(A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favorited, and added this story to your alerts! It always makes me happy seeing how much this random piece is being enjoyed. ^_^ Since I'm trying to keep character design close to the manga, I decided to give Robin the features she has there instead of in the anime. Even if I did prefer her earlier design with Robin's pretty blue eyes and darker skin. Compared to having just plain brown eyes. ^^' But Robin's still one of the coolest females in One Piece either way. x3)
"I'm not afraid."
"I'm not afraid."
"I'm not afraid!"
Staring at the moderate sized gash she had made in her palm, that trembled just a little, Toffee watched as her blood started to trickle slightly down her wrist. After they had managed to escape from the marines, Toffee had gone down to the women's quarters, claiming she was a bit tired. Considering the others were mourning the loss of a beloved crew mate, she figured now was the best time to test her limits.
"You know, I don't think your friends would approve of you hurting yourself like that,"
"That's true...But I have to make sure I'm better prepared the next time I have to fi-eh?"
Slowly turning when it dawned on Toffee that she wasn't alone, her pink eyes shrunk seeing none other than Miss All Sunday sitting on the couch in the room with a book in her hand.
"M-M-Miss All Sunday? Wh-what are you doing-ack!" Toffee started to stammer out, only to lean too far backwards in the chair where she sat, falling to the ground alongside it.
Chuckling and closing the novel she had been invested in, Miss All Sunday smiled and moved to crouch down in front of the gray-haired woman. "There's no need to call me by that moniker any longer. Nico Robin is fine,"
Staring at the rather beautiful woman with light distrust, Toffee felt even more baffled when Robin was gently grabbing at her hand and wrapping a cloth tightly around the wound to stop any more blood from emerging. Even cleaning up the traces of blood that remained.
Tilting her head, Toffee questioned in a soft voice, "I don't understand...?"
"I made myself comfortable on this rather cute ship two days before you all set sail. I've been keeping myself hidden for the time, but I should probably go introduce myself to the others," Robin hummed out, heading for the stairs that led up to the storage room.
"That isn't exactly what I meant...W-wait! Are you sure that's a good idea?!" Toffee squeaked out, stumbling a bit as she stood up before she scurried after the former Baroque Works agent.
Hearing the alarmed shouts of her friends, Toffee nervously peeked out the door-with her shadow copying her movements. Zoro and the others had their weapons pointed at Nico Robin, but the dark-haired woman merely created multiple hands that disarmed them.
"Didn't I tell you before not to point such dangerous objects at me?" Robin reminded, an enigmatic smile upon her fair features.
"How long have you been on this ship?!" Nami demanded. Feeling even more annoyed when Robin said she was borrowing her clothes. She hadn't even noticed before that she was wearing them.
Turning to Toffee, Zoro gave the pink eyed woman an irritated gaze. "Why didn't you tell us sooner she was on board?!"
"B-because I only found out that she was here myself a few minutes ago, eh heh..." Toffee confessed, poking her index fingers together. Seeing Heartless mimic Toffee's timid motions caused Zoro to slap his forehead. Weren't these two supposed to have better instincts to pick up on threats?
Straightening out a folding chair, Robin turned her smile on Luffy. "Monkey D. Luffy...You haven't forgotten what you did to me, have you?"
Letting out a growl and grabbing a confused Luffy to shake back and forth, Sanji roared out, "Luffy! What'd you do to that beautiful lady, you bastard?!"
"Hey, you! Don't lie! I didn't do anything to you!" Luffy huffed out.
Her arms resting behind her head as Robin made herself comfortable, she continued to insist, "Yes, you did. What you did to me was unbearable. Take responsibility,"
"I had no idea Luffy was capable of something like that..." Toffee gasped out, her face turning a blotchy red and her hands moving to cover her mouth.
"I'm more amazed your mind would actually go there..." Zoro sighed out, crossing his arms over his chest. This was Luffy they were talking about. And he rolled his eyes seeing Sanji shaking Luffy with even more force. This Nico woman was causing more trouble than they needed right now.
"What the heck are you guys talking about? I don't understand what she means?!" Luffy slightly whined.
Resting her cheek in the palm of her hand, Robin surprised everyone by her next words. "Let me...join your crew." Memories of what happened in that tomb made a nostalgic smile form on Robin's lips, and she closed her eyes. "You made me live then when I wanted to die. That's your crime. There's no place for me to go or go back to. So let me stay on this ship."
"Oh, I see...Then I guess we have no choice...Okay."
"LUFFY!"
