Hard Feelings

Vivi floated down the massive gouge in the forest made with her fire breath, Luffy still on her head. Looking down over her handiwork, Vivi couldn't help but wince slightly; there was no trace of anything having lived there, just blackened earth. Suddenly, Usopp's comment about her sneezing, and destroying the Going Merry didn't seem so outlandish.

Eventually, they came upon the place the giants had landed, which was beside one of the two massive white mountains that loomed over the island. The princess wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say to them if they were alive, and lo and behold, they were when they arrived. As a matter of fact, neither of them looked that worse for wear, as they sat next to each other, leaning against the mountain, breathing heavily, looking up as Vivi came upon them.

"Come to finish the job?" Brogy asked, smiling grimly as the dragon loomed over them, "You should know that even today it won't be easy."

"Yeah," Dorry said, "We may not be in our prime anymore, but we still got plenty of fight left in us." Before Vivi could say anything, Luffy leapt off her head, and landed on Dorry's chest, before stretching up to grab his beard, and get up to his face.

"Now spill it!" the captain said angrily, "Why were you attacking my friend?"

"You're friend?" Dorry asked, before looking up at Vivi, "You're friends with a dragon?"

"I'm not a dragon!" Vivi protested. The giants looked up, visibly confused, to which Vivi just sighed, and rolled her eyes. She then slowly reduced down into her human form, dropping down to ground level, dusting herself off, and glaring up at the men with her hands on her hips. For a moment, the giants just stared at her, before it finally seemed to click with them what was going on.

"Wait!" Dorry said, "So you're not an actual dragon?"

"No!" Vivi declared firmly, "I just ate a Devil Fruit!" The giants looked at her for a moment, before looking at each other, before both burst into full on belly laughs.

"Gegyagyagyagya!" Dorry laughed, "Well Brogy, looks like we really screwed up here."

"Gabababa!" Brogry said, "You can say that again. Why didn't you say so, little lady?"

"I was trying to tell you!" Vivi said, waving her arms, "But you just kept attacking me!" The giants just kept laughing at that, and soon, Vivi was alerted by the sound of Luffy laughing too.

"Luffy!" Vivi protested.

"What?" the rubber man asked with a shrug, "It is kinda funny when you think about it."

"Try being in my shoes and saying that," Vivi said, folding her arms, and looked away. Did anyone here take anything seriously?

"Anyway, I'm Luffy!" Luffy said, pointing at himself with his thumb, before gesturing to Vivi, "And this is Vivi."

"Well, I'm Brogy, the Red Ogre," Brogy said, before jerking a thumb his rival, "And this here's Dorry, the Blue Ogre. And just what brings you to our island here?"

"Your island?" Vivi asked, to which the giant nodded.

"We've been here for the past hundred years," he explained, "Normally we spend the days fighting each other, but seeing a dragon was too good to pass up. So we-"

"Wait!" Luffy interrupted, "You've been here for a hundred years?"

"That's right."

"And you've spent the whole time fighting each other?"

"Pretty much."

"That's so cool!" Luffy said, his eyes lighting up, "No wonder you guys are so strong!"

"What you fighting about?" Vivi asked, "What could have happened that made you guys want to fight for so long?" For her own, she couldn't imagine any reason to want to fight for a whole one hundred years, it seemed ridiculous. Indeed, the giants looked at each other, confused looks on their faces.

"Now that I think about it, I really can't remember," Dorry said, as the giants both burst out laughing again. Once again, Luffy laughed as well, though Vivi only sighed, as she rubbed her temples.

"Anyway, again, what brought you here?" Brogy asked, "We don't many visitors here on Little Garden."

"We came here to train," Luffy answered, "Vivi just got her Devil Fruit powers, so we came onto this island so she could practice with 'em."

"Actually, that's half true," Vivi said, "We were actually trying to make our way to Alabasta, and this was the first island on the way. While we were waiting for our log pose to reset, we decided to practice, like Luffy said." She then glared up at them again.

"At least, that was what we were doing until you attacked us," she said.

"Ah, c'mon little lady, we really are sorry," Brogy said, looking down at her, with a friendly grin, "I promise it was just a misunderstanding."

"You know, why don't we try and make it up to you?" Dorry suggested

"What're you talking about?" Vivi asked.

"What say the both of us go into the jungle, hunt some dinosaurs, and bring them back to cook up?" Dorry explained, "We can have a nice rich feast, and let bygones be bygones."

