Finally! Sorry its been taking so long to update this story, it just really seems to hate me lately.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Warnings: Mild Language.
Enjoy!
Sanji attempted to serve lunch while we all sat in the kitchen, although no one was very hungry and only ate to avoid irritating the injured cook.
Several of the crew members had already tried to convince him to go to the medical room but he had waved them away, insisting to the women that their own personal knight could never be brought down so easily and telling the men to either keep quiet or be kicked in the teeth.
His efforts to remain in his domain turned out to be all for nothing however, as Chopper stormed in an hour after lunch and threatened him with a syringe of tranquilizing liquid if he didn't follow the doctor to the medical room immediately.
I snorted in amusement and Chopper, now back in his smaller form, turned a hoof on me in a manner that would have been threatening if the little reindeer weren't so damn adorable.
"You're next, Renna," he warned. "I still need to make sure none of those cuts of yours will be infected, especially since your body isn't used to the climates of the Grand Line."
I knew from the professional tone of his voice that I wouldn't win any arguments and simply sighed in defeat. "You're the doctor," I shrugged.
For some reason my cooperation seemed to calm Sanji's annoyance and he followed Chopper out of the kitchen, grumbling a little more quietly than he had been before. Maybe he just didn't feel like he was being singled out anymore, I thought, although I had a little trouble believing something like that would ever bother Black Leg Sanji to begin with. More than likely, he had just decided to demonstrate his valor in a slightly different way than he had originally planned.
I watched in mild amusement as the door closed behind the two, then looked over when Nami reached across Franky's huge arm to tap me on the wrist.
"You sure you're alright?" she asked. "I mean, I know you're not used to fighting and you're not nearly as strong as the rest of us, so…" She trailed off, giving me a half-apologetic look.
I smiled to let her know that I wasn't offended and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Scared the hell out of me but I'm not hurt. Not really."
"I suppose the swordsman is to thank for that," Robin mused from across the table.
"He hasn't changed much," Syla added quietly. She gave a wry smile when I turned to look at where she sat very still next to me.
"You've said that before," I noted. "What do you mean?"
"He is what he is," Syla shrugged as she swirled the remainder of her drink in the tall glass. "No more, no less."
"A grumpy pain in the ass?" I suggested in a falsely light tone.
Ussop and Franky snorted into their drinks as Nami grinned and Robin smiled in that polite way of hers. Brook 'yohoho'-ed loudly and slapped a bony hand onto the table with mirth, his reaction much less subtle than the other's.
"A protector," Syla corrected me gently. She was still looking very drained, but the little bit of color she possessed had already returned to her pale cheeks. "I doubt he even does it consciously most of the time, it's probably just in his nature to do so."
"Meaning he has all the self-preservation instincts of a particularly suicidal lemming?" I asked, still not quite able to resist poking at the swordsman a bit. "The guy still hasn't learned to dodge anything short of a falling battleship."
"That's probably quite true," Syla agreed with a small grimace. "I was a bit surprised to see he was still alive, although after meeting the rest of you Straw Hats, the reason as to why has become much more clear now."
"Lucky for him," I added dryly.
"You must really care about him," Nami observed. She was leaning her elbow on the table, chin resting in the palm of her hand.
I was waiting for Syla to reply before I realized that the navigator was talking to me. "What?"
"I said you must care about him," Nami repeated patiently. "Zoro, that is."
"Uhm," I answered intelligently. "Why would you think that?"
I could feel all eyes at the table on me as Nami sat back in her chair and grinned, wearing an expression that said she knew something I didn't and was more than happy to share this information. "Because," she started easily. "You've had Zoro's Card in your hand ever since Robin mentioned him."
"What?" My eyebrows shot up in surprise as I looked down at my right hand. Sure enough, the small piece of paper was clamped tightly between my fingers where they sat on the table. I huffed in irritation with myself and stuck the Card back in my pocket, but not before noticing that the missing corner had somehow reappeared. "I just wanted to make sure," I grumbled.
"Chopper came in here," Luffy said, sitting up very suddenly on the bench and making me jump in alarm at his unannounced consciousness. The rubber man didn't seem to notice my reaction as he tilted his head and looked over at me with an unusually alert gaze.
Apparently the crew were not as surprised as I was by the sudden size change and energy boost in their captain, as none of them so much as twitched at the unexpected input in the conversation. Not even Brook, who was probably the most easily startled of the Straw Hats, gave any more acknowledgement than a polite head nod toward where Luffy now perched a few feet from the table.
"What?" I said again. I was beginning to wonder if my brain was even functioning properly at the moment. Especially after Nami's recent observation.
"Chopper came in here." Luffy repeated. He stood and stretched his arms above his head before bouncing over to the table and plopping himself into the seat next to Nami. The navigator immediately handed his beloved straw hat to him and he put it on with a grin.
I wasn't sure how to respond to that, honestly. "Yeah, well that was nice of him." And…?
Luffy chuckled as he stole the last bit of cake from Robin's plate and Nami smacked him on the shoulder. "Chopper wouldn't leave Zoro alone if he was in trouble," he explained, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Oh. Right.
