Chapter 52

Spot on

"It's amazing!" Usopp marveled.

"It's so cool!" Luffy agreed, stars in his eyes.

Malek smiled gratefully, almost embarrassed by all the ecstatic looks of his crewmates on him. He really hadn't anticipated that he would spark such enthusiasm when he had grabbed his bow a few hours earlier.

At that time, lunch had just ended and a small island was emerging on the horizon. Nami had informed everyone that they needed to stock up since their next stop was several weeks away. Malek was familiar with the danger of the New World, so he had gone to get his weapon to disembark but immediately, all the boys of the crew had surrounded him, overflowing with curiosity.

The young man had answered as best he could the countless questions falling on him but he was grateful to the girls who had decided to cut short this avalanche by sending the rest of their companions to get cola and medicine while they accompanied the cook to go shopping. That way, he had been able to concentrate on his purchases, attentive to the price despite the astronomical quantities necessary and after almost two hours, they had taken the road back.

When they had arrived at the port though, Luffy had come running, an army of angry pirates chasing him and all his friends fleeing after him. Malek had then seen the Straw Hat crew go from cheerfulness to seriousness in a split second and he had been able to see that as he had imagined, everyone had their place and weapon of choice in battle. Without thinking, the cook had bent his bow and launched his arrows to defend himself just like the others, demonstrating his skill at shooting and causing the admiring exclamations around him to increase as soon as the fight was over.

Once again on the deck of the Sunny and while Nami was planning their next destination, it was only natural that Malek had shown the characteristics and specificities of his bow to his friends.

"I never thought you'd be an archer," Franky admitted, observing the weapon carefully.

"Could you teach me how to use it, Malek?" The little reindeer asked him, his eyes shining with hope.

"Oh, sure. But I think we'll need to make a bow adapted to your size…"

"There's no arrow rest," Brook noted.

"You place the arrow directly on the hand, hence the obligation to only shoot tied arrows on which you wrap a thread around the shaft and the base of the feathers so as not to be injured when shooting," the cook approved.

"Where did you learn to shoot?" Usopp wanted to know.

"In South Blue. I liked to shoot a bow and arrow and I developed it when I came to the New World. I realized that knowing how to defend myself was essential, especially with all these Haki users."

"Do you master Haki?" Zoro immediately asked him, interested.

"Not really, but I'm working on developing Observation Haki," he admitted.

"How do you do it?" Luffy asked. "We try to train too!"

"I don't know exactly but when I focus on food, sometimes I feel its presence even if I don't see it."

"You spot food?" Usopp wondered. "I thought Haki was used to fight or defend yourself!"

"Observation Haki allows you to better understand your environment, it is not limited to combat skills," Robin intervened, setting up her deck chair a few steps away to enjoy the sun.

"Is it because you're a chef?" Chopper asked him, impressed.

"I think it's mainly because it helped me when I had to escape the South Blue. Food was very scarce and we had to make do. I don't think I'd have noticed it otherwise. Either way, that's when I understood that this ability could be useful."

"It's just as we thought." Zoro crossed his arms over his chest and his friends turned to look at him questioningly. "The New World forces us to surpass ourselves and this is how we'll develop Haki. We must continue to train," he added with determination.

"Maybe you want to bury yourself again in the snow but for my part, I don't." Nami protested while coming back towards them after checking their course. "It didn't help and we almost died."

"We probably need to develop our abilities in our own way," Brook suggested. "Depending on our talents, we probably have our own way to achieve it."

"That'd make sense," Franky agreed.

"Do you have other types of bows?" The sniper asked, examining their cook's weapon again with fascination.

"I don't. It's the only one I have."

"What wood was it made from?" The shipwright wanted to know, "It's rather flexible…"

"This bow is made of yew. The property of this tree is to have a heart that accepts compression and a sapwood that accepts extension," Malek explained.

"A sapwood?" Chopper repeated, "What is it?"

"It's the central part of the tree, it's softer and lighter," the cyborg replied with an approving nod. "The bow is more flexible so it breaks less and allows greater draw. There's also a greater power and range."

"Exactly," Malek agreed.

"I suppose these thick wooden bows require gradual break-in before they can hit a great reach," Brook noticed.

"Indeed. And I need to wax it regularly to protect it from sun, rain and insects."

"Arcs look exciting!" Usopp rejoiced.

Luffy suddenly grabbed the bow to pull violently on the rope and test its elasticity and everyone rushed to prevent him from breaking it. Malek had just retrieved his weapon while laughing when the swordsman's remark dampened the atmosphere considerably.

