Beta'ed by: van0koko
A Short Break
Chapter 5
O O O
"Where are we?"
Luffy grinned, completely ignoring the question. "Look at those huge statues, Zoro. They look amazing!"
Gazing upon the unfamiliar sight, Zoro grunted as he held Usopp tightly on his back. He turned his head to take another look at the sniper's unconscious face before he started following their captain.
Luffy, on the other hand, was amazed. The land somehow made him feel all warm and he couldn't stop himself from inspecting every detail around him. He kept running around, stretching and jumping on statues of different sizes and shapes while being careful as to not fall into the wide river. "This place is awesome." He paused for a moment to look back at Zoro. "But where are we?"
"I have no idea, idiot."
This was not the usual case where Zoro would randomly get lost and drag some of his crewmates along. This was on a whole other level. As much as the swordsman tried to remember, he couldn't put the pieces together at all. How was it that they were on land if the last thing he remembered was sailing peacefully on Sunny? Heck, he didn't even recall seeing an island in the first place.
Zoro shifted his gaze, examining their current location. He spotted a small village at the edge of the meadow; and as they were walking through the tall grasses, he couldn't help but notice that everything was colorful. The trees were dressed in blue and red leaves, resembling the grass below them, whereas the river on their left had a strange shade of purple. There were also painted statues made out of stone rocks aligned perfectly along the riverbanks, every one of them completely different.
The sight was disturbing.
"I can't believe we woke up in such a place. I wonder where everyone else is," Luffy said once he got back next to Zoro. He placed his hands behind his head as he started to think about the others. His short thoughts soon disappeared when a chuckle escaped his lips. "I'm sure they're okay, though."
Zoro only blinked, his gaze still ahead. "I guess we'll have to pay a visit to that village to get some answers."
Luffy nodded in response and the two headed towards said place.
O O O
Nami was having a hard time processing what the old lady had just said, and the awkward silence that followed after didn't help either. She could only stare at the empty plate in front of her while thinking about the woman's words.
Law, however, ignored her statement. "We'll have to see that for ourselves." He got up, eyeing Nami as a sign to leave.
She nodded once and looked over the table. "Thank you very much for your hospitality, Ohana-san. We will take our leave." She got up and bowed in sign of appreciation.
"Ah, it was my pleasure. Take care." She paused for a moment before continuing with a genuine smile. "But if you do need any help, feel free to come by again."
"Thank you."
After they bid their farewells—with practically only Nami doing the job on their behalf—the two followed one of her butlers until they reached the main entrance.
Once they left the house, their eyes were greeted by the unnatural view of the streets. Everything was green.
"Are you serious?" Nami asked herself in a low tone. 'At least the district's name makes sense now.' She thought with a short, unamused laugh. The navigator then peeked over her shoulder and noticed that Law had a similar expression. He was just as confused, to say the least, and thatcaught her attention.
After a few moments of confusion, Law regained his usual attitude. His eyes remained steady and unblinking as he analyzed the streets. The color changed from the dark green roads to other multiple shades for the houses and shops; everything—besides the people and the sky—was green.
Law looked ahead. Luckily for them, they weren't too far away from the shore. He sighed before taking a step closer to Nami. "Let's go."
Nami gave him a slow nod and they started walking on the road, passing a group of happy teenagers. She glanced at them and pouted. At least some people here were having fun. Her thoughts soon drifted to their current situation. Again.
Why were they here? What was going on? Nami kept questioning herself. She couldn't help but feel a bit scared. First of all, she had no idea where she was or where her crewmates were. Second, her Clima-Tact was missing and God knew how angry Usopp would get if she had really lost it. Third, out of all the people she knew, Trafalgar Law had to be the one who'd end up in the same mess as her. And that last thought scared her the most. Nami knew that he wouldn't dare to hurt her for the sake of their alliance, but she still couldn't feel safe around him.
She kept her eyes on the road while thinking about Law. What if all of this was his plan of some sort? Her eyes narrowed as she took a glance at him from her peripheral vision. That was it. He must have kidnapped her in order to control Luffy with a wicked plan of his. Oh, and his acting skills were pretty good. 'That sly bastar—'
"Nami-ya, did you hear what I just said?"
"Huh?" She turned her head in his direction, gulping slowly. "Sorry. What did you say?"
"I found a Den Den Mushi in my pocket."
'Although, I don't remember taking one in the first place.' He thought about the matter before taking it out in front of her. "Let's call your crew."
He handed her the Den Den Mushi. Nami noticed that it belonged to their ship and she eyed him for a few seconds, still unsure of his scheme.
"This is not a game, Nami-ya." He sent her a glare.
Nami huffed and did as told. She was waiting for an answer, but no one picked up. "No one's answering."
He nodded once before they began walking once again. "We will have to try later."
An awkward silence soon followed and Nami went back to her thoughts. She was still worried over their situation. The orange-haired navigator kept wondering if Law had anything to do with it. She finally gathered the courage and was about to talk, only to have Law interrupt her instead.
"Look, Nami-ya, I'm not playing anything here. Don't think that I came up with this because I have no reason to. My main goal is to go to Dressarosa and defeat Doflamingo. Other than that, I have no use of any of the Straw Hat pirates."
His cold words reached her ears and Nami looked up at him with a glare, noticing that he was still looking ahead. "I didn't say you were at fault with this."
"Your expression did."
