed. "I hope something exciting happens. It's boring just riding around."
"Of course you'd think that. You're an idiot," Nami said over at him irritated.
Vivi giggled, seeing that the young mage was brave, which made her cheeks flush a bit more. "Eh?" Nami blinked to the giggle, seeing a beautiful, blue haired girl sitting atop a horse. "Ah ...?"
Luffy looked up at the same time Nami did, having also heard the giggle. The beautiful, blue haired girl he saw was watching them, and he had to admit, she was very close to Nami in terms of beauty... not that he cared really.
"So, you're one of the mages that was hired?" the girl asked, smiling at him while tilting her head.
Nami felt something sting through her as the girl spoke to Luffy, her brow twitching a bit as she suddenly felt herself getting upset, but she stamped it down and just watched.
"Oh? Uh... yeah," he cleared his throat. "Yeah I am. You are...?"
She closed her eyes into her smile, urging her horse forward and holding out her hand to him. "I am Vivi."
Nami's back went rigid, and quite possibly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Wait, Vivi? Wasn't that the name of the princess? So, this girl was the princess?
Something about the name stirred Luffy's memory. "The Princess...?" he asked, shaking her hand instead of kissing it.
Vivi giggled as her eyes softened and said, "Yes, that's right."
Nami's brow twitched a bit again before she huffed and spurred her horse on. She didn't care what the idiot did, and even so, a small rumble of thunder sounded overhead, and the men all thought, 'Uh oh ...'
"Oh…" He hesitated. What were you supposed to say to a princess? "So... how do you do?" He heard the thunder overhead and glanced ahead him at Nami, who was riding away. What was she mad about?
Hearing the thunder as well, Vivi looked over head and frowned. "It's going to rain?"
"Oh, no..." He chuckled. "I doubt it."
She looked back down at him and asked, "Oh, really?" And then she smiled before turning to Robin as well, not to seem as if she went out of her way to speak to Luffy, though everyone knew that was the reason. "Hello, are you another mage that was hired. It's a pleasure to meet you-Oh! Wh-Where did the other woman go?" she asked, looking around, not evening having noticed Nami had ridden away.
"Oh, she had something to do," Robin said, inclining her head to the princess.
"Oh, I see." Vivi blinked blankly, touching a finger to her cheek before just smiling and turning back to Luffy. "You don't mind if I ride with you, do you?"
"Of course not," Luffy said, blinking. This was the first time a girl had been this nice to him. Well, he'd known girls before, and most of them were nice, but there was something different about the way the princess was being nice.
Nami glared at him, wanting to tear him apart for some unknown reason before facing forward again with a snort. "Asshole..."
"Thank you," Vivi said, riding up next to him as the troupe headed out, her bodyguards not too far behind her.
For a while Luffy didn't say anything as they rode. He really didn't know what to say to a princess. That and for some reason, he felt like he could sense Nami's bad mood, and it was making him nervous trying to figure out what he'd done this time.
"Ah, you never told me your name," Vivi said with a giggle.
"Oh, it's Luffy," he said. "Monkey D. Luffy."
"Luffy. What a nice name," she said, smiling brightly at him. Another rumble disturbed the sky.
"Thank you," Luffy glanced over at Nami. The hell was her problem?
Looking up at the sky, Vivi frowned again and said, "I really hope it doesn't rain..."
Zoro watched after them carefully. The orange haired woman was definitely jealous. So, why did she claim to hate the scrawny mage?
"Well... I hope it doesn't rain either." Luffy frowned at Nami again.
Robin rolled her eyes. So obvious, and so immature, yet, kind of cute.
Nami turned her glare on Luffy, her cheeks puffed out before she smirked and her eyes sparkled as lightning crackled across the sky brightly. Luffy frowned nervously at the sky. Then he glared back at Nami. Now what was she doing?
"Oh!" Vivi cried, her horse getting a bit nervous, though from Nami's evil aura or from the loud lightning, who could tell ...?
"S'cuse me a sec princess," Luffy muttered and urged his horse towards Nami. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked her, keeping distance between him and her, wary of her evil aura.
She refused to look at him, keeping her chin lifted and her eyes closed. "I dunno what you're talking about."
Vivi blinked after him, but then frowned softly. Was that woman anything to him?
"Then what's with all the lightning and thunder?" Luffy frowned, still incredibly nervous.
"Lightning and thunder? What're you talking about? The skies are clear as day~!" she said with a smile on her face.
