A.N.1: I wrote this for fun to see what it would be like to have Karmen meet the crew later into her development. I might write more like this in the future. Enjoy.
Usopp, Nami, and Zoro sit in a boat that's almost too small for comfort, especially when two crew members are glaring at the third.
"I don't understand why you tried to find Luffy in the boat," Usopp says again. They had promised to return it after only a few hours while Sanji restocked the Merry. It had long since passed that window.
Zoro scratches his mossy head. "He was standing right next to me and then he disappeared," he says. "I saw him flying over a roof. Since the town curves around the shore, I thought my best bet to catch up with him would be to take the boat that you guys were sleeping in, or at least you could have helped me look."
"So all you had to do to find Luffy was row parallel to the shore," Nami says, eye twitching menacingly. "We can't even see the shore anymore! How are we supposed to look for Luffy in the open ocean?! And you," she rounds ferociously on Usopp, "were supposed to be keeping an eye on the boat while I rested from watch last night and instead you fell asleep!" Usopp shrinks back and gives a disarming smile. His futile efforts to placate her only result in a deepened glower.
"I did follow the shore," Zoro continues in response, the vein in his forehead pulsing. "But the island disappeared. It must be a mystery island."
Usopp's eyebrow twitches alongside Nami's. "I think there might be another explanation for that."
"I still can't believe you got us this lost!" Nami growls, baring her teeth and clenching her fists. Usopp thinks he might be able to see the blood pumping behind her eyes.
"I'm sure we can figure things out," Zoro says. He lies back and crosses his hands behind his head. His breathing slows and within seconds he's asleep.
"Don't think that you can sleep your way out of this!" Usopp yells. When Zoro doesn't wake, he and Nami give a defeated sigh. "Well, the solution is obvious, Nami," he continues in a much more decided and calm tone. He casts a fishing line into the ocean, bobber breaking the surface tension with a soft ploop. "I leave our rescue in your capable hands." Despite the fact that Nami now wants to kill both of them, she has to agree. She'd have to charge them, that much is obvious. She counts the berries in her head as she tries to figure out where Zoro had managed to strand them. How much would it be? 10k apiece? 50k? 100k? Thinking of their empty wallets pacified the rage inside her and filled her with sadistic glee. That is, until she remembered they didn't have any money of their own. Oh well. They'd figure out how to pay her back one way or the other.
Two hours pass as Nami watches the currents, checks the sun's position and the direction of the wind, and glares at the swordsman when he snores loudly. The sun beats down on them relentlessly, sapping their energy and will to stay angry. So when Usopp's line snags something large and fast and the boat lurches beneath them, they are all jolt to awareness. Whatever's on the line is big. The sniper struggles with the pole, bare arms straining against the pull. He braces his feet against the side of the boat and the catch drags the craft along at a nauseating pace. Usopp's foot slips. Fear widens his eyes. His footing is gone and there's nothing to keep him from plummeting into the water. The boat would probably run over him and bash him over the head. He would be knocked unconscious and sink into the depths. Zoro's grasps his waistband, jerking him to a halt mid-air, and hauls him back into the boat. Relief weakens his knees for only a second. Together they reel in the catch, splashing cold water into the boat as something sleek and black breaks the surface. The hook had caught in its back and now only its webbed feet still dangled in the water. The men blink at it. "A seal?"
"What kind of idiots are you?" Nami asks. "You caught a person!"
With a slightly closer observation, they realize she's right. The glistening black that they took for skin is actually the back of a skin-tight diving suit and black flippers. Even the diver's air tanks and mask are black. The line is caught on the diving apparatus between the two tanks where the person would have a hard time unhooking themselves. Dangling there like a mannequin, the person steadily spins around to reveal a steaming cup of tea in their hands. They spit out the respirator, showing still perfectly applied red lipstick, before they lift the teacup to their lips and take a sip. Nami observes how a bead of tea rests on top of her lower lip when the cup is lowered and figures there must be some sort of coating to waterproof the makeup. "So am I just going to hang here all day or are you going to get this off me?" she asks. Her voice is calm, almost bored. Flustered, the men draw her into the boat.
