History Repeats Itself
Day of Contraction
Mordor Island, an uninhibited island right smack in the middle of the New World, is where we begin our journey. It was a summer island, and a blistering one at that. The forest, which made up almost 98% of the island, with its 200-foot trees and 50-foot bushes, did nothing to combat against the suffocating humidity that blanketed the area.
The Straw Hats had arrived on the island just past midday; calm waves lapped at their ankles as they climbed down the twisted ropes and onto the sea soaked sand. The group, save Franky who decided it best that someone stay with the ship, followed an ancient map that Nami had stolen off pirate passersby a week earlier. The map, barely legible with its numerous tears and faded lettering, was said to lead to an area on the island rumoured to be home to an ancient treasure.
Walking through the jungle had proved to be more strenuous than they had originally thought. The humidity and intense heat combated that of even Alabasta, leaving the group far more exhausted and irritable than they would have otherwise been. The animals, which stood five to six times the height of an average human, had no chance against the cranky Straw Hats who wanted nothing more than a cool shelter. Chopper, with his thick reindeer coat, barely made it ten minutes before giving up and turning back to the safe haven of the Thousand Sunny with Brooke.
It was nearing supper when Usopp had finally spotted something that was not trees or other forest debris. "A castle?" he questioned, his sharp eyes zoning in on the deteriorating building before anyone else. He turned to Nami and looked over her shoulder towards the small map clutched in her hands. "Is there anything about a castle on that map of yours? I thought this was an uninhibited island."
She glanced down at the map in her hand and turned it over to the scrawled writing in the back. It was illegible. Annoyed, partially because of the heat, partially because of the faded map that held very few clues, Nami glared at him. "Do you see any people, Idiot?" she snipped.
"Touchy," Usopp muttered to himself, running a hand through his sweat soaked curls to pull it away from his face. He grimaced at the wetness and wiped it off on his tank top. He looked over at Luffy who was trotting beside him looking for all he was worth as if he were about to keel over, "oi, Luffy. Are you okay?"
"So thirsty," Luffy whined, sending puppy dog eyes towards Usopp.
Usopp chuckled and rolled his eyes, "well, you aren't getting any of my water. You should have thought about needing water when you were giving yours to that flying bird thing."
"I was giving him water so that he would let me ride him!" Luffy pouted his voice defensive as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at his best friend.
"Oh that worked brilliantly," Usopp snapped back. "You lost all of your water and you don't have a ride. Brilliant plan, Captain."
"Knock it off, it's too hot to be listening to you two bicker," Nami sighed and rubbed her head.
"Miss. Nami, would you like me to carry you?" Sanji asked, attempting to hide how fatigued he himself was.
"We're here," Robin stated and sure enough, they were. "This castle is very old; I would place it at almost a thousand years if not more going by the structure and the amount of deterioration it has been through." She squinted towards the top of the castle her eyes scanning as they brought their way down to the large, eaten away wooden door. Vines covered the building way past the roof, causing the castle to look almost as if the foliage were eating it. Then again, they were in the New World that meant it highly probable that the vines were in fact eating the castle. "I would say it has been at least five hundred years since someone properly maintained the castle, less if there was some kind of war."
"Is it safe?" Zoro asked from behind the group. His arms crossed in front of his chest as he studied the large structure.
"With castles this old there will always be traps that have yet to be triggered."
"Miss. Robin is so smart!" Sanji cooed, his pupils dilating into little hearts as he twirled around.
"I wonder where the treasure is- Luffy, Usopp, where are you going‽" Nami called out as the two boys made their way up the stairs and through the wooden door.
Relief crossed their features as soon as they entered the stone building and Usopp turned towards the others, "get in here! It's so much cooler than outside." He sneezed softly and shook his head, "If not a bit dusty."
"If you wish for treasure, Miss. Navigator, you should head to the lower levels." Robin informed her crewmate as she scanned the golden interior. "It would interest you to know that the walls have gold imbedded in them."
Luffy, Usopp and Nami turned towards her, "really‽"
"Yes, but I would caution against taking any of the gold out of the walls. It would cause instability in the structure and we will all probably be crushed to death on impact."
"Down we go!" Usopp said with a forced gusto, leading Nami to a flight of stairs.
"Keep your hands off Miss. Nami, you shit-sniper!" Sanji snapped, kicking his foot out to hit Usopp in the head, but the sniper was quicker and dodged the attack, taking the stairs two at a time. Luffy, not wanting to be left out of the fun ran down behind Usopp, his laughs and Usopp's screams echoing through the narrow staircase.
Zoro slowly made his way down the stairs, a small frown trained on his face as he looked around, an unsettling feeling rising in his chest. He moved to the side, allowing Robin to pass in front of him, his hand coming out to stop Sanji from passing him as the cook descended behind her. "What is your problem, shit-head?" Sanji sneered, "Scared of the dark?"
"Keh, as if something like that could scare me. I'm not Usopp," Zoro retorted, "do you feel anything weird? Like something is out of place?"
