So, now that I've returned to writing on this again after almost 8 months of ignoring it, here is the first new chapter of 2016. NOTICE: Earlier chapters have been re-edited and updated to correct minor mistakes. No major changes have been made to the plot, but shoot, you might want to go back and read them as a refresher since I've left this sitting around for so long.
Slight change to the storyline ahead: Since Luffy did not fight Mohji, the Buggy pirates at large are still in the dark about his powers.
New disclaimer: Yep, still don't own One Piece.
As Nami demanded to know how Luffy had returned the Buggy Ball, Moire eyed the smoke above them warily. She could almost feel them still there. The battle was far from over. Zoro seemed to realize the same, his shoulders still tense and one hand resting on the swords at his hip.
The redheaded thief's shrieking was abruptly cut off with the clearing of the smoke and the revelation that there had been multiple survivors. Buggy the Clown emerged from the wreckage, holding up two of his crew members before him. It was difficult to tell if the men were unconscious or dead, but they had both paid a hefty price to be the unwilling shields for their captain.
"How dare you?" Buggy growled. His disembodied hands relinquished the hold on his captives' necks and they fell to the ground limply, lying there like sacks of meal.
From the pile of broken building and unconscious pirates burst Mohji, flailing about in a panic. Once he spotted the four confronting his captain, he dashed forward.
"Captain Buggy! We have to be careful with them! That girl there, I don't know what she did, but she's so fast you can't see her. Just imagine what their captain can do!"
Buggy sneered at Moire, his gaze a touch more respectful than it had been before but still no less laden with hatred. "So, you aren't just a little girl after all? How interesting."
Though she had yet to see Luffy in full on combat, and despite the fact that she was still definitely not a part of his crew, she couldn't resist the jab that followed. "If I can strike fear into one of your strongest men, imagine what he can do," she smirked, pointing with her thumb at Luffy. "He is, after all, my captain, and I would be a fool to follow someone weaker than I."
That was a mistake. Luffy, as usual, missed the pretext entirely and took her words at face value. With a great cheer, he tackled Moire in a hug and began shouting, "Hooray! I knew you would join my crew! See, Zoro, I told you she would!"
Wincing as her various injuries, small and large, were irritated by the grip the young captain had on her, Moire tried in vain for several minutes to pry his rubbery arms off of her person. With a great sigh of defeat, she finally gave in. All the while, Luffy was loudly celebrating and dancing without relinquishing his hold, seeming to have forgotten the threat before them. That couldn't last much longer, however, as a rumble from the still-smoking pile of rubble behind Buggy interrupted his one-man party.
A man rose from the mess, and he must have been monstrously strong. One hand was tangled in the pale mane of an unconscious Richie, his white coat singed and smoldering.
"This may be the greatest insult we have ever received. How do you plan to respond, Captain?" the dark-haired man hissed.
"Cabaji!" Mohji shouted indignantly, not giving the captain enough time to answer. "What did you do to Richie?"
Cabaji smirked before tossing the great lion to the dirt in front of him. "I was afraid my clothes might get a little dirty, so I just used him as a shield."
Moire's stomach roiled. This sort of carelessness for the lives of those around him was the same attitude she had dealt with in the Organization, the same she had been forced to adopt for years to survive. She had seen it utterly destroy families, cities, armies, and change the face of the world, and certainly not for the better. It was the sort of thinking that she could not allow to continue, she realized. It wasn't human, not truly, to care nothing for fellow creatures, human or animal.
She didn't even bother ducking when Mohji was sent flying at them by Cabaji's kick, nor react when Luffy tossed him aside with another. Her right hand gripped the hilt of the sword above her shoulder and her entire body tensed, ready for a fight. Unbeknownst to her, the air around her had already begun to snap and spark as Cabaji launched himself toward them on his unicycle.
Before she could move to engage, a hand fell on her shoulder for a split second, breaking her focus just enough. She met Zoro's sideways glance for the briefest of moments before he himself intercepted Cabaji's strike at his captain.
"I'll cross swords with you," he growled.
"It's an honor, Roronoa Zoro," Cabaji replied from behind is blue-and-white checked scarf. "As a swordsman myself, I will relish the chance to slay you." His dark, beady eyes strayed downward to where blood was seeping through the bandages at Zoro's waist.
Moire was not alone in disapproving of Zoro's choice to fight. Luffy made an attempt to force him to sit this one out, but the swordsman vehemently refused. It was only a moment later that Cabaji distracted him with a blast of fire in the face, followed by a kick to the bleeding wound. As Zoro fell, Moire shook with the desire to take the scum in front of her down, but something told her that her ally would not appreciate the interference.
Holding herself back became even more difficult when Cabaji made another dirty attack that left Zoro doubled up on the ground. However, her newfound respect for the swordsman rose even more as he stood, took the hit to his already wounded side, and proceeded to make a fool out of the self-styled acrobat. Fortunately, Luffy had stepped in when Buggy tried to interfere.