Vivi blinked. Somehow the dark clouds had disappeared. Luffy scoffed and said, "Yeah right, you did that just now."
"I have nooo idea what you're talking about, Luffy~!" she said sweetly, her eyes closed and a smile still on her face. "Why don't you go back to your little princess now? She did ask to ride with you." She snorted, "Though, I have no idea why. You're just a scrawny idiot."
He remembered something Ace had told him about an ex-girlfriend. "Are you jealous? Is that why you're so mad?"
"Jealous!" she shrieked, looking appalled, disgusted and upset, but then she scoffed and her lips curved up with amusement, though her brows were dipped. "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" she said before laughing and urging her horse forward. "Dream on, you scrawny idiot!"
"She's jealous..." all the men muttered under their breath to themselves, and Zoro snorted loudly.
Luffy rolled his eyes, and reined Merry back till the princess had caught up again. Nami really was a weird girl. But he thought he was starting to get the hang of her moods... or, at least he thought so. "Um... is she... all right?" Vivi asked, frowning softly.
"I... don't know," Luffy shrugged. "She can be... weird sometimes."
"Oh, I see," Vivi replied with a nervous smile.
"Don't worry about her. She'll be all right," he replied with a shrug.
"All right then," Vivi said with a brighter smile already.
xxxx
When they came to the next town, Igaram had Pell take a small group of the men to check for any danger to their princess. Nami was still in a pissy mood, though she managed to keep the storm clouds at bay. However, her horse paced nervously to her agitation.
Luffy glanced over at Nami and sighed. Wouldn't she be happier if he wasn't around her? If he was around someone else, he wouldn't be bothering her, so why was she being so pissy?
Vivi frowned at Luffy, who kept watching after the woman a lot from what she'd noticed. After all, she'd been watching him the entire time. So, was this woman really something to him? Though, they didn't seem like they had any kinda of relationship.
When Pell returned, he reported that there was no suspicious activity, and that he had men stationed at the local inn, with rooms reserved for the princess and the guards. Igaram had the convoy move on into the village. Sighing and glad they would finally be staying in a bed and a hot bath waiting, Nami urged her horse forward.
Once they made their way into the village, and then the inn, dinner arrangements were made. "This way please, Princess," Igaram said. "You can freshen up from the journey before dinner."
"Ah, thank you," Vivi said before turning to Luffy with a smile. "Thank you, Luffy, for allowing me to accompany you on our journey here."
"Oh, no problem, glad I could help," Luffy said. Though, he wasn't really sure what he'd done to help.
She giggled softly with a knuckle to her lips before dismounting and going inside. "See you later," she called over her shoulder.
Nami's brow twitched and then furrowed deeper to the giggle. Was she trying to get his attention or something? The idiot was probably too stupid to notice.
What was that girl interested about in him anyways?
"Sure," Luffy felt himself smiling. She really was very nice, much better company than Nami was ever. Though, he had to admit, there was something about Nami, perhaps a fire he could call it, that Vivi didn't seem to have. Nami wanted to rip his balls off and feed them to him.
"Seriously," he said, walking over to Nami, "what're you so angry about?"
Nami snorted, turning away from him, "I don't know what you're talking about. What're you so worried about it for anyways? You were probably glad to be with her anyways, right? Since I'm always so angry all the time-Well, good for you! You should be leaving me alone and fawning over your princess instead!" she said as she walked off.
"You're angry when I'm around you, you're angry when I'm not around you and with someone else instead," he said, following her. "You're not making very much sense."
"I'm angry because it all has to do with you!" she said, whirling around on him and jabbing a finger into his chest. "You make me angry! Don't you get it! I," she jabbed her finger into his chest, and again to each word she spoke after, "can't ... stand ... you! Or are you too much of a fucking moron to realize that! Do I have to tell you bluntly, huh! Well I just did! You ... are ... a ... fucking ... idiot!" she said, jabbing him again to each word before walking away towards the exit. "Now stop bothering me!"
"But if you can't stand me, then why the hell did you get so mad when I wasn't bothering you?" he said, but didn't follow after her. Crazy woman.
"Because being angry with you all the time makes me feel better!" she yelled over her shoulder.
His eyebrow twitched, his aura started creeping out from him again, lightly shaking the furniture in the main hall of the inn. "That's bullshit," he yelled after her. "Being angry doesn't make anyone feel better."
