Hopefully no one is offended by me skipping Gaimon's island except for a paragraph summarizing Moire's reactions to the adventure. She doesn't change much there and nothing different happens, so I saw no reason to go into detail.
REVEALS ahead! Well, partial ones. Not much action here. Just meeting Usopp, of course, and the hilarity that involves. I couldn't leave it out. I just love this part of the story.
If Moire had been having any doubts about the inherent goodness of her new captain, she would have been left with none after their brief stopover on Gaimon's island. After witnessing the peace that Luffy brought to the strange little man, she felt more confident in her choice to follow the young pirate. The inkling that there was something special about him was continuing to grow in her mind. Even if one day they had to part ways for her to achieve her goal, she felt assured that she could not only reach the Grand Line with this little crew, but also find some forgotten or missing parts of herself along the way.
Although, the current debate raging back and forth among the other three occupants of their two vessels brought Moire to seriously doubt her own sanity.
"Are we really going to the Grand Line like this?" Nami demanded.
"Oh, we really need meat on this ship, don't we?" Luffy responded. "Uncle Cabbage gave us plenty of fruit, but we don't have any meat!"
"I am not talking about food supplies!" the navigator shot back.
"And we don't have any sake to drink, either! How boring," Zoro, finally awake after slumbering for two days straight, chimed in.
"Oh, and we'll need a cook, and maybe a musician for entertainment!"
Nami snapped, "Those aren't our problems, either!" With a shake of her head, she sighed. "The Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the entire world, so we need to get a better ship first. We're also short on crew members and these little boats aren't equipped for a long voyage."
Luffy looked as though he was about to argue with Nami some more about what their real problems were when Moire decided to add in her two cents. "She's right, Luffy. How do you expect to eat when you can't store food or prepare it properly? And you won't do very well in the ocean when this tiny thing – " she gestured around them at the vessel " – capsizes in one of the Grand Line's storms."
Luffy looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to his new navigator. "So, what do we do then?"
"We have to be more prepared and make long-term plans. There's a village due north. We should go there first and as soon as we land, look for a better ship."
"And eat some meat!" the captain shouted, his previous pensive demeanor gone as if it never existed.
With a sigh, Moire dropped her face into her palms, shaking her head. There's something special about him, alright.
"Regretting your choice already?" Zoro quipped.
She peeked back at him between her fingers. "Possibly. Is he always so short-sighted?"
The swordsman nodded in affirmation. "He manages to get things worked out in the end, though, and that's what counts, right?"
Moire heaved another sigh, raising her head and staring westward, to where she knew the Red Line and the entrance to the Grand Line lay. "'Tis not so easy, Zoro. Fortune can only get you so far in the Grand Line. If you had ever been there, perhaps you would know."
That made Zoro sit up. He leaned forward, his stare suddenly very focused.
"You've been to the Grand Line?"
Oh, shite. She inwardly grimaced. He still doesn't trust me, and me having been to the Grand Line doesn't fit very well with my story of visiting family in the Organ Islands and having a bunch of brothers that taught me to fight, does it? Might as well tell him the truth.
"I was born there."
"Whaaaaat?!" another voice shouted. Luffy bounded into her field of view. "You were born in the Grand Line? So cool! What's it like? Are there monsters? Is there lots of meat? Will I – " Bam! "Owwww, Zoro, what'd you do that for?" the captain whined, holding his head which had just been bounced off the deck.
"Come on, that didn't hurt you, rubber boy. The better question is, if you were born in the Grand Line, then why are you here? Just who are you anyway?"
Moire shrunk back into the side of the boat that she sat against, suddenly the center of attention. Even Nami seemed to have a laser-like focus fixed on the Selkraig. She didn't like all of the interest and liked even less the thought of telling her new comrades anything about the sins of her past.
When she remained silent, avoiding his eyes, Zoro pushed further. "You're definitely not just some normal girl with a bunch of brothers. And most people who leave the Grand Line never want to go back, if they even live long enough to consider it. So, who are you?" The last words came out harsh and clipped, and Moire knew that he meant to get the answers he had wanted since they met.
She scanned the three faces around her: Zoro's harsh stare, Nami's suspicious gaze, and finally Luffy's almost awestruck gawking. It was the latter whom she focused on.
"I was born on Shillay Holm, an island in the New World. My ancestors founded it, searching for a place where they could live in peace. Back then, I suppose, the Selkraig were great warriors with abilities beyond a normal human's. My family followed the Way of Water, a doctrine of peace and harmony with the world. When I was eleven, my brother and I were kidnapped by men who had somehow learned of us and what we were once able to do. They wanted to use us for their own ends. They trained and conditioned us until we were almost their puppets, then separated us when we still didn't fully comply with their wishes. I was sent here, to the East Blue, so he and I would no longer influence each other, and I escaped. That is when I met you all."