She removes her mask and cap. The woman is actually short, only coming to about 5'2", with dark brown hair that clings in damp ringlets to the sides of her face. She sits cross-legged and observes them over the rim of her cup as Usopp removes his tangled hook. "Sorry about that," he says as she reaches over the edge of the boat, dips two fingers into the water, and draws them in a circle. "I haven't caught a person since the mermaid three years ago. Ah, now there's a story. I was fishing in a lagoon on a-"
Nami hits him over the head. "Now's not the time for one of your lies!"
Usopp flinches away from her and bows to the newcomer. "I'm sorry for getting you caught on my fishing line."
"It's ok," she says, flicking water from her fingertips. "It happens more than you'd think."
"Do you dive a lot?" Zoro asks.
"I prefer it to traveling above water," she says. "The surface currents get so congested with ships in these waters."
"You're trying to get somewhere?" Nami asks hopefully.
"Yes," the woman says, taking a sip of her tea and not offering any other kind of explanation.
"Well in that case… How rude we've been. We pull you into our boat and forget to introduce ourselves. I'm Nami, the idiot that hooked you is Usopp, and that's Zoro."
Her expression doesn't change but she stills as her eyes fall on his three swords. "As in, Roranoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter?"
"I didn't give myself that name," he mutters in an exasperated tone. "I'm a pirate now. Nice to meet you."
The woman returns their polite bows. "I am Valentine W. Karmen," she says. "Sorry I wasn't the fish you were expecting."
Nami laces her fingers together and rests her folded hands cutely under her chin. "We're a little lost. I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to give us directions?" The others lean forward hopefully.
"I can't." She sips her tea as they fall to the deck in defeat. "But if you tell me where you're trying to get to I can help."
"If that wouldn't take up too much of your time," Nami says with an exhausted laugh.
Karmen stands, closes her eyes in concentration, and leans over the edge of the boat to slap the water three times. She sits back down and sips her tea. Silence follows.
Usopp gives a concerned smile. "How exactly does that help us?"
The woman holds up a finger. Wait. A few seconds later there is a watery rumble from beneath the boat. The churning water rocks the boat, causing the Straw Hats to grasp the edge of the dingy. Karmen doesn't move and instead focuses on not letting her drink get contaminated by salt water. A large, flat fish erupts from the water, arching over the boat and splashes down on the other side, spraying them all in seafoam as its long tail slithers under the surface after it. Karmen slips out of her flippers and walks to the prow and deftly tying a rope to the bowsprit. "Where to?"
"Beach Island, please," Nami says thankfully.
"That's only a few hours away," Karmen says.
"Hours?" Nami's eyebrow twitches in Zoro's direction.
"Don't worry, Parvati will get us there in a fraction of the time."
"How'd you get a pet stingray?" Usopp asks, leaning over the side to watch her dark form circle under the boat.
"Parvati isn't a pet," Karmen says. "She's my friend. We race together." The stingray surfaces in front of the craft. Her brown skin and dark wavelike markings glisten as water rolls off her back. Her back spines flex and the small white speckles on her back continue to glisten beneath beads of water. The ray is fit with a leather harness that wraps loosely around her fins in a way that doesn't restrict movement and has a small, flat saddle in the center of her back. Karmen climbs onto it, placing her feet on the flat swatch of leather, and ties the rope to the harness. When she climbs back into the boat the ray flaps her fins expectantly. "Beach Island, Par!"
The ray dips her nose into the water and oscillates her fins, instantly propelling them forward. By the instant burst of speed, it isn't hard to assume that Karmen had been riding her when she'd been caught. The crew watches her move in amazement at her prowess and speed and Karmen gives a prideful smirk.
"We have one other question," Zoro says, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Usopp's eyes gleam, catching his drift. "Can we ride her?"