Nami crossed her arms as she looked away from him, viewing the narrow houses that were poorly aligned. Embarrassment covered her features and she rolled her eyes, trying to ignore what he had just said. After a few minutes passed, the navigator admitted to herself that he had a point. Why would Law take her away from Sunny and somehow erase her memories if he had nothing to gain from it? She shook her head in annoyance. This was all so frustrating and she had no idea what to do.
All of a sudden, a little kid came up to them after he had accidentally thrown a playing ball in their direction, causing them to stop in their tracks. "I'm sorry!"
Nami looked down at the little boy and gave him a smile. "That's okay. You better head back because this place doesn't look too safe."
That was true. The narrow path looked shabby and Nami couldn't believe how different her surroundings looked right now. Those green streets back there looked so well built and it matched that of an elegant and pricey land. A ten-minute walk from the Green District to reach this place, and the view was already different. It looked dreadful, lonely. At least it was not green anymore, but normal.
The boy grinned and pointed to the end of the path. "That's okay. The guards are always on duty here, so nothing can happen to us."
"The guards?"
The little boy nodded while picking up the ball. "Yes. Even if they keep guarding us from going into the sea, they are still looking out for the people near the shoreline," he said, grinning. "Like the ones in these small streets."
Law blinked and bent down in front of him. "What do you mean by guarding the sea?" He had to check if the kid's words would coincide with those of the old woman.
"The sea water kills us if we go in it. It's their duty to protect us in case someone goes there."
Law glanced over at Nami and saw that she shared a similar look as him. He looked back at the kid before slowly getting up. "I see."
The boy waved at them and ran back to his previous spot. Nami watched him as he started playing with other children. She then looked at Law after the two began walking. "It looks like something really is wrong with the water."
He grunted in response. Law did not like this at all. He had never heard of an island that had such a problem. Unless that was an excuse to not let anyone get away from this place.
O O O
"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't pass this line."
As they reached the shore, the two were stopped from going further by two guards.
"Of course we can, sir, so please let us."
One of the old men let out a long sigh. "Look, this is not a game. Now if you could please leave…"
Nami went up to them and murmured in a low, seductive tone. "Oh, but I'd like to see if the sea can really do what others say." She slowly hugged herself, causing the two older men to stare at her accentuated curves, mainly the cleavage.
Forgetting about everything else, one of them opened his mouth to talk. "A-alright, miss. W-we could throw something in there and you can see for yourself."
Nami nodded and grinned in Law's direction once the two guards went to look for an object around the area. "See? That's how you do it without showing off your powers."
Law remembered their earlier conversation about him better not using his powers until they knew more about the island. It was for the best to not start making a fuss when they had no idea what this island was capable of. Her statement, however, caused him to narrow his eyes and look away. That woman was too much. Shortly after, Law spotted the older man taking a rock in his hands before throwing it with force in the water, far enough from their spot. Once they heard a splash, it exploded.
Nami was shocked, to say the least. Her mouth was half open and as much as she wanted to say something, words wouldn't come out at all.
No. That could not be true. There must have been a trick.
"See? Now, if you excuse us, we are on duty in this area."
Law was still not convinced. He grabbed Nami's wrist, who didn't seem to respond when he called her, and walked away from them.
"Hmph, curious youngsters," the shorter guard said.
The two stopped walking when they reached a small house at the edge of an alley. The path was narrow and full of scattered objects, but it looked like a good hiding place. Law had to make sure that the guards couldn't see them anymore.
The minute Nami came back to her senses, she pulled her hand back and frowned. "What are you doing?"
He ignored her question and whispered the word "Room." As the light blue aura of his devil powers extended, Law swapped a pigeon that was flying above the sea with an unused barrel next to him. When the bird cooed in front of them, the two dropped their gazes on the exchanged item, and an explosive sound was heard from the shore. The barrel was indeed blown up into pieces when it came into contact with the water.
That had answered their question.
The commotion caused some of the guards to search around the place and the two pirates took the time to run away.
Once they reached the same green street from where they had first left, the two locked their gazes.
"This is going to be a problem." Nami pointed out while massaging her temples in frustration.
"Yeah."
O O O
In the deep woods of the island, where The Thousand Sunny was, a shadow kept running around. Its figure could still not be seen clearly in the bare darkness of the woods, but its moves showed that the body was slowly dancing around.
A dance of happiness.
Besides the sound of the cold wind whistling through the branches and the narrow steps tapped against the concrete land, a low humming could be heard.
"No one can run away,
When I am looking for my prey.
Five new visitors came today
And they will forever stay."
O O O
A/N: Yikes, what's with that shitty poem at the end? (I'm really bad at those)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter though! I'm so sorry for the late update, but I've been pretty busy with some…stuff.
Anyway, lots of thanks to everyone who likes this fic! I love you all.
Now, for the dear reviewers:
Kagehime: Yes, yes, I couldn't help myself with that scene. I just had to have them wake up in the same bed. Thank you very much!
BatmanSwim2016: I'm glad you find it intriguing! I hope you'll enjoy the following chapters as well because I'm planning to make everyone confused for a while, mwahaha.
Hanasho: Yup, that scene was the bomb, lol. Did I just say that? Anyway, I'm glad you find the island interesting and hopefully you'll enjoy the following chapters as well!
Keirra: Yes, that is the best part. I mean the whole world can fall apart as long as those two are stuck together. Okay, I'm joking. It's not like anyone will die in this fic. Or is it?
Okay, I'll shut up now.
Let me know what you think by dropping a review. They really do encourage me to go on and they help me out to know what you all think about each chapter!