"So you have a bow. But do you really know how to use it?"

"Zoro!" The sniper reproached him, turning in his direction. "You saw what he did earlier!"

"The enemies were about ten meters away and they were ridiculously weak, even for the New World," the fencer replied, undeterred.

"I'm sure Malek-bro is super talented!" Franky said.

"We'll see about that," the swordsman insisted, looking straight at the new cook. "Show us what you've got."

"Zoro!" Chopper got indignant.

"This is not a problem."

Malek bent down to grab his quiver of arrows then strapped it to his back. He knew that the swordsman's request was not unreasonable. After all, he had joined a pirate crew and their survival depended on their abilities. Everyone needed to know how to defend themselves beyond their first role and he had gotten a glimpse of it only moments before. His very recent arrival was not an excuse and he was aware that everyone would be attentive to his demonstration.

As Zoro continued to stare at him steadily, the cook looked for a target. When he had decided to board the Sunny about ten days earlier, the cyborg had warned him that the fencer wasn't the most sociable person around and Malek had quickly learned it. Each member of the crew had their own distinct personality but Zoro was undoubtedly the most difficult to figure out. Concerning the food, not only was he the only one not to speak openly about his tastes but also, unlike the others, he never expressed his desire to eat a particular recipe despite Malek's suggestions. The cook had the strange impression of being constantly in the hot seat when it came to food then and with Zoro's continual impassive attitude, it didn't help him know what the man was really thinking no matter what he did.

Fortunately, at the same time, Malek had noticed that the fencer's preoccupation revolved almost exclusively around his swords and his training so he sensed that he would only earn his esteem by proving his worth. Determined, he grabbed five apples from a crate that he hadn't yet put away before throwing them to the straw hat boy.

"Can you place them on the railing upstairs? Any interval you want."

Luffy nodded immediately and rushed to place the apples everywhere while the crew gathered curiously around the cook. As soon as the captain turned around though, Malek stepped back to the figurehead and positioned an arrow towards the railing. Focused, he repressed a shiver. He knew he had good predispositions for archery but he wasn't a champion either. He just hoped that giving his best would be enough for now.

Malek finally relaxed his muscles, focused on his target, and shot. The arrow pierced the apple which fell into two equal halves and his crewmates uttered a cry of admiration. Before they could even catch their breath though, the other four apples were sliced cleanly one after the other.

Malek lowered his bow then, satisfied. "I didn't lose my touch too much."

Usopp turned to him, stunned. "How do you get so fast?! I can shoot over long distances but not with such precision in such a short time!"

"Your technique seems perfectly on point!" Brook added.

"Speed is often decisive during a fight," the cook explained as he walked back towards them, "I focused a lot on that part."

"You did great, bro!"

"It was very impressive," Robin agreed.

"It could be quite useful," Nami approved, "You could participate in lots of competitions to win prizes…"

"See, you didn't need to doubt him, Zoro!" Chopper pointed out.

"Yeah, okay. Not bad."

Malek smiled genuinely. The swordsman may have crossed his arms across his chest as if nothing had happened, but he knew he had scored points.

"It was awesome!" Luffy had already picked up all the apple halves and was about to stuff them into his mouth with a smile on his face when his cook got them back in the blink of an eye.

"I'm gonna make a pie this evening," he apologized to his captain's sulky face.

"But I'm hungry now!" Luffy whined.

"Oh, I made snacks before leaving!"

Resting his bow in the green grass, Malek rushed to the galley and returned a few moments later with a tray of personalized snacks. Thanks to Sanji's notes that he found everywhere in the room, he had been quickly able to get an idea of the different tastes of his new friends and they welcomed him with new cries of joy.

"I made several mousses because the weather is quite hot," he showed them.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

Malek handed a large bowl of chocolate praline mousse to the straw hat boy who jumped with joy. The cook then went over to the girls who had settled back on their deckchairs and placed a coffee and speculoos mousse for Robin and one of coffee and cookies for Nami.

"Hm, that looks delicious," the redhead noted while sitting up.

"You already know our favorite flavors inside out," the archaeologist praised him in turn.

"I must say that Sanji helps me a lot," the cook admitted.

He then grabbed the snack of the swordsman who had leaned against the mast to give it to him.

"I've been thinking about a cocktail based on caipirinha for you," he told him at the same time as he handed him a lemon mousse with amaretti. "I think if I adjust the doses, the cane sugar will work well together with rum. What do you think?"

Zoro stared at the cook and his hand remained suspended in the air for a long second before it gently closed on the bowl that Malek was handing to him. The cook frowned.