"Oi ...!" A few of the guards looked over at Luffy, his aura a color they didn't wanna mess with, and so they all scurried to the other side of the room.
Zoro's brow lifted up heavily to the young mage. So, he could get his feathers ruffled as well, and it wasn't just the woman. Luffy sighed and tried to calm down. His aura disappeared, and he closed his eyes. He was going to have to find some way to work off this frustration. Otherwise, he was going to end up doing something he regretted.
There was suddenly a scream and a crash from upstairs, the scream sounding like the princess. Then loud stomps as people ran around upstairs, and just then, more men rushed inside, one back handing Nami across the face, who had been heading out. "Aah!" she cried, flying back and crashing into a chair before hitting the floor hard, a droplet of blood gliding down her chin from her mouth.
Luffy's head spun around at Nami's cry. He turned just in time to see her hit the chair, the man who'd struck her still had his arm outstretched. A heavy pressure filled the room, at the center of it Luffy, a bright blue aura surrounding him with his eyes shining a bright blue. The chairs and tables, all vibrating heavily, lifted into the air, as Luffy lifted his arms. Pointing his arms at the man, who'd attacked Nami, he released all the furniture. A heavy wave of splintering wood hit the man, and those around him, blasting a hole into the side of the inn.
Gasping and crying out, Nami covered her head and everyone hit the floor all crying out in confusion. Once the noise died down, they all turned to gape at Luffy. Gaping at the hole in the side of the inn, Nami then turned wide eyes to Luffy. The blue aura around him and the blue glow to his eyes hadn't dissipated yet. Had he done that because of her? Her cheeks pinkened before she got up and straightened out her clothes, but just then, the men Luffy'd blown away came rushing back inside. Gasping, she quickly ran back towards Luffy, where, unfortunately, she knew it was safe.
Luffy held out his outstretched hands in front of him. He muttered words he would barely remember later. Pinpoints of blue light flickered into existence in front of him, growing larger and connecting. As its intensity grew, the light became blinding, before a large wide blast of blue energy took out what was left of the wall. Gasping loudly, Nami gaped wide eyed at the destructive power, the men screaming as they fazed out of existence, or so it seemed, the light was so blinding.
Lowering his hands, the light died down, as well as the aura, which flared out of existence. There was no sign of the attackers. Luffy turned to Nami and asked, "Are you all right?"
Her cheeks flared as she shifted her eyes away while clearing her throat. "I-I'm fine!" she said, grabbing her braid and clutching it to her, the guards all chuckling at her, which made her purse her lips at them angrily, but the blush spread.
Frowning deeply, he reached out to clutch her chin, running his thumb over the blood there. Nami's blush deepened further as her eyes widened, just staring up at him in stunned shock. However, a memory caught his attention as the rage faded. "The Princess!" he gasped.
Nami's brow twitched a bit. How quickly it changed... Wait... What the hell was she thinking? Her eyes narrowed. "Right," she muttered under her breath.
All the guards seemed to remember as well and ran up the stairs, where Zoro was already fighting. Luffy stretched his arms, pulling himself over the people rushing up the stairs. Bouncing off the ceiling, he leapt over the attackers' heads, and ran to Vivi's room. There were already a few men inside, and a really big man with his arm around Vivi. He had a scar going all the way across his face and a cigar in his mouth, and he was also laughing very unpleasantly.
"Let go of me!" Vivi cried, struggling in his arms.
"Hey!" Luffy yelled, blasting his fist at the scarred man holding Vivi.
He laughed harder before leaping back and out of the window he'd been standing in front of. "Luffy!" Vivi cried as she reached out towards him.
"Hey!" Luffy rushed after the man.
Robin made her way past the men rushing up the stairs, where she found Zoro fighting off their attackers. Zoro held two swords in his hands and one in his mouth as he pushed the enemies back, cutting up a few.
There were horses waiting below where Croc hefted Vivi over one before mounting and taking off. "Get back here!" Luffy yelled, jumping out the window, to follow the kidnappers.
"Clutch," Robin called. Arms appeared on all the men, holding them off. She clenched her fists and there were several popping noises. The men all dropped. Blinking, Zoro stared down at the men before looking over at Robin... Impressive...
Looking behind his shoulder, the large man grinned widely before spurring his horse on. Going to the doorway, Nami blinked when she saw that Luffy was no longer in the room and then rushed downstairs, seeing him there. "Luffy!"