Sanji snorted, "yeah, your head. Now get out of the way so that I can help my gorgeous Miss. Nami find her treasure." Sanji ducked under Zoro's arm and started towards where the others had gathered at the bottom of the staircase.
"It's so dark in here, I can barely see anything," Usopp complained from Luffy's left, his hand lightly trailing against the walls as they moved inward. He gripped the back of Luffy's shirt in his other hand, intent on keeping his friend in close proximity. It would be a disaster if they were to lose him in the castle, who knows what sort of trouble the rubber teen would get into. Usopp's hand met with empty space, "there is a room here. Sanji, do you have a match on you? Maybe there is a torch somewhere."
There was the sound of the match meeting paper before a tiny flame gently illuminated the corridor in which the group stood. "Try not to touch anything; there is no way to know the type of traps that can still be activated." Robin advised as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. "There is a torch right above the door, Mr. Cook." She added, following Luffy, Nami and Usopp into the large room Usopp found.
"You think there are traps‽" Luffy asked his archeologist excitedly, "Usopp! We need to explore!"
"We really don't," Usopp protested, but did not fight as his friend pulled him towards another room connected to the one they were standing in.
"Keep an eye out for anything that might be treasure!" Nami called to them as they disappeared from view.
"The treasures you are seeking will most likely be rigged," Robin warned the younger girl as she passed her hand gently across an etching in the wall.
"It's Luffy and Usopp, they'll be fine," Nami said airily, waving her hand as way of dismissal. She huffed, and folded her arms, "there's nothing down here."
There was the sound of rumbling echoing through the room right before the room began to shake. Bits of stone fell from the ceilings onto their heads as Luffy's exuberant laughter and Usopp's fearful screams filtered into the room.
Zoro cursed and quickly followed Sanji out of the room towards the sound, Robin and Nami right behind them.
"Luffy! I am going to kill you! I swear on my mother's grave I am going to hog tie you and dump you into the freaking ocean the moment we leave this island!"
"What did you guys' do‽"
"We found a bunch of stuff!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning widely as he pointed behind himself to all of the gold piled on the floors and adorning the walls.
"We almost got killed," Usopp hissed, throwing his hand to the right and left of him where there were arrows stuck into the wall, broken bits of stone, and broken clawed traps scattered about the place. He ran behind Zoro and Sanji, feeling it safer behind them than in the middle of the room where there was the possibility of more traps still.
"Well, since you two are alive I think the most reasonable thing to do is gather all of the treasure and get back to the Sunny." Nami nodded her head as she examined the stuff lying around them, "Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, you guys get to work gathering all of the gold and anything that looks like we can get money for. Robin, could you watch over them while Usopp and I check upstairs for more treasure?"
"Sure thing, Miss. Navigator." Robin smiled and leaned against the wall behind her getting comfortable, her bright eyes scanning the room, watching for any possible traps that may remain.
Zoro rolled his eyes at the ceiling, muttering angrily under his breath as Sanji skipped and twirled around doing Nami's bidding. Luffy, while not completely ignoring what Nami said, was merely staring in wonder and laughing excitedly at all of the things they revealed as the other two lifted up piece after piece of treasure and placed them in rugs, and any type of cloth they found that they could to carry their goods in.
Usopp, merely glad to be free of the trap infested basement, was up the stairs before Nami had even finished giving instructions to the others.
Zoro kneeled on the floor, placing the treasure surrounding him onto a sheet that lay by his feet. He reached out to touch the last treasure in front of him, only to be stopped by a hand protruding from the floor. He looked up questioningly towards Robin who had a small smile on her face. "Don't take that one, it's trapped." He glanced down at the item again, merely shrugging and standing up, gathering the cloth in his hands.
"Luffy, step away from there," Robin commanded, her hands popping from the wall and holding Luffy in place. He had gone towards a golden religious statue, one that was obviously booby-trapped.
"Robin, let me go!" Luffy fought stubbornly against Robin's hands.
"If you touch that statue we could all be in serious danger," She explained firmly, her hands squeezing his shoulders before letting him go.
"Oh," He glanced at it and shrugged, "okay."
"Let's get going," Sanji threw a bag towards Luffy and another one towards Zoro before dusting off his pants and picking up his own bundle, "Miss. Robin shouldn't be in this dusty place any longer and it would be rude to keep Miss. Nami waiting."
Luffy cheered running forward, bag in hand, towards the stairs leading to the first floor. However, his foot caught a loose stone causing him to smash head first into the religious statue that Robin had warned him off of a mere few minutes earlier. He groaned, rubbing his head and squinting in confusion at the statue that had not moved. Had Robin been mistaken?
"Luffy, move!" Zoro grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt and pulled him out of the way just as the statue began to come to life.