He wants to be the greatest. With that stubbornness, he may just have a chance, Moire thought with a slight smirk. She barely even noticed when Nami abandoned them in favor of Buggy's treasure store.
"I can't believe the Buggy Pirates were defeated by such petty thieves," Cabaji groaned as he bled out over the flagstones.
Moire jumped forward just in time to keep Zoro from face-planting into said flagstones. "We aren't petty thieves; we're pirates," he said, just barely conscious and still smarting off. "Luffy, I'm goin' to sleep."
With a thousand watt grin, Luffy turned to the fight ahead of him, Buggy watching on with slightly less confidence than before. Moire ignored them, instead turning her full attention on the idiotic, stubborn swordsman on her shoulder.
"Not on me, yer not," she told him. "Yer heavier than ye look."
"You callin' me fat?"
"Quit spoutin' off and rest here." She lowered him to the ground. "It looks as though Luffy has this handled. I aim to see what that thief has gotten herself into."
With an anemic wiggle of his fingers, Zoro sent her off just before he passed out, fast asleep.
A few alleyways over, Moire spotted her target hauling a sack larger than she was, presumably full of treasure. What made her stop short, though, was the pair of swords the thief had strapped around her body, probably to at least look more threatening. They were twins, shortswords, with blades just the length of the woman's arm. The leather straps crisscrossing Nami's torso were dark with age and many layers of oil, exquisitely detailed with flowing designs that evoked wind and wave, ocean and sky. The hilts, shorter than a traditional katana's and meant to be held in one hand, were wrapped in well-worn black and gold and capped with symbols for spirit and control: the symbols of the Selkraig.
She fingered the little medallions at the ends of her braids. At first, when she was younger, the Organization had tried to take them from her, but the tiny charms always seemed to find their way back into her possession. Her captors had finally realized that she was somewhat calmer when she had them, perhaps similar to a childhood obsession with a favorite toy, and allowed her to keep them. It was only after her commission to the East Blue that she had begun actually wearing them again.
Moire hadn't intended to intercept the thief. Luffy cared for her wellbeing and she had had the compulsion to make certain the girl didn't get into trouble for his sake. Now she found herself stepping fully into the view of the younger woman and approaching her.
"I see ye didna find more than ye could handle," she said casually.
Nami glared at her. "I stole this treasure fair and square," she said through gritted teeth. "It's mine and you can't have it." Despite her threatening demeanor, there was a slight quaver in her voice. She had seen the results of what Moire could do.
"'Tis not the treasure that interests me, darlin', but what ye're wearin' there on yer person," she replied, gesturing with a dagger that Nami had not even seen withdrawn.
The thief began to relax a little when Moire said she wasn't there for the treasure, but the weapon that had appeared out of nowhere still had her on edge. She reached one hand up to touch one of the baldrics as she replied, "These old things? They were with the treasure. I thought they might keep people from messing with me if I wore them. Why are you so interested? Are they valuable?"
"Mayhaps they are valuable in the world's terms, but they are more valuable to me," Moire replied, still flipping the little dagger between her fingers. "I would ask that you part with them."
Nami's frown deepened. If the swords were valuable, she wanted to keep them, no questions asked. "And why should I?"
Moire was suddenly nose-to-nose with the thief. Nami realized that the other woman was a bit shorter. She hadn't noticed before at all, especially with the confidence and malice Moire could exude with ease. "Because I asked so nicely," the Selkraig purred in a thickened brogue. Nami's heart beat faster, but she wasn't about to back down.
"I stole these myself, and it was hard work. Besides, you have a sword of your own," she stammered.
In a flash, Moire was a step or two away, and Nami couldn't feel the baldrics crossing her shoulders any longer. She blinked, almost impressed despite herself when she realized the swords hung from her rival's hand.
"I do have a sword, Lady Thief, but it is not one made for my hands, nor does it belong to my family." She unconsciously touched the spirit charm on her shoulder. "These, however, do. I dinnae know how they ended up in such a pathetic pirate's hoard, but generations ago, these belonged to my forefathers."
Oh, well, why didn't she say that in the first place? I might have been more willing to give them to her, Nami thought, and she said as much. She knew deeply just how much family could mean to people.
Moire blinked owlishly, caught off guard. She wasn't used to getting things that didn't have to be taken through force or treachery. A straightforward approach had never entered her mind. Though she didn't show it outwardly, she felt a bit embarrassed.
Still holding the pair of baldrics in one hand, she removed the one holding her government issued katana and sheath to her back, slipping it from beneath her jacket. She thrust the weapon at the thief. "Here," she said shortly. "If you wish to be armed, take this. It will serve its purpose."
Nami slowly closed her hands around the sheath, blinking at the other woman's sudden change in demeanor.
"Now get out of here. If ye don't want Luffy to find ye, ye might want to hurry."
The thief still stood in place, utterly confused.
"And…I apologize. Now go on, get out of here," Moire managed in a rush, giving the girl a shove to emphasize her point. Then she was gone, leaving Nami even more bewildered.
