(A/N: Thank you to everyone who's following and favoriting this story. And for the review Misaka Phenex. There might be romance later on in the story, but probably not till the time skip. :) While I do have some mature subject matters in this story, nothing will be too graphic where it warrants a mature rating. Or at least, I don't feel it should. When I reach the time skip, I'm not certain, but I may give it a mature rating since I'll be writing it separately from this part. Only time will tell if I actually manage to make it that far. xD)
Running back and forth in a mad panic, Chopper cried out, "Ahhhhh! Luffy and the others were really eaten!"
Usopp pointed his finger accusingly at a distressed looking Nami. "It was you who made them go to the Grand Line seabed! You said it'd be okay even though you didn't really have any idea, that's why they...!"
"I don't think this is the time to be pointing fingers, Usopp," Toffee voiced. Nami looked guilty enough. There was no point in putting further blame on the young navigator and making her feel worse than she more than likely already did.
"No, Usopp is right," Nami expressed softly. Raising up her once lowered head along with her hand, with a firm expression Nami exclaimed, "I'm sorry!"
Tears in his eyes, Usopp almost fell to the ground from the girls rather blunt sounding apology. "You've got the right idea, but..."
"Maybe sound a little more sincere?" Toffee finished for the sobbing marksmen with a tired smile. Wincing when the boat jolted, the gray-haired female glanced over at Robin noticing the deep frown on her features. "What was that...?"
"It seems the turtle is pulling us along. Unless we cut the hoses, we'll be dragged into the depths of the ocean with the ship," Robin calmly explained.
"No!" Nami wailed out, now the one with tears in her eyes.
"Robin! You're strong, aren't you?! Do something!" Usopp pleaded, giving a light shake to the taller woman's shoulders.
"I can't. That thing is too big."
Gently patting at the pink hat upon a whimpering Chopper's head, Toffee was surprised to hear the Masira pirates doing everything in their power to save their boss. They all strongly believed that he was still alive. "It's inspiring that they're all so united. We should come up with a plan, too!"
Nami crossed her arms in thought, her brown eyes soon shining with resolve. "Usopp! Cut the hoses to ensure our safety!"
"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT SAY ABOUT OUR UNITY, YOU SHE DEVIL?!"
Almost as if someone had flipped a light switch, the once bright sky had changed to an ominous pitch black.
"It became night?!" Chopper gasped out, wiping at his eyes, afraid that he might be hallucinating.
Nami pulled out a pocket watch to check for herself. "Can't be! It's not that late yet!"
"Then, what's going on?!" Usopp shouted, squishing at his cheeks hard enough that they had actually turned red. "Luffy! Zoro! Sanji!"
Hearing the Masira pirates panicking that the suddenly darkening sky was a sign that monsters would appear, the Straw Hats understandably tensed up when something came shooting out of the water and landed directly on their ship. Only to relax when recognizing the figure who had been shoved into a burlap sack.
"Luffy! Thank goodness!" Toffee expressed with a relieved smile. She ended up squeaking while her hair frizzed up when Nami ran over and started to slap Luffy's face from side to side. "I-I don't think that's how you ask someone if they're okay, Nami-chan?!"
Turning when hearing shuffling, Usopp's once pale face brightened. "Zoro! Sanji!"
Holding onto bags that looked decently filled, a drenched Zoro and Sanji were breathing heavily, clearly exhausted from their ordeal. And the swordsman spoke up sharply, "Set sail! Hurry up and get out of here!"
"I'm glad you were safe! Yeah, let's hurry up and get away from that turtle!" Usopp expressed, crying happy tears alongside Chopper.
Zoro cocked his head at this. "Turtle? No, there was a monkey in the sea!"
"He must be one of the sea animals," Sanji muttered, chewing upon the soggy cigarette he held in his mouth.
"He was getting along with Luffy for a while," Zoro added with annoyance.
"Since they're both monkeys!" Sanji chimed in.
"But when he saw this stuff that we got from the ship, he suddenly started going on a rampage,"
When Sanji mentioned how he was like a gorilla after he lost it, Toffee let out a thoughtful hum. "That must have been Masira. Apparently, him and his crew salvage ships...So does that mean you weren't eaten by the turtle after all?"
"Turtle? What turtle?" Sanji and Zoro questioned in perfect unison.
"Hm? Something's wrong with the turtle," Usopp pointed out, causing a startled Zoro and Sanji to look behind where their jaws dropped to the floor. "His mouth's staying open...Oh, that's why you could escape!"