Simply grinning at his stupefied, angry-or elated in Sanji's case-nakama, Luffy uttered out cheerfully, "Don't worry. She isn't a bad person."
He does seem right about that Toffee pondered, staring down at her doctored hand. Nico Robin almost has this quiet gentleness to her...If anything, she comes off as a person who's lonely more than someone who's a threat like Smoker-san suggested she might be...
Having sat down in front of the easy-going Miss All Sunday, Usopp tapped his fingers in annoyance on the small table in front of him since the woman was entertaining Luffy and Chopper with her abilities instead of paying attention to him. "Oi! I want you to answer my questions honestly! What's your name?! Ah...I'm Usopp. Nice to meet you. Yeah, nice to meet you,"
"My name is Nico Robin."
"Okay, then, Nico Robin. What's your occupation?"
"An archaeologist. I come from a long line of archaeologists. I became an archaeologist and then a wanted criminal," Robin explained rather pleasantly. "That was when I was eight. Since then, I've spent the last 20 years hiding from the world."
"Since you were eight...?! By yourself all this time," Usopp murmured, staring at Robin with a mixture of disbelief and alarm.
"But then, there was no way for a child to be able to survive alone on the sea. So, in the end, in order to protect myself and in order to achieve my goal, I've chosen to follow various rogues...So that's how it was."
What a sad life...I couldn't imagine what it must have been like going from one bad situation to the next just in order to survive Toffee thought troubled, gripping at her arm. She often wondered what her life would have been like if Altair hadn't stumbled upon her that day. Would she have ended up dead or in a situation similar to Nico Robin's? To be able to still smile...Robin-san is amazing...
"So does that mean Crocodile was just another rogue to you?" Usopp continued to question.
"Yeah, I guess...In order to get closer to the Rio Poneglyph...Thanks to that, I've become good at doing things behind the scenes. I'm sure I'll be able to help you guys, too."
"Oh...? Your full of confidence. What're you good at?"
"Assassination~"
"GAAAAAH! ONE ASSASSIN ON THIS SHIP IS ENOUGH!" Usopp howled, falling backwards in his chair with tears in his eyes. Though noticing Toffee had walked a few steps just to fall face first to the ground, the sniper uttered out in a more despondent tone, "Then again, that one's former profession is a lot more questionable..."
Considering Luffy and Chopper were still giggling as Robin tickled them with her created extra limbs, Nami slammed her foot on the side of the ship. "Seriously...! Being dealt with so easily...How pathetic! She was the vice president of a crime syndicate until just recently. How are we going to let such a woman join us?"
Usopp clapped, impressed by Nami's bold words, and the navigators features hardened as she continued, "Even if you could deceive idiots, you can't deceive me! If you pull any weird stunts, I'll kick you out!"
Not the least bit affected by Nami's cold demeanor, Robin simply smiled up at the younger woman. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind," She then placed a brown sack on the table. "I just remembered...I brought some of Crocodile's jewelry with me..."
Running down the upper deck's stairs with actual stars in her eyes, Nami cooed out, "Wow! I love you, sister!"
Toffee let out a small laugh. "Nami sure was won over quickly despite her previous harsh words..."
"That's an evil trick," Zoro grumbled, a small bead of sweat running down the side of his face.
"She's completely following that woman's lead," Usopp muttered. And his face became even more deadpan when Sanji danced over to Robin, placing a saucer of tea and cake in front of the dark-haired archeologist. "I understand him to be fooled but...Heartless-kun! How dare you betray us!"
The shadow monster had curled up in Robin's lap like some house cat; even being scratched behind its antennas as his eyes were closed in content. Yet it peeked open one eye to look at the sniper, sticking out it's yellow tongue and causing Usopp to fume further.
"We should have figured we'd be the last two to hold our ground, Usopp," Zoro voiced bitterly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Indeed, they're so simple-minded, or should I say lax,"
"Oi, Usopp!" Luffy called out, causing the long-nosed male to turn to his captain in irritation. Robin had created hands to stick out of the sides of Luffy's hat, giving him the appearance of having antlers. And the cutesy expression Luffy sported caused Usopp's mouth to twitch. "Chopper!"
Looks like poor Zoro is in the minority Toffee thought, feeling a little bad for the swordsman when Usopp burst out into laughter and went to join Luffy and Chopper who were rolling around on the ground. Seeing Robin pursuing after Zoro who had stomped off made the pink eyed girl smile to herself. It seemed like their unexpected new crew member wasn't the type to give up easily.