Luffy's eyes widened, "that's so cool! Hey! Mr. Statue, do you wanna be on my- "
"NO!" Sanji shoved Luffy and Zoro forward, making sure that Robin was ahead of him before racing up the stairs towards Nami and Usopp who had begun screaming.
Usopp and Nami met them at the foot of the stairs both frantic and holding on to each other, "what the hell did you guys do‽" They both exclaimed, quickly following the others out of the castle as several statues began gaining on them.
Usopp took the lead, his sling shot in hand as he lead the group back out of the castle, "these statues suddenly came to life while Nami and I were searching one of the rooms. Freakiest thing I have seen since Thriller Bark. What the hell happened?"
"Luffy fell into a statue that he wasn't supposed to touch," Sanji grunted, "take one if these would you?"
Usopp stopped and slid his slingshot over his shoulder before relieving Sanji of one of the bags. The two of them stopping had caused them to lose the crew. This meant that the statues that they had lost were on their heels once more. "Separate, we need to get back to the ship before they get to us."
He took the right while Sanji took the left, both disappearing through the trees and shrubbery just as a guard of statues ran into the clearing where they had been just seconds before. Confused, the statues stood, moving their stone bodies from left to right. However, it was no use; none of the Straw Hats could be found. Resolutely, the statues decided to head back to the castle, satisfied that they had scared off the intruders.
o0o
Sanji ran, his long legs moving quickly as he jumped gracefully over fallen trees. He stopped, the ocean expanding in front of his eyes, the Thousand Sunny, bobbing happily in the water. The others, already having found the ship, were searching for their friends from the safety of the Sunny's railings. The chanced a glance behind himself and noted that the statues that had been after their blood where now nowhere to be seen. Sanji had hoped that didn't mean that they were after Usopp. He merely shrugged and lit a cigarette, sucking in a calming breath before heading back to the Thousand Sunny with the bag of treasure thrown over his shoulder.
o0o
Usopp ran, the sack of treasure he relieved Sanji of slung over his left shoulder, his trusty slingshot in his right hand. He swerved, first to the left then the right, never running in a straight line in an attempt to make himself a more difficult prey. He chanced a look behind himself and stopped short, his shoulders sagging in relief when he noticed that none of the statues were following him. However, there was another issue at hand to replace being chased by bloodthirsty statues. He was lost.
Usopp sighed, placing both the treasure and his slingshot on the ground. He squinted, glaring up at the sun, shielding his eyes. "The sun rises in the East and sets in the West… I can't remember if it's different in the New World or not." His eyes lit up upon remembering a fact. "I can make a compass and find my way back to the Sunny!"
He kneeled in the dirt and pulled his messenger bag over his head to lay it in front of him. He slipped his hand inside, biting his tongue in concentration as he looked for the old sewing needle he kept in there for cases of emergency.
"Yes!" He pulled the needle out of the bag and attached it to his shirt, once again moving his hand inside his bag, this time for a magnet. Unfortunately, for him, the last time he cleaned out his bag he accidentally left the magnet on his desk, never replacing it back into his bag.
"What am I going to do now?" He muttered to himself, pushing a lock of hair from his eyes. Usopp allowed himself to fall back against the tree behind him and hit his head against it, closing his eyes, "think, Usopp. You know this!"
"If you don't have a magnet… you can use wool to magnetize a needle… or silk? No, not silk, just wool. You rub the material for… gah! I can't remember!" Usopp ran his fingers through his hair pulling on the strands lightly. "10...60...90...30...100...70...100...100 times! Yes, that's it!"
He took the needle from his shirt and rubbed it vigorously on the inside of his messenger bag. His eyes glanced to the ground, looking for a suitable puddle to lean the needle on. Usopp then stood, his needle well magnetized, and plucked a leaf off the lowest branch of the tree.
Usopp yawned, slowly walking towards the small puddle he had noticed was ripping. He kneeled, placing the leaf in the middle and then the needle on top of it. Slowly he turned the leaf in the water and backed away, watching anxiously as it swirled in the water. The Sniper stared up towards the sky as the needle came to a stop, his eyes squinting up at the setting sun.
"Okay so assuming it's the same in the New World, that way would be West, which means," he twisted his body towards the way the top of the needle was pointing. "That would mean that that is the North." He closed his eyes in thought, "the ship is in the North East which means that I would have to go that way."
The Sniper nodded to himself, happy to know the path he would need to take. He nimbly extracted the needle from the leaf and wiped it on his pants before placing it in his pocket. He stood and brushed his pants off. If he hurried, he could make it as night completely falls.
"Ow!" Usopp complained, stopping short to slap his hand against the back of his neck and wincing. "Stupid bug," he muttered as he bent down to pick up his messenger bag and the treasure bag. He gripped the handle of his slingshot and made his way back to the Thousand Sunny.
Little did Usopp know, in a few days time, he would be knocking at dealth's door merely because of said stupid bug.
Hello, Everyone!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did: Favorite, Alert and/or leave a review!
Keep it classy, make good choices, and see you next time!
Best,
Chandlure