"Let's hurry," Robin said, rushing ahead of the other men to Vivi's room.
Luffy brought his fingers to his lips and whistled. Merry, came galloping out of the stables, and Luffy leapt onto him before the horse could make a full stop. "Oi! Wait for me!" Nami said with a frown as she ran up to him and Merry.
Luffy held his arm out to her. Without thinking about it, she grabbed his hand and climbed on behind him, careful not to let her breasts touch him. "Let's go!" Luffy kicked his heels into Merry, and Merry sped off after the retreating man, trying to catch up to the kidnappers.
By then Robin had made her way back down to the ground floor, in time to see Luffy and Nami take off after the kidnappers.
Zoro came out after her, looked towards Luffy and Nami before going for a horse and mounting it, but he stopped in front of Robin, holding out a hand to her. "Come on!" Robin grabbed Zoro's hand, climbing on behind him. Zoro took off after Luffy's horse as soon as her rear touched the saddled.
Luffy sped up Merry, but even still, the enemy still seemed to be getting away. Nami looked out ahead of him, finally seeing the dust from the enemy's horse. "There!" she cried while pointing.
Luffy looked where Nami was pointing and sped Merry up. "Come on Merry," he urged his horse. "Catch up to them!"
Robin held onto Zoro, but then she pointed at the dust cloud that was the kidnappers. "There."
The large man looked over his shoulder again with a scowl, seeing that they were catching up. Seeing them as well, Vivi took a deep breath and cried, "Luffy!"
Nami almost fell off of Merry.
One of the kidnappers broke off from the group, and wheeled around, heading for Luffy and Nami.
Gasping, Nami clutched at Luffy's arm a bit, watching as the man headed right for them. Urging his horse forward, Zoro pulled out one of his swords, ready to attack. The man rushed at Luffy and Nami, hands outstretched, curved fingers forming claw like blades. Luffy's eyes widened, recognizing the spell he'd only recently learned. He prepared to use the same spell, but remembered that Nami was behind him. If he used the spell now, she might get hurt.
"Stop the horse and let me off, quick!" she yelled at him, knowing she needed to be away from him.
Luffy reined in his horse, and Nami quickly jumped off and yelled, "Go!"
Luffy urged Merry forward and cast the spell just as the man was upon him. His bladed hands caught the other man's fingers, but the man, much larger than himself, threw Luffy off his horse. Luffy flew through the air and landed on his back. He pushed himself up and winced. Shallow cuts covered his palms and arms.
Gasping, Nami gaped at him wide eyed. "Luffy!" she cried out, feeling a bit of panic.
Zoro pulled on the reins, his horse skidding to a stop, and then he helped Robin down before dismounting and holding out his blade and running his hand over it while muttering an incantation. The blade shone brightly before swiping it to the side and a large dragon roared as it was sent flying from the blade, hitting the dark skinned man. The dark skinned man flew back several feet, but once the attack had dissipated, the man was standing there, arms crossed, relatively unharmed.
Robin climbed back on the horse. "Can you handle him?" she called to Zoro.
"Shouldn't be too hard," Zoro muttered, removing his other two swords.
Nami backed away quickly, wanting none of that before looking at Luffy and said, "We should go after the princess!"
"Right." Luffy climbed onto Merry, helping Nami up. "Yah!" he yelled, urging Merry after the kidnappers. Robin had already mounted and was in pursuit.
Zoro smirked at the man and said, "Looks like it's just you 'n me ..."
"For now," the man said. "Soon it will only be me."
Zoro's smirk widened. "We'll see," he said before surging forward and muttering another incantation.
The large man held his hands out forming a semblance of a spider with them, as he chanted a deep continuous incantation.
Nami got as comfortable as possible and frowned ahead. "He really got ahead of us! I hope we can still find him!"
"We'll find him," Luffy said, determination etched on his face.
Nami frowned a bit, looking up at him before looking forward again. Had he been this determined when she'd been taken? ... Why was she asking herself that?
With a burst of speed no natural horse could match, Merry started catching up to their enemy.
"What the ...!" The scarred man muttered, looking to see them catching up again. He could see this wasn't going so well. Picking up the girl, he tossed her to another goon riding beside him, causing her to scream. "Watch her..."
"Yes, sir, Sir Crocodile!" The man said, holding Vivi down.
"We've almost got them!" Luffy urged Merry forward, when he noticed the scarred man slowing down, after handing Vivi to another Goon.