"A feast?" Luffy asked, his eyes lighting up even more than they already were, "With DINOSAUR meat? Hell yeah! Count me in!" Vivi couldn't help but frown at his enthusiasm. A part of her was still irritated about this whole thing, but as she looked over the giants, she started to understand that these weren't bad men (and Vivi had seen her fair share in her days). It really had been a misunderstanding; a potentially fatal one for her, mind you, but they seemed sincerely apologetic. Vivi supposed if they did have true malice, they would've still been trying to kill at this point, anyway.

"Alright," she said, as she sat down on a rock, "I'll be here for the time, then."

"You sure?" Dorry asked, as he rose to his feet, "I mean, you'd be pretty good at hunting dinosaurs with a Devil Fruit like your's."

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed, pumping his fist, "A dragon hunting a dinosaur would be awesome!"

"I think I've had enough excitement for the day," Vivi said, shaking her head, "Maybe another time."

"Your loss," Luffy said. With that, the captain and the giants started making their way into the jungle, the trees only coming up to the giants' waists. Vivi had to wonder just how those guys hunted, seeing as they couldn't exactly stalk their prey. It was only then, when the excitement had finally died down, that the princess noticed Carue had gone missing.

(with Nami and Usopp)

There was something inherently ironic in the situation Nami and Usopp had found themselves in. They had remained on the Going Merry in hope of some form of sanctuary, while literally everyone else left the ship of their own accord. And now, the two of them were both clinging (or in Usopp's case stuck) to a dinosaur, which continued to barrel through the jungle. Extra points for how they were likely running from one of their new friends.

"Usopp!" Nami called, as she continued to hold onto the dinosaur (unable to think of anything else to do), "What do we do?!" She wasn't sure why she was asking Usopp, to be honest, seeing as he was currently jammed into the mouth of said dinosaur.

"I'M the one in the dinosaur mouth!" Usopp protested (his voice still muffled), his legs kicking furiously, "Rescuing ME should be the priority!"

"What do you want me to do?" Nami demanded.

"I don't know! Something!"

Nami moaned at that, completely at a loss for what to do. If this was going to be their luck going forward, they wouldn't last another two weeks in the Grand Line. With that, she just continued to hold onto the running dinosaur, while crying for help. Admittedly, she wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but help of a sort did eventually arrive.

There was the sound of crashing, coupled with a yellow blur, and Nami was sent careening off the dinosaur's back. In turn, Usopp was spat out, and sent flying. Nami ended up landing face first on the ground, while Usopp hit a tree.

"Uuuh," Nami groaned, as she rubbed her head, "What was that?" Usopp didn't answer, as he just lay twitching on the ground beside the tree he had crashed into. Nami shakily rose to her feet, as she looked back at where they had come from. The dinosaur was lying broken on the ground, its body looking crushed. But the weirdest part was who was now sitting on the dinosaur; it was a woman dressed in a strange, lemon themed outfit, carrying a parasol.

"I don't know who you are, but thanks!" Nami called, "You really helped us out there!" The woman looked over to them, and smiled. But it was not a smile that gave any positive vibes; much to the contrary, it sent an unpleasant chill down Nami's spine.

"Uh, you are here to help us, right?" She asked nervously, even if she was starting to have a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the cas.e

"Trust me, little girl," the woman said, as she hopped off her kill, and advanced on them, "You have no idea."

(with Zoro)

Zoro took a breath, wiping his brow. He had just brought down another dinosaur; the sweat wasn't because he was tired, or anything like that, it was just really hot. The blast of fire, wherever it came from, hadn't helped things.

"Like to see that pervy cook beat this," Zoro said, with a satisfied nod, as he looked at his prize.

"That there's a pretty good catch, swordsman." Caught off guard by the large voice, Zoro looked over and up, to see a towering giant with an axe-shaped beard crouching beside him.

To be frank, any surprise Zoro may have had at this point had been expended. To recap the last couple days, he'd encountered a giant whale, a crime organization, and he started traveling with a princess who could turn into a dragon. If anything, a giant was pretty unremarkable with all that's been happening already. At any rate, the giant didn't betray any hostility or threat in his voice of demeanor.

"Thanks," Zoro said, "Took a while to catch though. Weird, because the last ones always came right up to me."

"That might've been us," the giant commented with an embarrassed smile, "My comrade and I often cause a bit of a ruckus whenever we fight."

"So that was all you?" Zoro asked, "I was wondering what all that commotion was about."