"Watch out for the spines on her back," she says with a knowing smile. "They're sharp."
Soon the men are sitting on the stingray's back and the women are sitting quite comfortably in the boat, zooming across the shallow waves. "Thanks for this," Nami says. "I hope we aren't making you late for anything."
"A little detour never hurt anyone," Karmen says. "My trip will take a few months anyway. I'm actually on my way to the Grand Line."
"Really?" Nami asks. "So are we, if we can get everyone in the same place."
"Forgive my saying," Karmen starts, eyeing their transportation, "but I hope you have a bigger boat. It's a dangerous place."
"We have a caravel," she says. "We initially stopped at a different island to stock up on food before entering the Grand Line, but we wanted to go shopping at Beach Island. Sanji, our cook, wasn't really interested in going after he heard we wouldn't be staying there to swim, so we borrowed this boat instead. I guess Usopp and I fell asleep and our Captain ran off. Zoro took the boat to look for him and we ended up stranded out here." She sighs. "I know it's an inconvenience, but I'm glad they hooked you when they did."
Karmen checks the gauges on her air tanks. "I was needing a refill anyway, so I'm happy to help."
They reach the island in about thirty minutes. "I lost him somewhere around here," Zoro calls back to them.
The girls turn their eyes to the island. Something is on fire and they see a man in a straw hat burst through a garden wall. "Hey! There you guys are!" He leaps into the boat and gives them a big grin. "Great timing! I thought I was going to get caught for sure!" It's then that they see navy men chasing the boat along the shoreline. "What a cool stingray. Does it poop?"
"This is your captain?" Karmen asks Nami.
She gives a tired but happy nod. "Yeah, that's him."
The navy starts shooting. "I'll handle this," Karmen says. She leaps up to the bow and pushes Usopp and Zoro back into the boat. She crouches just behind Parvati's eyes, taking tight hold of the reigns, and they move like one being, zipping through the water with the boat in tow in a serpentine motion that dodges most of the bullets. One buries itself in the wood of the hull, but no one is hurt. Soon the island is out of sight once again. She sighs and turns around to find Luffy leaning over the bow, grinning ear to ear with sparkling eyes. A little taken aback, all she can manage to say is, "Hi."
"That was so cool!" Luffy howls in her face. "You have to join my crew!"
She blinks and regains her composure. "That's very nice of you to offer, dear, but um… No." Karmen wraps the reigns around her hand. "I trust you all can find your way from here?" She takes a knife from her belt and severs the rope connecting the ray to the boat. They begin to pull away immediately.
"Wait!" He stretches his arm after her and grabs her air tanks. She feels the pull but doesn't let go of the harness causing him to fly out of the boat after her. If she's surprised by his devil fruit abilities it doesn't show as she attempts to shake him off. Thinking her rider is under attack, Parvati's tail sweeps up and bashes Luffy into the ocean, severing his connection to the apparatus. Karmen instantly turns the ray around and dives. The crew grips the edge of boat apprehensively, unsure if they should dive in and save their captain or wait. Zoro is about to toss his swords aside when a dark form erupts from the water in front of them. Karmen stands on Parvati's back holding Luffy by the collar of his vest. He spits water back into the ocean, still too weak to move.
"I'll trade you your captain for the rest of my things," she says. They make the exchange and Karmen turns to leave. She's just about to dive when Luffy's hand grabs her gear again, lifting her into the boat.
Kamren spits her aspirator out and sighs. "I'm Karmen, nice to meet you."
"I'm Luffy! I'm going to be king of the pirates!"
He sets her down in the boat and she pulls out another steaming cup of tea from seemingly nowhere. "You're not going to give up, are you?"
"Nope." He gives her another broad grin.
"You did say you were headed to the Grand Line," Usopp interjects. "We wouldn't mind if you traveled with us."
"You're practically kidnapping her," Nami mutters. Zoro just sits back and waits for her response.