After Croc had slowed down enough, he then turned his horse around with a smirk on his face. "Not bad," he called, and his goons stopped and turned some distance away to wait for their boss.
Luffy slowed his horse down, not far away from the kidnappers. "Who are you?" he yelled. "Hand over the princess or we'll kick your ass!"
Robin caught up to them, slowing down her horse to match with Luffy's. Crocodile threw back his head and bellowed in laughter. "Hand her over? No, I don't think so."
"Get off the horse," Luffy muttered to Nami.
"Right," Nami said, dismounting quickly and stepping away, which caused Croc's eyes to shift to her.
Luffy dismounted as well and stretched his arm, punching at the scarred man's face, but his fist went right through him, and where he had punched, turned into sand. The man never lost his smug smirk.
Luffy gasped and pulled back his hand. "What the hell is this?"
The sand formed back into Croc's face and his smirk widened as he began to laugh. "You can't hit me."
"Oh yeah?" Luffy whipped his leg at the man.
His body looked to be cut in half, which turned to sand where Luffy's leg had contacted, and the man only laughed harder.
Robin crossed her arms, and arms began sprouting over the man, attempting to hold him down, but wherever her hands reached for only turned to sand. Robin gasped and frowned as she uncrossed her arms. There was nothing more she could really do.
Luffy started powering up, igniting his aura and gathering energy to fire it at the man. Croc's smirk managed to widen into a malicious grin as he suddenly disappeared, turning into a cloud of sand, which rushed straight at Luffy. He appeared as a man again, right in front of him and slammed his fist into Luffy's face.
"Luffy!" Nami cried after gasping loudly to the unexpected attack.
The force that ripped through Luffy's head was unlike anything he'd ever felt, and so, he blacked out. Laughing loudly, Croc reverted back to sand before going back and reforming over his horse. He pulled at the reins and turned to his men. "Let's go!" he said, the others following him.
"Luffy!" Vivi cried as they rode away.
"Luffy!" Nami cried, running over to him and rolling him onto his back. "Luffy ... Luffy, are you all right! Luffy!" she cried again, giving him a shake and looking rather fearful.
Luffy was barely conscious. "N...mi..." he muttered, before passing out. Robin ran over to Luffy as well, noticing Nami's frantic expression and behavior.
"Oi, Luffy!" Nami cried, leaning down to press her ear to his chest before releasing her pent up breath. "You jerk!" she cried, sitting up again. "Come on! Wake up, or the bad guy gets away with your princess!" she said, though her voice sounded a little bitter. "Wake up!" she said, slapping his cheek, but Luffy was still out cold.
Robin cocked her brow at Nami calling Vivi 'his princess'. "Oi!" she cried, slapping him again. "Wake up!" Luffy groaned and started to stir. "Oi!" She slapped him again for good measure. "Wake up, stupid! They're getting away!"
"Urgh..." Luffy's eyes fluttered opened.
"Wake... up!" she said, giving him a shake to each word. "They... are... getting... away... with... your... princess!"
"S'not... my... princess..." he groaned. "S... job..."
She sucked in her breath a bit, but then snorted, stood up, grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "Then let's hurry up and finish the job!"
"Yeah..yeah..." he shakily stood up. "Whoa... where's the mountain that hit me?"
"That way with the 'job'!" she said before whistling out loudly for Merry, who was off somewhere. They had no time for messing around. Merry quickly trotted up to them.
"Come on! Get on!" she said, shoving Luffy over to Merry. "Good boy," she said, petting Merry's nose briefly.
Luffy tried to hold himself onto Merry, and slowly, he was regaining his bearings.
Nami pulled herself up, and gave Merry a soft smack on his rear. "Go, Merry!" Robin mounted and followed after Luffy and Nami.
Luffy straightened, gaining control of the horse. "Damn," he muttered. "I've never felt anyone hit that hard."
"Well, you're about to feel it again if we fail this job, asshole!" Nami yelled, turning to frown up at him deeply, though he couldn't see it.
"Why don't you try getting hit by him?" he muttered and hurried Merry on.
"What'd you say!" she yelled, smacking him on the back, somehow unconsciously considering not to hit his head since it might be hurting.
"Oww..." he muttered. He dug his heels into Merry, who sped up, and soon, the kidnappers were in view again.
"Quit complaining!" she yelled before looking ahead to their enemy. When Croc turned, his eyes flickered surprise that they were still pursuing him and so slowed down once again.