"By the way, Navigator...is it smooth sailing right now?" Robin suddenly brought up, leaning against the railing and seeming amused by the almost pouty look the swordsman was sending her way.
"Wind, weather...both no problem! It's going very smoothly, Sis!" Nami chirped out in a much cutesier tone than usual.
"You definitely got jewelry from her, didn't you?!" Zoro uttered out scornfully.
"Sanji! Isn't our snack ready?" Luffy whined out.
"Just hold on a sec!"
Letting out a hum from the usual lively atmosphere, for Chopper and Usopp had joined in Luffy's chant for food, Toffee looked curiously over at Nami who was examining the log pose. "Do you think the next island we land on will be much cooler than Alabasta was?"
"After Alabasta, an autumn island should be coming up next," Robin spoke up, chuckling when the petite woman's eyes brightened at this.
Peering up at the sky when something hit his shoulder, Zoro mentioned, "Huh? Rain?"
"It's not rain," Sanji voiced, holding out his hands as whatever was falling was much harder.
"Maybe it's rice crackers?" Usopp pointed out.
Much to everyone's bewilderment and horror, a galleon of all things came falling down from out of the sky. Luckily the much larger vessel didn't crash on top of the Going Merry, but its landing was enough to create a massive tidal wave that sent the Straw Hats own ship ricocheting.
"Hang on! Hang onto the ship!" Zoro shouted out, having already gripped onto the upper railing before he could be thrown off.
"W-why is a ship falling from the sky?! Is this a common thing on the Grand Line?!" Toffee squeaked out, clinging onto the mast along with Nami.
"There's no way this is a common phenomenon! Obviously, this is just a dream!" Usopp shouted, his eyes looking almost ready to pop out from how much they bulged.
"Aaaaah! A dream! That's a relief!" Chopper cried out, having been caught by Heartless as the little reindeer almost went flying right off the ship.
"There's more coming down! Look out!" Sanji warned when noticing more remnants of large and small pieces of wood.
Clinging tightly to the mast, Nami yelled to Zoro, "Turn the rudder! The rudder!"
"No way that'll work in these waters!" Zoro argued back.
"Luffy! Protect the ship! It can't take this any longer!" Sanji instructed.
"Got it! Hm? Usopp?" Luffy said quizzically. It was odd that he was sitting around just mumbling to himself when everyone else was in a panicked state.
"Cast aside your worries. Calmly close your eyes...When you open your eyes, a quiet morning lies before you," Usopp chanted to himself. Unfortunately, what laid before Usopp was a grinning skeleton. "EIYEEEEEEEE! BONES!"
"YOU IDIOT! DON'T THROW IT THIS WAY!" Nami bellowed, tears in her large and angry eyes.
"There's more comin' down!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH! SKELETONS?!"
After some time had passed the sea was calmer. It only now ominously resembled a ship graveyard from all of the broken parts-of what must have once been a grand vessel-that floated about.
"Why the heck did a ship fall from the sky?" Luffy questioned, gripping onto his hat as he peered upwards.
"There's nothing in the sky," Zoro mused.
"How weird..." Sanji muttered, glaring up at the clear blue sky. Hearing a startled cry coming from Nami, Sanji turned to her with concern. "What's wrong, Nami-san?"
"Th-the log pose! It's broken! It's pointing upwards and not moving!"
Robin shook her head, her own startled features gazing upwards. "It's not broken. The magnetic field of another island...has made it switch headings. And if it's pointing skyward, that can mean only one thing...Our log pose has been captured...by a sky island!"
"Sky island?!"
"Amazing! A floating island?!" Luffy exclaimed in excitement.
Usopp, Chopper, and Heartless were all clinging to each other after their ordeal; the sharpshooter badly stuttering out, "D-did that ship and those bones fall from there?!"
"But I can't see anything like an island in the sky," Zoro pointed out skeptically.
"Actually, it's not just the island...It's the sea that's floating in the sky," Robin explained.
"There's a sea in the sky?!" Toffee gasped out, her eyes sparkling. Even if the sea was her natural enemy, she wouldn't mind getting to see such a sight for herself. And she wasn't the only one who felt this desire.
"The sea floats in the sky and there's an island on it! Let's go!"
"C'mon, guys! Raise the prow!"
Hands appearing on both Luffy and Usopp's mouth to cease their shouting, Robin continued, "Actually, I've never seen the sky island. I don't know very much about it,"
"But that's impossible! How can an island or ocean float in the air!" Nami argued. "The log pose must be broken!"