Karmen sips her tea and considers it. "Fine, I'll travel with you, but I'm still not sure about joining any pirate crews." She hadn't been able to fill her air tanks and, truth be told, Parvati could use a break. She reaches her hand into the water, making a slicing motion before slapping the surface again. Parvati disappears.
"Aww. It's not coming?" Luffy moans.
A bag suddenly shoots from the water and lands in the boat. Karmen tosses her diving gear over the side. "I'm sending her home," she says. "If I'm traveling on a ship then there's no point in me dragging her along."
"But what if we get to the Grand Line and you decide that you don't want to travel with us anymore?" Nami asks.
"Then I catch a fish and ride it," Kamren says. "I'm a champion fishrider. I can tame almost anything."
"Do you eat the fish you ride?" Luffy asks.
Karmen's eye twitches. "If you ever threaten to eat one of my mounts I will stab you."
"I don't think he'll be able to make any promises," Usopp says with a sigh.
"So do you draw a lot of attention from the Navy?" she asks, casually relaxing back against the bulwark.
"We try not to," Nami says. "But…" Everyone's gaze falls to Luffy.
"I see."
"Will that be a problem?" Zoro asks. His eyes seem more perceptive than Karmen is comfortable with.
"I can go unnoticed if I choose," Karmen says. "So long as fishermen keep their hooks to themselves."
Usopp, Nami, and Zoro grin along with Luffy. "Then welcome aboard."
A.N.2: I know this is a lot of non-story content below this point, and it may hit close to home for some of you, but if you want to know why I won't be writing for a while, keep reading.
Before I get into this know three things:
I am fine.
I am safe.
I need some time to decompress.
KeturahDaine once asked me what I enjoy most about being a fic writer, whether it was the reviews, visitors, or the views. At the time, I think I told her all of it, saying I liked seeing a wide difference between views for a day and the visitors. I like seeing the blue bars on the activity chart climb throughout the day. I liked the numbers and I love seeing the new reviews roll in with each new chapter. Now, looking at it all, I think I enjoy the responses and feedback most. That's why I always appreciate KeturahDaine, WyseInk, and SoulAuron and the rest of you who give reviews and messages about the latest chapters and speculate on where the story is going. You make writing fulfilling and having that continued communication really motivates me. I'm passionate about this story and I enjoy sharing and discussing it. Because your feedback is important to me, I want to remain open and tell you what's going on with me. I want to keep writing for you, but in order to do that, I need to get my head on straight.
For most of my life I suffered from severe depression with anxiety. It wasn't until about five years ago when I couldn't fight it alone anymore, that I sought help. With medication and therapy I recovered, but it took three years. This is only the second year out of my entire life that I have been depression free and sometimes it's still hard to remain healthy. For the most part, while I've been writing this story I've maintained a healthy mentality and have been happy.
Recently I stumbled across a band and their songs triggered some dark memories. I've been slammed with emotions I haven't felt in years and find myself crying without cause. I'll be better one day and feel on the verge of needing to go back on medication the next. Between family and work, I can't schedule the time to myself that I need as an introvert. I've felt compressed and agitated all the time and I couldn't get anything done without dealing with some personal things first.
Lately everything I've watched, read, and listened to suggest that I need to take a step back and reevaluate myself and my motives. Overall, I need to get myself back into a healthy mindset. I can't do that if I feel like I'm working towards a deadline, even one of my own making. Karmen's story is complex and heavy in a way that I can't focus on while I feel under pressure.
I've decided that I'm going to wait to post the next official chapter because it starts off the rescue missions and I don't want to mess with the momentum of that arc. Some of you may feel like I'm letting you down, but I know the majority of you will understand.
Again, I'm fine.
In simply making this decision and being honest with my home support group I felt a lot of stress lifted and I am doing much better, but it hasn't been enough for me to make a full recovery. I want to give you the best of my productivity. Unfortunately, that means I need a break. I need some time to myself so I can write you the quality chapters you deserve. You are all amazing, wonderful people and I want to give you something worth reading.
I hope to be back soon.
~KnightNGale020