"WHOA! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
"Hey! Get a clue! That thing ate you and the ship!" Usopp reprimanded, a tick mark having formed on his head. How could two people be that oblivious that they had almost died?!
Having finally regained consciousness and wondering why his face kind of hurt, Luffy let out a puff of air while he peered around. "Hm? Why's it nighttime?"
"Luffy! Give me a hand! We're going to set sail!"
"Hold it!" Leaping out of the sea, Masira landed on the rim of the Going Merry where he sent the Straw Hats what he probably assumed to be a menacing gaze. "Don't think you can get away after stealing treasure from my turf!"
Nami's eyes sparkled and she leaned in close to Luffy. "Treasure?! There was treasure?!"
"Shishishi! Yeah, there was a lot." Luffy replied with a toothy grin.
Much more tense than his carefree captain was, Zoro slowly started to unsheathe one of his blades. "Crap! If that guy goes on a rampage on the ship...!"
Seeing Zoro of all people looking so anxious made Toffee wonder if Masira was more dangerous than his demeanor gave off? Yet it seemed they had something far worse to worry about. Toffee's pupils shrank and her face turned blue at the five incredibly large and winged beings towering over their vessels. That explained why the sky had grown so dark...and one menacingly lifted up the weapon it held. They'd all be done for if it hit.
"MONSTERS!"
Before whatever these creatures were decided to attack, the Straw Hats manually sailed away at the fastest speed they could muster. They only slowed down once the sky brightened and were certain they weren't being pursued.
"No way..." Zoro started.
"No way can someone be that big..." a panting Usopp finished for him.
Lighting a new cigarette, Sanji took a drag before muttering out, "Man, the Grand Line is just one mystery after another! Today, too,"
"We saw a huge galleon fall from the sky," Zoro began.
"The needle of the Log Pose is now pointing to the sky," Nami added, pulling her knees close to her chest where she sat.
"A weird monkey appeared and salvaged the ship," Usopp grumbled.
"Then, we saw a huge turtle that ate the whole ship," Chopper joined in.
"Then, night came," Robin spoke, her cheek resting in her hand and her eyes closed.
"And, at the end, we saw huge monsters who were dozens of times larger than the giants!" Luffy exclaimed, waving his arms.
"Yeah, those guys scared even me."
Everyone turned to Masira who was sitting in the group circle they had formed, and Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Toffee's shadow all moved to kick the monkey-like man directly off the ship, sending him flying high up into the air.
"I don't think you had to be that aggressive..." Toffee mentioned sheepishly as Neoshadow came back to her dusting off his claws.
Nami, who had decided to dump the treasure filled bags onto the ship now that she was over her shaken up state, huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't be concerned about that idiot, Toffee. I'm more concerned about all the junk that was brought back. I don't see any clues on how to get to the sky!"
"There was nothing else!" Zoro stated with a scowl.
"Sorry about that, Nami-san...It was clear that the ship had already been plundered," Sanji explained. "Or perhaps that there was some sort of mutiny and they killed each other."
"Then, all the more reason that we need information!" Nami yelled out in frustration. "You see, if we are to go to the sky, that means what happened to that ship could happen to us! We need information to stay alive, and what'd you get?! Rusty swords, dishes, and a live octopus!" Stomping her foot on some of the items, she continued to rant, "We need stuff like a 'journal' or a 'sea chart'!"
Neoshadow and Toffee clung to each other when Luffy, who was goofing around in a suit of armor, approached the irritated navigator; further earning her ire when he didn't give her any better clues as she punched straight through the armor he donned.
"I-I forgot how scarily strong Nami can be sometimes..." Toffee gulped out.
"And that idiot is only making things worse..." Zoro mumbled when Sanji tried to cheer up Nami with some colorful seashells, his own features pale as he looked down at their twitching captain sprawled out on the ground with pity.
Sitting upon the upper deck, Robin smiled at a fuming Nami when she came stomping up the small staircase. "Having a tough time?"
"It's only gonna get worse! Really, they're all a bunch of idiots! Now we can't get to our destination!" When Robin placed a little object into her hands that resembled an hourglass, Nami gasped. "What?! An Eternal Pose..This..."
"I took it from those monkey people's ship earlier...just in case," Robin said. When the young navigator let out a sniffle, she gave a tilt of her head.
"You're the only one on my side!"