"See?" Nami smiled as Luffy pouted at her harsh treatment. "Nothing to worry about." She glanced at Robin and Franky before continuing, "What we should be thinking about is how we're going to beat Shogun when we arrive at the next island."
"Well, we know he's after those Gem things that Syla mentioned," Ussop nodded.
"So the best thing to do would be to find them before he does," Franky added.
"Because if he gets to them first," Nami shrugged.
"It's over," Syla confirmed. "There wont be any way to stop him."
As one they all looked at Robin, who gracefully raised one delicate eyebrow.
"I have heard of them," the archeologist admitted. "Although nothing about them being so close to the Red Line. The stories always pointed to the Gems as hidden in the same place as the One Piece, at the end of the Grand Line."
"But that's still a long way off," Ussop frowned. "You mean we'll have to chase this bastard to the end of the world, just to stop him?"
"I doubt it," Syla answered when Robin shrugged in reply to the sniper's question. "Most of the Gems' legends are well over a century old, some closer to an entire millennia. Most likely, they've already been relocated."
"What are they?" I asked. I felt a lot like I was butting in to a private conversation, but my curiosity and nervousness were beginning to get the better of me.
Robin shrugged again and Syla pursed her lips together, both women looking slightly uncomfortable.
"I don't know, actually," Robin answered. Syla nodded shortly in agreement. "Although there are several stories about Sihgdbar's Gems, it would seem that, after they were hidden away a long time ago, it was far too long to remember the nature of the objects by the time they had resurfaced again."
"No one has seen them recently, either," Syla said, still looking a little frustrated at their lack of information. "The Gems are sealed in a casket made of techtine steel, the same material as my chains, and it's said to be very nearly impossible to break through it."
"Then maybe Shogun wont be able to get to them," I said hopefully.
"Nearly impossible," Nami repeated. She was looking uncharacteristically tired as she leaned lightly against Luffy's shoulder. "I'm sure that unbelievable bastard will have thought of a way to do it."
"It seems likely," Robin agreed. "If he knows of the same legends, he will know what the casket is made of, and no doubt he has already been thinking of ways to open it."
"But he can't if we find it first, right?" Luffy put in, adding his bit to the conversation for the first time since it had started. Up until this point, he had been busy with trying to sneak bits of potato from the plate still sitting in front of Franky, with the cyborg attempting to guard his unwanted dinner by use of a butter knife.
"That's the idea," Nami told him as the captain gave up on Franky's food and began to eye Ussop's instead.
"Then we'll just have to find it," Luffy said, as if this declaration solved all of our problems.
"Don't say it like that, Luffy," the sniper protested. "Haven't you been listening? This casket hasn't even been seen in at least a hundred years, it's not like we're just going to run across it by chance at the next island or something."
"How do you know that," Luffy argued back, "if it hasn't been seen for so long?"
Ussop opened his mouth to reply, paused, and closed it again. Although Luffy did have a (very small and loosely based) point, the likelihood of wandering onto the Gems at the first opportunity was slim. Yet we all knew there was no way Luffy was going to listen to reason. He hadn't ever done so before, so why start now?
The tension and frustration in the people at the table was beginning to rise steadily, and after a short-lived glaring contest between captain and sniper, Nami stood from her chair with a sigh.
"Everyone go get some rest for now," she ordered. "We wont be able to think properly while we're all exhausted anyway, and the break will give us a chance to do a little research," she gestured from herself to Robin. "Syla, if you're not too tired, maybe you could help us out?"
"Of course," Syla stood from her chair, much slower than I though was probably normal for her, but remained steadily on her feet without any assistance. "I would be happy to help in any way I can."
"Good," Nami nodded in thanks. "I have a feeling we'll need it. Renna," she turned to me next, "Chopper is probably nearly finished fixing Sanji, you can start going that way if you like."
I nodded and stood up as well, but Nami wasn't quite finished.
"After he's done taking a look at your cuts," the navigator continued, "could you come up to the library for awhile?"
"Uh, sure," I answered, having no idea why Nami would want me in the library. It wasn't as if I knew anything about the Gems or the casket anyway. And besides, between Robin and Syla, Nami would have all the help she could possibly get.
Nami nodded in satisfaction and the crew began to move away from the table, heading for various locations on the Sunny. Syla and Robin followed Nami out the back via another obnoxious ladder, and Franky and Ussop took Luffy out to the deck with them, Brook not too far behind the small group. I could hear Luffy whining loudly about needing 'more meat' and 'where was Sanji?' until he was successfully dragged to the other side of the ship.
I made my way once again to Chopper's examining room with very little trouble, finally getting used to the layout of the ship. Reaching for the handle, I paused with my fingers just above it as I began to slowly recognize the voice of the aggrivated cook inside the room.
"-and I am not wearing a splint for the next week!" Sanji was saying angrily. His words were punctuated with loud, staccato growling sounds that I had to guess were coming from the swordsman. It figured he would be asleep.
"Don't you dare try to walk around without a splint, Sanji!" Chopper replied in a surprisingly forceful tone. "Do you want to damage that leg even more than it already is? Do you want to be able to use it ever again?"