"Yeah, it's a bit of a long story," the giant answered, before he straightened up, "Well, I've got a bet with a friend, and I need to do some hunting myself. Take care, little swordsman."

"Well, good hunting," Zoro said, with a wave.

"Same to you, friend," the giant answered, his smile widening, before he walked off. Zoro then looked back out into the wild; he had unfortunately lost his way during the walk.

"Hey Luffy!" Zoro called, "Glad I bumped into you, you know which way back to the Merry?"

"Hey Luffy!" Zoro called again, getting a bit irritated, "I'm talking to you!" Again, he received no response, and Zoro was about to walk over to him and knock a little sense into him, but then he noticed a curtain of white coming down on him.

(with Luffy)

"So you've really been fighting each other for a hundred years?" Luffy asked, as he strolled beside Dorry. Keeping up with him was a little hard, because for every single step Dorry took, Luffy had to take a few dozen. Fortunately, Dorry did what he could to let Luffy keep up.

"Yeah," Dorry said, "Every time the volcano erupts, we fight each other, until one of us beats the other, someone surrenders, or we draw."

"How many times have you fought?" Luffy asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Dorry said, rubbing the back of his head, "I think I've lost track. Was it a couple thousand? A few thousand? Several thousand? I really don't remember." That whole concept really left Luffy in awe. He only wished he could have the endurance to fight for that long without end.

The captain was about to ask something else, but then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. After turning all the way, he saw it was, of all people, Nami. She was leaning on a tree with her back turned to him, looking out into the distance.

"Nami?" Luffy called, "What're you doing out here? I thought you wanted to stay with the ship." Nami didn't turn to look at him, as she kept looking out into nothing.

"Nami?" Luffy asked, confused, "Are you okay? Is there something wrong with your hearing?" Again, he received no answer, and walked over to see what was wrong, even as Dorry continued off, not even noticing Luffy leaving. As Luffy got over to her, he followed her gaze, trying to see just what was so interesting that she wasn't paying attention to him.

"Nami?" Luffy asked, bending down to look at his navigator, "You're acting really weird." The sound of a twig breaking made him turn, just in time to be consumed in a curtain of white.

(with Baroque Works)

"Alright," Miss Goldenweek said from her inexplicable picnic blanket, "That makes all of them."

"Yes, and little thanks to you," Mr. 3 answered, as he looked down at the struggling, muffled captain of the Straw Hats.

"I painted the figures," the girl said, as she ate another rice cracker.

"And how much prodding did it take to get you to do something that simple?" Mr. 3 pointed out, to which Miss Goldenweek just shrugged.

"Anyway, come on," Mr. 3 said, as he held up his hands, and globs of goopy wax appeared in his palm, "I need you to do more painting. Those giants probably won't be gone for too long, and we need to get everything ready while we have the chance."

(back with Vivi)

Vivi said as she leaned back on the rock, and stared up at the sky, not really looking at anything in particular, as she tapped a finger on the rock impatiently. She really wanted to go out and look for Carue, but she didn't know this jungle any better than he did, and would almost assuredly get lost (looking for him as a dragon wouldn't help either, since she wouldn't be able to see through the dense canopy). The best option, as far as she could see, at least, was to wait for either Dorry or Brogy to get back, and ask for their help in finding Carue. Vivi was honestly fairly confident Carue could stay safe; he was smart, and he could run probably faster than any other monster on this island. But it still made her nervous, and impatient to go and find him.

Honestly, this whole situation still sat a little uneasy with her. After all, just earlier, they had been fighting these two giants, who were trying to collect Vivi's head, and now she was waiting for them to come back with food. It was a weird situation in any case, and Vivi didn't particularly like it.

"Such weakness." This time, Vivi didn't bother looking around to find the voice, as she winced slightly, as she leaned down on her hands, with her elbows on her knees.

"Be quiet," she muttered.

"They attack you, try to kill you, and you respond by having a meal with them?" the dragon asked, "It is almost farcical."

"I'm not going to resort to violence if it can be avoided," Vivi said, "My father taught me that if you can solve things without violence, then you've succeeded in the day. Besides, they don't seem like bad men."

"What does it matter what they seem like? If you aren't going to use these power to defeat those who would threaten you, what's the point in even having them?" As she listened, Vivi could tell that this wasn't just about Dorry and Brogy; the dragon was talking about other people, far from here.

"I don't have time for this," she said.

"You don't have time to consider what your country is going through?" the dragon responded, "And how you're refusing to take action?"