A small droplet ran down the corner of Robin's head when seeing Luffy dangling the stowaway octopus and asking Sanji to turn it into takoyaki. Though Toffee seemed more inclined to keep it as a pet from the pout upon her lips.
"It must be quite tough for you..."
Giving a weak nod of her head, Nami examined the unique compass more closely. "Jaya...It must be their headquarters,"
Hanging over the railing while eating on the takoyaki Sanji seemed to have whipped up in an almost scarily short amount of time, through a mouthful of food Luffy questioned, "Jaya? Are we going there?"
"That's your decision, you idiot!" Nami growled with shark like teeth and eyes completely white.
Hopping down, Luffy tossed his arms high up into the air. "Alright! Jaya rudder full!" Though he paused when comprehension dawned on him. "Nami, which direction would that be?"
"Starboard."
Munching on his own ball-shaped cuisine, Usopp brought up a valid point. "Hey, hold on a second...If we got to that Jaya place, won't the log be updated there again? In other words...we won't be able to go to the sky island."
Chopper and Luffy unleashing alarmed cries, and Luffy approached Nami with pursed lips.
"Hey, Nami! What's the deal?!"
"What?! You're the one who decided to go to Jaya," Nami lectured, rolling her eyes when Luffy claimed he didn't know they'd possibly lose their chance of heading to the sky island. "It's your fault that you didn't think of it! The Log Pose has always worked like this, right?!"
"We're not going to get anywhere at this rate," Toffee mused, wincing when her shadow took to clobbering Luffy upside his head alongside Usopp. The Straw Hat male was shouting about how they should head to the sky island one moment and then Jaya the next.
"It's not as if a log can be stored as soon as we get there," Robin pointed out. "So why don't we go to Jaya and leave before the next log gets stored?"
"I guess we need some luck," Nami agreed.
After sailing for a week, the Straw Hats had reached the spring island of Jaya. Toffee had been hoping for a cooler location, but the weather in this area was very pleasant, and she closed her eyes in relaxation when a warm gentle breeze tickled her cheeks. She was happy they'd get to be on land for a little, but more so that the crew had started to warm up to their quiet archeologist. Zoro might have still been a little cautious of Robin, but the two seemed to be communicating better.
Something the log keeper was extremely grateful about, Robin and even Zoro had taken it upon themselves to assist Toffee at night to work on her hemophobia. She had realized just trying to work through her fears on her own wasn't the smartest option. And out of everyone, she knew Zoro and Robin would be the least to hold back on her. And it had certainly been an interesting experience seeing the two actually working together when it came to her training.
It came to the point where the others were getting suspicious to why Toffee ended up covered in bandages almost every day. And no matter if it helped with Toffee's fear or with her fighting skills, Nami took it upon herself to punch Zoro upside the head for being so rough...And then proceeded to smack Toffee upside her head for being so secretive and reckless; Robin merely watching all of this with amusement.
I just hope it will all be enough. There's no telling what we might run into on this sky island if we find some lead to get there Toffee thought, gripping at her shirt. Or on this island for that matter.
Jaya was indeed beautiful, resembling a peaceful resort. It might have even been considered a paradise, if not for the particular vessels docked.
"Is it my imagination, or do the ships lined up in the harbor look like pirate ships?" Usopp brought up, using a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight as he looked from one deadly flag to the next.
Nami gave a small slap to Usopp's arm. "Silly Usopp, since when can pirate ships just openly line up in a harbor?!"
"Y-you're right!"
Usopp, Chopper, and Nami froze when a man was punched to the ground-his face a bit bloody as he begged for his life-and they all wailed out, "What's with this town?!"
"It's like this town was made just for pirates. That's kind of interesting," Toffee voiced, looking more intrigued than frightened.
"THERE'S NOTHING INTERESTING ABOUT THAT!"
The moment their ship had docked in an area where there wasn't too many ships-on the orders of both Nami and Usopp-Luffy and Zoro had already jumped off the ship, eager to explore this rather unique town.
"I don't know about you, but I assume Navigator-san must be getting tired of the two of us having to always borrow her clothing," Robin chuckled out as she moved to stand next to the gray-haired girl. "How about we go shopping? There are some other things I'd like to peruse for as well."
Toffee eagerly nodded her head at this and followed Robin off in an opposite direction that Luffy, Zoro, and Nami, who had chased after the two, had gone. It was truthfully amazing that more of the buildings weren't in disarray. Everywhere she looked there seemed to be fights breaking out, and Toffee couldn't help but squeak when a wine bottle came very close to her head.