"You're being overly-dramatic," Sanji snorted in irritation over Zoro's snoring. "It's not even fractured and I can't move around the kitchen properly with a piece of wood tied to my leg- and would you stop all that damn racket, shithead?" The cook's volume shot up at the end of his sentence, leaving no doubt as to whom he was addressing. "Shut the hell up, moss brain!"
BAM.
"What the hell, cook!"
"Sanji, you can't kick him!" Chopper shouted, sounding both worried and angry. "No Zoro, don't get up-! Hey!"
I figured it would probably be a good time to announce my presence and knocked loudly and deliberately on the door. I had thought about just going in, but had absolutely no urge to walk in on a fight between those two monsters, even with Chopper in the same room. It was much safer this way.
The silence was immediate, and lasted until the door swung open and I looked down to see the little doctor peering up at me, the corners of his mouth still pulled into a frown.
"Oh, hi Renna," Chopper greeted, perking up a bit and opening the door the rest of the way to let me inside the small room. "I'm almost finished with Sanji, so go ahead and take a seat over there," he pointed to a collapsible cot that I was sure hadn't been there earlier. "It'll just be another few minutes."
"No problem," I answered easily. I stepped through the doorway to let Chopper close the door behind me.
The two men had frozen beside the cot Zoro had been resting on, with the cook raising one leg and the swordsman sitting up and scowling darkly. Sanji put his foot on the floor in a grudging manner and Zoro sat back again, although he remained in a seated position instead of laying down.
"Ah, Renna," Sanji sighed. "Your lovely face is certainly a sight for sore eyes, especially in present company." He shot a disgusted look at Zoro, who growled back in warning.
"Hi, Sanji," I greeted just before the cook was forcefully dragged to the chair by Chopper. I hopped up onto the extra cot and studied the wall to avoid meeting the green eye I could feel boring into the side of my face. After another few minutes and a second, less heated, squabble, Sanji left the room with a new splint tied around his shin and Chopper turned his attention to me, instead.
"All right, Renna," Chopper began as he turned and hopped up onto his desk to dig around in a cabinet. "Come sit down on the chair, I'll take a look at those cuts. And Zoro," he added a little more sharply. "Don't think I haven't noticed. I told you to lay down."
Zoro growled something indistinguishable but pulled his legs onto the cot and placed his head on the pillow with an annoyed sigh.
I forced back a smile, wondering how such a small creature could hold so much power over such an undoubtedly larger and stronger being. Practice, I decided as I sat in Chopper's desk chair. That must be it.
The doctor got strait to work and started to clean the small, shallow cuts on my hands and arms with quick efficiency. "So," he said after a moment. "Did they say anything in the kitchen?"
"Hm?" I said, having zoned out for most of the cut-cleaning process. "Oh, yeah. They were talking about the Gems again."
Chopper's nose twitched and I could tell the subject was bothering him, as well. "Anything new?" he asked.
"Not much," I admitted. "Robin and Syla seem to know a little bit about them, but no one really knows exactly where, or even what, they are." I sighed and removed my jacket at Chopper's prodding. "I guess it's back to square one again."
"What does Nami say?" the doctor lifted a small swab of something that smelled like alcohol to a larger cut on my shoulder and I winced. "Sorry."
"Nami said to rest," I answered, trying to ignore the slight stinging on my skin. "And they'll talk more about it later. We don't have much time," I added thoughtfully.
Chopper nodded in acknowledgement. "What about Luffy?"
"He seems to think finding the Gems before Shogun can is the best route," I gave a small smile. "But again, no one knows where they are."
"I doubt that'll stop Luffy," Zoro spoke up from the cot. So, he had actually been listening.
"Yeah," I agreed. "But in any case, Nami, Robin and Syla are up in the library right now, trying to find information on these…what did she call them? Scimitar Gems?"
"Sihgdbar's Gems?" Zoro asked. He rolled over and studied me with new interest, his eye more focused than it had been before.
"Yeah," I said, surprised. "How did you know?"
Zoro looked away and frowned thoughtfully. "I hadn't even considered it," he said, more to himself than to us, "But that would definitely make sense."
"What would make sense?" Chopper asked. He had paused in placing his cleaning utensils on the desk and was now turned toward the prone swordsman. He looked just as surprised as I felt. I couldn't say I blamed him, as Zoro wasn't exactly know for being a well of information on most subjects.
Zoro was silent for a moment, then, "Renna, go find Robin. If she doesn't know what she's looking for, then she'll probably be looking in the wrong place." He forced himself up onto one elbow, ignoring Chopper's squeak of protest to look directly at me again. "If I'm right, then we're not looking for any kind of fancy rocks. We're looking for swords."
"Swords?" I repeated.
"Yeah," Zoro nodded his head a fraction. "Go tell them. Now."
I stood from the chair and picked up my jacket. "How do you even know-"
"Just go," Zoro interrupted sharply. He rolled onto his back again, facing away from me. "We're running out of time."
I clenched my jaw at his tone but didn't argue. He was right, anyway. Giving Chopper a strained smile I turned and left the medical room to locate the library, still wondering how Zoro knew something that even the infallible mind of Robin couldn't locate.
This was definitely getting weird.