She had spoken so quickly that she had hardly breathed through the entire discourse, leaving her almost gasping for air by the time she was done. Her eyes fell to the deck at her feet as she remembered everything she had omitted: that her brother was an adoptive sibling, the destruction of her home and slaughter of her family and neighbors, that the Organization which had held her captive was under governmental control, the sins she had committed while with them, and the blood that would forever stain her hands. The other three had fallen uncharacteristically silent as they took in the new information.
"So that's why you want to get to the Grand Line, to find your brother?" Luffy finally asked.
Moire cautiously looked back up at him and nodded slowly, almost afraid of what would happen if Luffy was somehow unhappy with her answer. She simply couldn't tell them everything, wouldn't expose them to that kind of darkness. Looking into the abyss only invited it to stare back.
Finally, the young captain grinned widely. "I want to see my brother, too! He's out there being a pirate already and he told me to find him in the Grand Line. You know, you're part of our crew now. We'll help you find him."
She blinked back in shock, her jaw a bit slack. That kind of response was not what she had been expecting, and he seemed to ignore the fact that she had essentially been molded into a weapon for someone else's use.
Just as quickly as Luffy's attention had been turned on her, it was redirected again. "Hey, Nami, about that island. Will there be lots of meat?"
Zoro wasn't so quickly distracted, however.
"You should know that I can tell you're holding something back," the swordsman told her. "But I think I know why. It sounds like there are a lot of ugly things in your past that you'd like to forget. Just don't let any of it hurt my captain or my crew, got it?"
Still at a loss for words, Moire nodded her agreement. I promise. Even if I have to leave all of ye ere ye would prefer. I do not want to hurt innocent folk any longer.
Zoro returned the gesture, seemingly satisfied, before leaning back against the side of the boat. The former assassin sighed in relief, glad to have all of the attention off of her. She turned her gaze westward once more. Squinting against the glare of the afternoon sun, she thought she could see a very distant dark shadow, perhaps their destination.
The afternoon wore on and the vague spot on the horizon began to grow. Luffy became more and more insufferable as they neared the island until Moire was certain she would stab him if it took much longer to reach land. He was bounding back and forth between their boat and Nami's, all the while firing off questions and random observations at an inhumanly rapid pace. Somehow, Zoro had fallen back to sleep amid the chaos, while Nami was doing her best to simply ignore the hyperactive captain.
As Luffy ran by her once more, Moire stuck a foot out and smirked when he fell face first into the deck.
"Ow! Mori, why would you do that?" Luffy cried.
Despite the fact that physical blows did little damage to the rubber man, Moire punched him soundly in the head. "Idiot! It's Moire!"
"You're so mean!" he whined, but his sad and sorry manner didn't last long as he suddenly became excited. "And you hit really hard! When we get to land, I want to fight with you!"
Moire rolled her eyes to the heavens as if asking what she could have possibly done to deserve this, Luffy returning to his boat-hopping and endless prattle.
Fortunately for the Selkraig's sanity, it didn't take much longer to reach the shore. They weighed anchor in a sheltered little cove where the land fell abruptly into the water. A trail led up and away from the water into lightly wooded and rolling lowlands. It was altogether peaceful. Or, it had been until Luffy arrived.
Moire leapt lightly from their boat, glad for the opportunity to stretch her legs. She ignored Luffy expressing his surprise at finding an island and Nami's indignation at the implied slight to her navigational skills. Zoro was suddenly beside her, stretching his tall form as far as he could reach.
"Been a long time since I last stood on solid ground," he sighed.
Moire resisted the urge to elbow him in the ribs as she shot back, "If you hadn't slept the entire time, you could have visited Gaimon's island. Hmm?" She and the swordsman both seemed to notice it at the same time. Their hands strayed to weapons as they focused on the treeline above them.
"Careful. We're being watched," Zoro warned the other two.
"Huh? By who? Where are they? Do they have meat?" Luffy immediately began looking around frantically for the interlopers.
Before anyone could react, tiny projectiles shot at Luffy's feet and he danced madly to avoid the rapid-fire barrage. With a cry, Nami bolted for her ship as numerous skull-and-crossbones flags were raised from the bushes.