"This place reminds me of the town I used to grow up in. From the unconscious and possibly dead bodies lining the ground, to the drunks, along with having questionable establishments," Toffee voiced quietly when noticing a building where pretty young girls were calling down to the men below from the windows they leaned out of.
Robin's thin right brow lifted up when she noticed Toffee's facial features had darkened. She took note it seemed to be mainly for the brothel. "You grew up in a place similar to this? What was the island called?"
"The island didn't actually have a name, so the people who first resided there and built the town with their own hands decided to call it 'The Isle of the Forgotten'. My papa said it first started out as a place where various criminals were dumped, and it eventually led to others taking up residence when they learned the marines could care less about dealing with the people there. Others came there because they had nowhere else to go or they were trying to hide," Toffee explained with a deep frown. "It wasn't a great island for children to grow up on..."
Robin gave a quiet yet understanding look. "It must have been difficult for you living in such a place?"
"Yes. Until I met Altair, my papa, and my eventual brother's. We didn't have perfect lives, but we had each other and a place to come home to," Toffee expressed with a nostalgic smile. "Thanks to them, I was even able to get off the island and see better places, even if the people on them weren't always decent...I'm sure that's why I love traveling and writing about all these places I see."
"Having a place to return to certainly sounds nice." Robin agreed, closing her eyes with a smile.
"The Straw Hats feel like a second family to me in a way. They're all just as dysfunctional as my real one," Toffee mused with a small giggle. She then sent Robin a soft smile. "The Straw Hats could be that for you, too. Then, you'd always have a place to return to."
At these words, Robin made no response, just smiling serenely as she pointed to something behind Toffee. "Speaking of dysfunctional families, your rather peculiar shadow companion seems to have taken it upon himself to deal with the intoxicated man who almost hit you with the bottle earlier."
Toffee slowly turned, afraid of what she would see, and she unleashed a loud alarmed cry. Neoshadow was beating a man black and blue, and the pirate looked ready to pass out at any given moment. The onlookers seemed too freaked out to help, not that she could blame them. It was more disturbing that some people were laughing at the sight.
"Neoshadow! Stop that!" Toffee huffed out, rushing up and grabbing the shadow by both of his antennae. Ignoring his clearly pouting form and the looks she was receiving, she dragged him over toward a small shop that seemed to have caught Robin's interest. "We need to avoid causing trouble here! Not creating it or joining in!"
Almost childishly sticking his tongue out at Toffee, she sighed when the shadow dissipated into the floor. Hearing the woman that owned the clothing establishment squeaking, Toffee sent her an apologetic smile and bow before scurrying over to Robin who was already looking over some mature looking shirts.
"I find it intriguing how your shadow's personality seems completely different from your own," Robin mused, surprising Toffee when she was holding a light pink shoulder-less tee against her.
"I'm pretty sure my brothers' are to blame for a lot of his behavior," Toffee admitted sheepishly. "But then, my shadow's just always been its own person ever since he first formed. We're connected, but Heartless-kun is his own separate entity with emotions and goals that are different then my own."
Robin chuckled. "It is possible your shadow tends to display hidden emotions that are yours, yet you yourself are not aware of. Emotions and desires that reside deep down in the recess of your heart that would normally be locked away,"
"S-somehow that sounds even more worrying," Toffee confessed with a small gulp. Moving over to a rack of clothing, a faint blush rose up on her cheeks. "This is nice. I've never really been out shopping with a girl before. At least, not someone close to my age...I always did everything with my brother's, and Ash was the only one who knew how to pick out clothing for women..."
Robin's features became more tender. "I am quite enjoying this myself." Hearing the little bell chime when three men came into the shop, Robin eyed them out of the corner of her eye, but made it look like her focus was solely on the clothing.
"P-please don't cause any trouble..."
"Don't worry, sweetheart. We're just looking for some apparently freakish looking 'monster' who did a number on our buddy,"
"Either they don't know who the Bellamy Pirates are, or they've got a death wish."
"Bellamy Pirates?" Toffee pondered. That wasn't what mattered right now. She knew her shadows actions would end up causing trouble, and she sent the dangerous men a shy smile. "Erm, sorry about that. My shadow can get carried away, but it was just a misunderstand-eep!"
The pirates blinked when the short girl had ended up tripping on a coat hanger of all things, falling backwards into the clothing and causing the rack to fall down with her. When they broke into laughter, a frown crept onto Robin's lips.
"That idiot girl actually took out Kon? What a joke!"