"No, Navigator. It's not the log pose. What we have to figure out now is...how we get up to the sky," Robin claimed, her words leading Nami to purse her lips. "No matter what happens to this ship...no matter what kind of crises we face...We must never suspect the log pose. That is essential. If we doubt anything on these seas, it should be our senses. There will always be an island...wherever that needle points."
An hour later, after gathering various tools, Robin sat down to examine and piece a skeleton's broken parts back together when she had come across the deceased figure still in its coffins.
"What's she doing with that coffin?" Chopper questioned nervously, peeking out from behind the spar with Nami where the two had chosen to hide.
"Can you learn anything from that?" Zoro asked, his right brow raised up.
"I don't know," Robin honestly admitted, carefully using a pair of tweezers to place the fragile bones back in place.
"You've got strange interests!" Nami vocalized with light disgust, not able to understand how Robin could handle a corpse like that without even flinching.
Sanji was more amused by what he was watching. "A pretty woman and the dead, now that's an interesting combination,"
"Do you notice anything peculiar?" Toffee asked curiously after Robin had carefully placed the skull on the ground; Robin's brown eyes staring intensely at the once living being.
Her fingers lightly tracing the top of the skull, Robin replied, "This hole here is manmade."
"I see...then this guy was pierced there and died, huh?" Sanji figured.
"No, these are the marks of brain surgery. Right, ship's doctor?" Robin addressed, turning her attention on the shy animal.
"Yes...a long time ago, people used to make holes in the skull to relieve the pressure of tumors. But nobody does that anymore."
"This man died over 200 years ago. He was in his mid-thirties. He got sick on the high seas and died. Compared to these others, his teeth are well preserved...probably due to the tar on them. His clothes are unique to a particular area of the South Blue. I'd say that ship was an old exploration vessel,"
While Toffee and the others remained silent, taking in the information they had been given, Robin grabbed a book she had on her and began to flip through it. "Here it is. The St. Briss from the South Blue kingdom of Briss set sail 208 years ago."
"That's the same ship as the one that fell," Nami remarked, coming out of her hiding spot to get a better look.
"Come to think of it, it had a symbol like that," Zoro added.
"This ship probably wandered in the sky for at least 200 years,"
"You can find out all that just by looking at bones?" Nami voiced with surprise.
"Dead people may not speak, but they do hold information," Robin explained. "If the ship was for an exploration party, it should still hold various records and evidence."
"Yeah...but the ship sank into the sea..." Nami started to say, only for her eyes to bulge when seeing Luffy flailing around in the water; Usopp trying to pull him out only to be yanked into the water by the panicking teen. "What're you guys doing?!"
"Guess their exploration didn't go so well..." Toffee said with an awkward laugh.
"Somehow, I'm not surprised..." Zoro grumbled, staring blankly at the chaotic scene as Sanji had dived into the water to go assist the two 'idiots'.
Despite his drenched and wheezing form, Luffy grinned at most of his annoyed crew mates and cried out excitedly, "Hey, everyone! I did it! I found something incredible! Look at this!" When the dark-haired male pulled out an old and slightly tattered piece of paper, the group was shocked to see Luffy had found an actual map that was titled 'Skypiea'.
"Does this mean that there's really an island in the sky?!" Nami expressed, taking the parchment to examine for herself. Sighing when Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp started to dance around, Nami reminded them, "Don't get so carried away! This only means it might be possible. There're tons of fake maps out there."
"Funny how Luffy can go from depressed one moment to having a screaming fest with Nami the next," Toffee voiced with a tired smile when the two began to bicker after Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy's bout of gloom passed, wincing when Nami walloped Luffy upside the head. "Still...if that ship managed to get up into the sky, there must be a way, right?"
"That's the reason why we need to get information like Robin mentioned," Nami stated, her fist steaming while Luffy gave a few twitches behind her. "If a huge ship like that really went to the sky, then you're right, Toffee, there must be a way for ours to do the same! Let's somehow pull-out whatever records remain in that ship!"
"But the ship has completely sunk," Usopp attested.
"If it sank, then we'll salvage it!"
"ALRIGHT!" Luffy and Usopp cheered, net and fishing pole in hand.
"AS IF WE COULD!" Zoro bellowed at the three who were getting too fired up.
Chopper blinked curiously over at Robin. "What's salvage?"
"It means to pull up a sunken ship. But it won't work, since the ship is too big."
Nami just smirked and gave off a rather devious chuckle. With Usopp's assistance, Toffee found a large bead of sweat trailing down the back of her head when handmade diving suits-which had been created with barrels of all things-had been placed over Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji.