Moire was not as amused by the display as Luffy was, and definitely didn't find herself impressed when a boy about Luffy's age with bushy black hair and a very long nose emerged claiming to be the leader of an "invincible nation of pirates." He didn't look much like a fighter to her. It was the mention of an army of eighty million men that finally did him in.
"You expect us to believe that?" Nami shouted up at him.
The boy didn't hesitate to begin freaking out. "She knows!"
"Now we know," Moire snickered. The display was beginning to become amusing.
"What?! He was lying?" Luffy cried.
Moire socked Luffy again. "That's for being so gullible! And to think you're our captain."
Backpedaling rapidly, the "Great Captain Usopp" started trying in vain to salvage the situation. "Eighty million might have been an exaggeration, but I still have a great many men under my command!"
Nami smirked. "My guess is three."
Three kids, no taller than Moire's hip, burst from the bushes holding a pirate flag in each hand, screaming, "She does know!" They threw down their flags and booked it for safety.
Moire picked up one of the projectiles that had been shot at Luffy's feet, finding a small, polished metal ball not dissimilar to old pistol ammunition. They obviously hadn't been fired from any gun, however. "What is a pirate doing using a slingshot?" she wondered.
With a great belly laugh, Luffy declared, "Hey, you're pretty funny!"
Usopp seemed offended by the strawhat laughing at him. He drew his slingshot and loaded it, aiming straight for Luffy. "You had better stop laughing, or you'll find out why they call me 'Proud Usopp' and not 'Pushover Usopp.'"
None of the pirates on the beach seemed particularly threatened, Luffy least of all. "Now that you've drawn your 'pistol,' are you going to use it?" he asked. "Guns aren't for threats, they're for actions. Are you willing to risk your life?"
Zoro thumbed the hilt of his white sword, exposing just an inch of the blade while Moire palmed a dagger that Usopp had never seen drawn. The action was almost unconscious on her part as she provided support for her crewmates.
"I can assure you, we're real pirates," Zoro called. "Consider your next move carefully."
After a moment's hesitation, Usopp faltered, sweat beading on his face. He dropped the pellet from the slingshot and fell to his knees. Luffy and Zoro shared a glance before bursting into laughter, Moire raising an eyebrow at them in confusion. She had been seriously considering the possibility of letting that dagger fly.
After further introductions, during which Usopp made a very undignified journey down the hill by rolling and Luffy revealed not only knowing Red-Haired Shanks, but also Usopp's father, Yasopp, the self-declared liar led them into town where they stopped at a small tavern for lunch. Moire listened quietly as Luffy regaled Usopp with tales of his sharpshooting father and found herself feeling a bit sorry for the boy. It had been years since he'd seen his father, yet he expressed nothing but pride for his father.
Nami was the one who brought everyone down to earth, mentioning their need for a ship to sail to the Grand Line.
"Oh! Sounds like a big adventure!" Usopp exclaimed. "So cool! And you're looking for crewmembers too?"
"Yep," Luffy replied around a mouthful of food.
Usopp proceeded to explain to the quartet that there was only one place in the village where they might find a ship: a mansion outside of town whose owner, a weak and sickly young woman around his age, also had a ship. Moire was certain that she was not alone in feeling sympathy for the girl, whose parents had died just over a year before of the illness. No amount of inheritance money could possibly alleviate that kind of pain.
"Never mind," Nami sighed. "We'll search for a ship somewhere else."
"Okay!" Luffy agreed. "But we're not in a hurry. I still want some more meat!"
"Oh, yeah, you said earlier that you're looking for crewmates, right?" Usopp interjected quietly.
"Is there someone who wants to be our nakama?" Luffy wondered.
Usopp stood, pointing to himself. "Let me be the captain, and I'll join you!"
"Never mind," all four said at once, much to the consternation of Usopp.
"What kind of attitude is that?" he shouted. Then he seemed to take notice of the clock on the door and dashed away, telling them he had forgotten to do something. The four pirates blinked after him in wonder.
Moire had just discovered, to her delight, that the little restaurant served what looked to be a delectable seven-layered chocolate cake and ordered a slice when the three boys from the shore appeared, demanding to know where their captain was. A moment later, Luffy set his mug down and smacked his lips.
"Yum! What delicious meat!"
The boys reacted with shock and horror, assuming Luffy was talking about eating the
"captain". Zoro only prodded them further, telling the boys that they had, indeed, eaten Usopp.
Moire burst out laughing when the boys stared at Nami with enormous eyes and screamed, "Onibaba!" The redheaded thief couldn't berate both Zoro and Moire, both of whom were nearly falling over in their seats from mirth, no matter how hard she tried.
Wiping tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, Moire thought, I could really get used to moments like these.