"That girl…is weird," the thief muttered to herself before strapping on the unfamiliar sword and returning to the task of dragging away her treasure.
Moire, for her part, halted her retreat just around the corner. She felt a little regret for the way in which she had behaved. Perhaps she should have been more straightforward and not so aggressive, but she had acted as she had been taught and conditioned. She sighed.
It will take time. I still don't feel right in my own skin. I still don't know what I'm supposed to do without someone else scripting my every move.
As she thought, her gaze strayed to the twin shortswords. These had always been her weapon of choice, and this particular set was smaller than what she would expect to have been made for a man. Perhaps "forefathers" wasn't quite correct. She drew the sword with "spirit" etched into its hilt and paused. Small engraving on the blade gave what she assumed was the sword's name. Arashi o Motarasu Mono, the Bringer of Storms. She sheathed it and drew the second, the blade similarly shining as if untouched by time. Heiwa o Motarasu Mono. The Bringer of Peace.
The worn black cloth and gold cord of the hilts felt good in her hands, and the blades virtually hummed with energy. These were hers in a way that no government sword, no matter how finely made, could ever have been. With another sigh, she removed her jacket, placing the baldrics over her shoulders, the hilt of Arashi above her right, Heiwa over her left. Once she had them settled, she slung her coat back over her shoulders, thanking the heavens that it was a bit big and allowed the extra room required for two swords. Feeling a little more sure of herself, even with her mind buzzing over the discovery of the seemingly ancient Selkraig relics, she set off to return to where she had left Luffy and Zoro.
She arrived just in time to find Luffy, face bloodied and furious with his straw hat in his hand, yelling at Buggy. "No one messes with this hat! It's my only treasure!"
"If it means that much to you," Buggy sneered, "then why don't you protect it properly?!" His disembodied hand, daggers between the fingers, soared through the air and impaled the straw hat, hurling it from Luffy's grasp. The hand returned to its owner, the hat still perched atop the blades.
Buggy's done it now. If there's one thing I have learned about Luffy, it's that no one messes with the things he cares about. Moire had moved to stand beside Zoro's prone form, hoping to keep the unconscious swordsman from further harm.
She was surprised to learn that Luffy knew, and seemed to care so much about, one of the Yonko, Red-Haired Shanks. So that's why he is a pirate. I wonder if I'll ever learn that story.
She broke into unfamiliar laughter when Luffy kicked the lower half of Buggy's body in the groin as the clown attempted to destroy Nami – who just couldn't resist seeing how Luffy was doing – for stealing his treasure. The blow left both halves of his body writhing in pain. Even more hilarity ensued when Luffy discovered that Buggy's feet had to remain earthbound and he proceeded to tickle, pinch, and slam one of them. The fight seemed over when Luffy delivered a powerful knockout punch, only to have Buggy reassemble. Well, at least partially.
A stubby, miniature version of Buggy was on the receiving end of Luffy's Gum Gum Bazooka after Nami pinned down his various parts.
Things got a little awkward for Moire when Nami accepted Luffy's offer of joining them, but that didn't last long. With Zoro awake, the townsfolk stumbled upon the group, including the unconscious mayor and Luffy's mouth got them all in trouble.
What followed was a headlong rush through town to escape a mob of angry townsfolk, aided by a banged up but still spry little white dog. The four managed to reach the docks and Nami's little boat unscathed. Moire paused to retie one of her boots, kneeling behind Luffy, who had Zoro slung across one shoulder.
She heard a vaguely familiar voice threatening the others and calmly looked up just in time to spot one of the three "hitchhikers" from her and Zoro's frantic trip to land smack the swordsman on the back of the head to rouse him. She wrinkled her nose a little in distaste and stood, clearing her throat, just as Zoro raised his head.
The three screamed, absolutely terrified, and took off at a dead run across the sand, Luffy and Nami blinking in confusion at their dust trail.
Amongst the three of them – Zoro still wasn't much help – they were able to get both of their boats out into open water with little trouble. The entertainment for Moire wasn't over, however, even after a tearful thank you from the mayor on the dock. Luffy nearly went overboard when Nami discovered that he had left one bag of treasure on the beach.
"They're gonna need it to rebuild their town, right?" Luffy asked, his signature grin in place.
"How dare you?" the thief shrieked. "That was my treasure! I worked hard to steal it!"
With Luffy clinging to the side of the boat and Nami trying to force his head in, it went unnoticed by Moire that Zoro had actually heard her laughter. He decided she should smile more often. It suited her better than the emotionless expression he had met her with. She turned to look at him, still beaming.
"I guess we finally have a navigator," she declared.
"We?" the swordsman asked simply.
The smile nearly vanished into a pensive expression, her gaze turning downward. After a pregnant pause, she met his gaze again and nodded. "Yes, I suppose so."
I decided to stick with Japanese names for the twin swords. Important weapons need names, and in true anime/manga tradition, it seems wrong for them to be named in anything but Japanese.