When they were approaching, Luffy stood up on Merry and jumped off, right at the kidnapper. In midair he used the body blade spell. Nami gasped loudly, quickly grabbed a hold of Merry's reins before looking up to gape at Luffy. Croc scowled up at Luffy, but Luffy went right through Croc. However, his weight startled the horse, causing it to scream and flip forward.
Luffy rolled when he hit the ground, twisting around and stretching his bladed fist at the hook, that he was sure couldn't turn into sand.
Croc lifted it up to block, the blade cutting through it about half way. His scowl deepened as he stared Luffy down before shoving the hook at him and pulling it away to push him away.
Nami pulled back on Merry's reins to back away from the fight and said, "Back, boy." Merry did as she bid, taking steps back away from the fight with a snort to keep her safe.
Luffy stretched his leg, making the foot heavier, and smashed it against the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust and debris. Narrowing his eyes at Luffy, Croc backed away from the debris. Using the chance when he was hidden by the debris, Luffy powered up his energy attack. Croc appeared before him, the sand turning into his body and he grabbed his arm, and within seconds, all the water was drained from it.
What was going on? With all the debris, Nami couldn't see a thing. She frowned deeply in some concern.
Luffy screamed when he saw his mummified arm.
Gasping, Nami quickly jolted forward, but Merry didn't seem to want to budge, and she cried, "Luffy!"
Merry shifted nervously, wanting to help his master, but also wanting to keep Nami safe. Luffy screamed again, trying to pull his arm from the man's grip. Croc let go, his smirk smug and wide.
"Luffy!" Nami cried again before looking down at Merry. "Merry, go!" she cried frantically, wanting to get to Luffy.
Gasping, Luffy collapsed when the man let go. He pushed himself up, his dried out arm hanging limply by his side, and so, he punched at the man with his other arm. Merry did as Nami said, and burst through the debris. Croc grabbed his other arm and grabbed his throat with his free hand, lifting him up into the air. "Can't you see that it's useless? You can't defeat me."
The debris was still everywhere, and Nami couldn't see a thing. "Luffy, where are you!"
"The hell I can't," Luffy gasped, his breath cut off by the man's hand.
Croc laughed again, his laugh taunting and haughty. "You can't do a thing against me. Look... your other arm is useless," he said, lifting up Luffy's other mummified arm, "and soon... you will be too," he said, beginning to suck all the water from within his body.
"Luffy! Luffy!" Nami cried, looking around for him, and finally two figures came into view through the debris. "Merry there!" she said, pointing ahead to the horse and Merry bolted in the direction Nami pointed.
Luffy gasped as the water was sucked from him. He felt himself shrivel up and his consciousness fade.
Bursting into a victorious laugh, Croc then let Luffy drop down to the ground before stepping over him and walking off. Gasping when she saw Luffy drop and Croc walk off through the curtain of dust, she then pulled Merry to a stop and climbed off quickly to run towards Luffy, the dust finally settling.
"Luffy!" she cried, but then froze on the spot, her hands flying to her mouth and her eyes widening. She stood there still in shock at what she saw, not being able to move at all.
Luffy was unconscious, and completely mummified. Robin, ridding a normal horse, caught up just as the debris was settling and the kidnapper was leaving. She gasped when she saw Luffy's condition.
After awhile, Nami's body began to move, her head lowering and her knees slowly buckling as she lowered to the ground. It seemed to take an eternity before her knees finally touched the ground, and she stared down at his mummified body. There was no way anyone could survive that... not even the stubborn idiot.
A soft rumble disturbed the sky above and not even a minute later, a droplet landed onto Luffy's cheek and rolled down as more droplets slowly followed, and soon the skies opened up, releasing a downpour of soft rain, hiding the warm droplets gliding down her face with the rest of the soft rain.
"Luffy…"
To Be Continued…
Authors' Note:
Con: Maaw... How sad... ;~; It rains when she's sad...
Darth: Wow. Cheesy. That was your contribution to this project, not mine.
Con: *Punches* You thought it was an awesome idea when I brought it up!
Darth: Underhanded-no-Jutsu!
Con: *Punches again and flattens him* Uh huh... Don't give me that.
Darth: Sexy-no-Jutsu!
Con: Wait, what! DX *Steps on chest* That's just not right, man!
Darth: Hehehehehehe!
Con: -_- Anyways, until next time...
Darth: Boobies
Con: Your face