Gracefully stepping forward, Robin moved her arms in an X shape across her chest. "It's not wise to judge someone based on their looks," The three pirates only laughed louder at this, their actions making Robin smile deviously.
Arms started to sprout all over the men's bodies, this causing them to shriek out in fright until hands covered their mouths. Robin needed to say only word before she was snapping each of the pirates' spines as easily if they were mere twigs.
"Clutch!"
Toffee could only watch in awe, not sure if the pirates were incapacitated or actually dead. They wouldn't be recovering anytime soon if Robin had allowed them to live either way. She found it impressive how calm Robin could always be for she had scooped up all the clothing she had sat to the side and carried it up to the stunned cashier.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to dispose of the inconveniences within your shop," Robin politely reassured. "Shadow-kun I'm sure will be happy to deal with them discreetly after what was said to its timid master. Then we'll see if we can discover some information on the sky island. A bar should be a good stop."
When her shadow had appeared and saluted Robin, Toffee couldn't help but laugh while removing a shirt that had fallen across her head.
I should probably be more concerned, but somehow, I'm not.
"DID I SAY SOMETHING FUNNY?! WHAT'S WITH THEM?!"
Toffee stood back when hearing Nami screaming, not sure if it was wise to return to the ship or not. It felt honestly safer to go back and deal with the other probably less dangerous pirates.
Robin smiled, more amused by the antics taking place. "It's quite lively up there. Why are you so upset?"
"Oh! Welcome back! Toffee-chan! Robin-chan!" Sanji greeted with his unique heart eyes, waving madly down at the two girls. "Would either of you like something to eat? Or should I prepare a bath?"
"Eh? When did you two leave the ship?" Luffy inquired with a tilt of his head.
"Your little assassin and I went on a shopping trip. We also obtained information about the sky island."
Nami unleashed a predatory growl. "That's right! You, Robin! This is all happened because you started talking about sky island! If it doesn't exist, I'll send you to a watery grave!"
It's pretty bad when Chopper would rather abandon ship when the poor thing can't even swim Toffee thought, shivering while she couldn't help but hide behind Robin. Zoro ended up having to jump into the water to save Chopper before he sunk to the bottom.
Robin wasn't fazed even with Usopp warning her to be cautious over the livid navigator, and walked to where Luffy was, extending out a map for him to take with her extra limbs. "Here, Captain."
"Oh! A treasure map!"
Usopp slid over to gaze down at the parchment for himself. "Hm? Isn't it just an ordinary map? Where is it?"
"It's this town," Robin explained. "The town drawn on the left is Mock Town, where we are now. And you see an x on the other side, right? We learned a man who doesn't blend in on Jaya lives there."
"Doesn't blend in?" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji chorused together.
Toffee smiled faintly at this. "A rough man we ran into said his name is Montblanc Cricket. This place doesn't seem too fond of people with dreams...so he was driven out of town,"
"You all may have something in common to discuss." Robin finished with her own smile, heading down to the women's quarters to put away her purchased items.
Luffy grinned while peering down at the map. "Then, why don't we try going there?"
"Hey, wait a sec, Luffy. I'm not sure if we should go now because...Hey, Chopper, you saw it earlier, too, didn't you?" Usopp brought up, his face falling when seeing Chopper breathing heavily next to a soaked and shirtless Zoro. "What're you guys doing?"
"I thought I was a goner!" Chopper wheezed out.
"Geez, you're such a pain..." Zoro grumbled, wringing out his shirt.
"But Nami was..."
"What?! What about me?! You tryin' to say I'm some simple-minded idiot?!"
"EIYEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"DON'T JUMP OFF THE SHIP AGAIN, CHOPPER!"
A small sweat drop running down her head, Toffee approached Luffy who was actually not joining in with the raucous antics for once and seemed more intrigued by the map in his hands. "It's exciting that we might discover something about sky island. I thought this town was a lost cause...I suppose the people you asked weren't too happy from those wounds you and Zoro got?"
"Oh these? There nothing!" Luffy chirped out, not looking bothered at all. "Guess you and Robin didn't run into any trouble at all in that lame town?"
"Well, we did, but they were nothing, too. Robin easily took care of them," Toffee voiced with a smile. "She's skilled at both fighting and obtaining information. It's really cool! I'm so glad she's on our side this time."
"Shishishi! You really like Robin, huh?"
Leaning against the railing when the Going Merry set sail for their next destination, Toffee nodded. "Yeah. I do."