"I wonder if this will really work..." Toffee couldn't help but mention anxiously when a giant fish leaped up into the air rather close to the ship. Her shadow saluting the three men while holding up a small death flag wasn't helping with her apprehension.
"It'll be fine! You should have come along, Toffee! It's going to be fun!" Luffy declared while slowly being lowered into the water. "Whoa! There're tons of monsters down here!"
"...At least we know communications are working," Chopper gulped out, currently in his heavy point form. Though it sounded pretty scary down there when Zoro mentioned they were being lowered over what was possibly a snake's den.
"Seriously?! That sounds bad, right?!" Usopp muttered with a disturbed expression.
"They'll survive. Don't worry!" Nami reassured, not looking the least bit fazed. "Chopper, hold the brake tight, okay?"
The sound of symbols being clanged together along with a chorus of "salvage, salvage!" abruptly caught Toffee and the others by surprise. A good-sized ship soon came into view, and Toffee couldn't help but find the design to be honestly cute from its monkey figure head to the ship crafted to look like bananas. Though she couldn't say the same about the captain.
"He looks like a gorilla," Toffee giggled out when a bulky male announced himself as the boss of the Masira Pirates.
Robin let out her own gentle laugh. "Perhaps he is an actual primate. I believe I noticed a tail,"
"Shh! Do you two want an intimidating guy like that to overhear you!" Usopp scolded the two women, only to squeak when the yellow jumpsuit donned male turned his attention on them.
"Hey, you! What're you guys doing there?! This is my turf!"
"Your turf?" Nami questioned, scowling up at the oddball.
"That's right. Every ship that sinks in this territory belongs to me. You haven't touched anything that's mine, have you, huh?!"
Noticing Masira lowering a large crane into the ocean depths, Robin mused, "Looks like...he's going to salvage the ship,"
"Yeah, that's what it sounds like," Usopp murmured.
"Then what? Doesn't this work for us?" Nami brought up.
"Quit mumbling down there! Answer my question!"
Lifting up her arm as if she were in school, Nami chirped, "Excuse me! Can I ask you a question? It looks like you're going to salvage the ship. Is that right?"
"Looks?" Putting on a cheeky grin, Masira chuckled out, "Hey...do you find me that 'monkeyful'? That means 'handsome'. Do you think I am?" When Nami agreed, the pirate bashfully rubbed at the back of his head. "Oh, come on, stop it!"
"Oi! So are you going to salvage it?!" Usopp demanded considering things were getting off topic.
"Of course! If there's a sunken ship in front of me, I'll salvage it! I'm that kind of man! If it's on the water, I'll sink it and salvage it! I'm that kind of man! There's no ship that we can't salvage!"
Clasping her hands together, Nami asked, "Then...is it okay if we watch you do it?"
Perhaps not too surprisingly, since he seemed like the type to brag, Masira agreed. Yet from the sound of it, some of his crew members had met with trouble in the water...and it wasn't from the sea monsters. Though much to Usopp and Nami's relief, it didn't appear like the ape-like man was suspicious of them for the time being; even warning them to be careful.
"Guess it's a good thing he's friendly, huh?" Toffee voiced with a smile, her arms moving to rest behind her back.
"Don't you mean that he's an idiot?" Nami and Usopp quietly mumbled together.
Still, I hope the others are alright Toffee pondered, glancing over the railing. It wasn't long before Masira and his men were sitting up an intricate mechanism to lift up the sunken vessel, and hearing that his crew, that had dived to set it up were in trouble, caused Masira to jump into the ocean to check on just who, or what was attacking his men.
"Hey, underneath the ship..." Nami mumbled as their ship began to badly shake.
"Y-yeah...there's something down there," Usopp cried out startled. An incredibly large and ominous dark shadow was beneath the waves, causing both ships to violently rock when it emerged; the Straw Hats alarmed to see one of the biggest, and most ancient looking sea turtles any of them had ever witnessed.
"What's this?! What is this thing?!" Nami shrieked out, hands moving to slap at her cheeks.
"Um, do you think Luffy and the others ran into that giant turtle?" Toffee asked softly.
"O-of course not! After all, this is just a dream! Nothing but a dream!" Usopp wailed out, covering his eyes with his hands.
"A dream?! Really?" Chopper squealed out in immense relief.
While Nami, Usopp, and Chopper seemed to be giving into their denial, Robin casually brought up, "Oh? Were they all...eaten along with the ship?"
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO ACTUALLY SAY IT!"