"I will do something!" Vivi said angrily, "Don't think I sit idle!"

"You are literally sitting idle right now, waiting for your enemies to come back and feed you," the dragon pointed out. It deeply frustrated Vivi that it had a real point right there, as she groaned, and dragged her hand down her face.

"And while you do that, the rebellion you won't do anything about is primed to turn your proud nation into a war-zone," the dragon continued, "And for what? For the foolish zeal of a single man?"

"Khoza's my friend!" Vivi protested.

"Then why does he do what he does now?"

"It's because of Crocodile and Baroque Works!" Vivi said, "It's because of them that this whole thing is happening, because-"

"Damn Crocodile, and damn his whole organization!" The dragon snapped, "At this point, there is nothing you can do to undo what he's done. The rebellion is the threat that is primed to sunder your homeland, and if you don't act, that is exactly what will happen. In the end, machinations are not what truly matter. What matters is results, results you now have the power to deliver; the power to crush the rebellion once and for all, and yet you sit here on this island feasting and playing."

"But the rebels are still my people," Vivi said, "And I can't slaughter them. What kind of princess would that make me?"

"Tch, I suppose in the end, royalty, nobility, the elite, whatever you may call them, they are all the same. Just little more than faded shadows of far greater people." Hearing that struck a surprising nerve in Vivi's heart. She knew her family's status as one of the original 20 families that helped found the World Government, and it was something she tried not to think about, and for good reason.

She knew that the other World Nobles scorned the Nefertaris as "traitors", because they had chosen not to go up to live with them in their new capital after the establishment of the World Government. But Vivi knew such a thing was a point of pride for their family. They had chosen to remain amongst their people, and to take responsibility for their country, instead of retreating to sheltered, luxurious lives far from everyone else. And Vivi knew what the Nobles were like, she'd seen them.

It had happened when she was just a child, her father had brought her to Mary Geoise for the first time for the Levely; at the time she'd been too young to fully understand, but now that she was older, it weighed heavily on her. She had been walking down the road with her father, marveling at the massive buildings and structures, when she was suddenly stopped, and pulled to the side. The princess then saw a man, who looked the same age as her father, walking on his hands and knees, with another man sitting on his back. Even to this day, she could remember how wrong it felt, to see a person being treated in such a way, and she asked her father why the Nobles did such things.

"Because they're allowed to," Cobra had answered. Those words had stuck with Vivi ever since then; the idea that people could do horrible things just because they could was beyond despicable. She had thus taken pride in the fact that her family was different from the rest of them, and that they had not succumbed to the horrid corruption and depravity that their so-called peers had. And that was why she didn't want to use the power to annihilate all her enemies the way the dragon was calling her to; because she couldn't use the power she had just because she had them.

"I can't use my powers to just destroy anyone in my path," she said, "Because if I just start arbitrarily setting fire to everything and everyone around me, then how does that make me different from those who I claim to oppose?" For a while, the dragon was silent, and for a moment, Vivi allowed herself to savor a victory of it, even if it was a brief one.

"I spent longer than you could ever understand as just a trinket to pathetic scum that thought power was just from the legacy of better men and women," the dragon finally said, "And I will say, so far you are certainly not up to par with some of your predecessors." Those words truck Vivi like a bolt of lightning. Did that mean what she thought it meant?

"Wait!" Vivi shouted, as she stood up, "What does that mean? What do you mean by my predecessors? Did you know some of my family?" But she received no answer; if anything, it felt as if the dragon had withdrawn deep into her own being.

"Damn it!" Vivi said, as she sat back down, burying her face in her hands.

Note: Fortunately, there don't seem to be any hard feelings between Vivi and the giants, though the dragon doesn't seem to share the sentiment. Unfortunately, it seems that might turn out to be the least of Vivi's problems at the moment, as Mr. 3 enacts his plan.

On that note, while I think the conflict between Vivi and the dragon is pretty clear, I'll quickly break down how I see it. The dragon sees the rebels as the bigger threat to Alabasta, because they are the ones who are active, while Vivi, of course, sees Crocodile as the bigger threat, because the rebellion is the result of his machinations. As such, whereas the dragon wants Vivi to fly out, and crush the rebels, our princess doesn't see it that way. And after spending so many generations as a treasure to the World Nobles, it finally gets the chance to be more, only to end up in the possession of a princess who can't, or rather won't, act decisively. If I were it, I'd be pretty frustrated too.

Please leave a comment, and thanks for reading.