"You don't like rum? I thought that-"

"It's not that, it's just…" The swordsman finally shook his head. "Whatever. I like rum. The more rum the more I'll like your cocktails actually so go ahead."

Malek was pleased. Even if Zoro often remained indecipherable, the notes he had found in Sanji's notebook allowed him not to be totally lost about him. Indeed, in the midst of the barely veiled insults that the former cook intended for his crewmate every time he mentioned him, his professionalism was no less present and Malek had spotted a lot of details about the swordsman's tastes. It gave him several indications that he intended to experiment with in order to get to know him.

"Great. I'm gonna keep the lime though, otherwise it won't be a cocktail but a simple bottle of alcohol!" He added cheerfully.

The girls started laughing and Zoro shrugged while grabbing his spoon. Malek walked towards the rest of the boys with a smile on his face then. "A strawberry mousse for Chopper, a white chocolate mousse for Brook, a raspberry meringue mousse for Usopp and a coconut and cola mousse for Franky!"

"Wow, thanks, bro! You rock!"

"My mouth is watering!"

"I love raspberries!"

"Thank you very much, Malek!"

The cook gave them their bowls, watching for everyone's reactions. All of them seemed to have a great time but he wasn't entirely sure if he was getting it right and although it was normal for him to take some time to adjust, he was keen to satisfy them. In the end, hearing only the sound of spoons against bowls, he gathered the last crates of fruit and vegetables he had bought, reassured. Dinner was in a few hours and he better not fall behind with his preparations.

"We're going off track."

Nami put her notes away in the book she was reading and looked up at the sky to look for the reason for this unexpected change of direction.

"Is a storm expected?" Robin asked by her side.

"I don't think so…"

The young woman got up and took a few steps towards the bow. Not far from her, Luffy and Chopper were playing at imitating Malek with an imaginary bow while Brook was practicing the violin a few steps away from Zoro, focused on cleaning his swords. In their workshops, the sound of discussions between Usopp and Franky on their respective inventions could also be heard.

Observing the waves, the navigator studied the current with curiosity. The trajectory towards their new destination was stable and now she knew the specifics of the main current that guided the ships. She didn't understand what could have happened then.

Suddenly, the Sunny veered to port and the crew was thrown to the side. Stunned, her friends instinctively looked up at her and Nami frowned, concentrating even more on the ocean.

"You decided to change direction?"

The young woman shook her head at the cyborg's question. He had just reappeared with the sniper and she continued her attentive observation.

"The sky is cloudy in the distance," Usopp remarked. Nami glanced at the clouds he pointed to before shaking her head again. "These are cumulonimbus. They're storm clouds but that doesn't explain why the Sunny is deviating."

"Is it the current?" Chopper asked, grabbing onto the railing to her left.

"Probably, the sea is rough," the navigator agreed.

"I can't see anything!" Luffy noted, leaning over the waves to her right.

"It's subtle but there's a gap between the thrust of the Sunny and the west wind. Our direction is deviated by fifteen degrees."

"Should we adjust our position?" Brook asked her from the helm.

"No, I want to understand what's going on first. We can always get back on track with the Log-Pose afterwards."

The redhead crossed her arms then, definitely intrigued, before sending her friends to get her navigation instruments from her room. A few moments later, Usopp and Chopper handed her the compass and the sextant and the young woman spent the next few minutes studying the sky and the sea while taking notes.

It was only when the Sunny suddenly veered off course again that she looked up, her eyes wide. "It can't be!"

Malek opened the galley door at that moment, alerted by the ship's shifts, and he went down the stairs to join the crew as Nami rushed towards the rail.

"What's going on?"

"No idea," the cyborg replied. "Nami?"

"I'm not sure… Usopp, go up to the crow's nest and tell me what you see."

"I'm on it!"

A minute later, a scream of horror was heard above them and Luffy rushed towards the ocean, eager to know what had triggered his friend's distress. "What is it?!" He asked because he still couldn't see anything.

The Sunny swerved again and the deviation from its original trajectory increased, clearly perceptible now. On deck, Nami tried to regain her balance, equally frightened and amazed.

"It's a maelstrom!"

"A maelstrom?" The musician wondered, "Isn't it a kind of powerful underwater whirlpool that swallows up everything in its path?"

"It's the black hole of the ocean," Robin confirmed.

"The black hole of the ocean?!" Chopper got frightened. "We have to leave then!"

"We're caught in the attraction," Nami noticed as the Sunny began to drift.

"We're all gonna die!" The sniper yelled as he was coming down towards his friends, on the verge of panic. "This thing is huge!"

Everyone looked up in the direction he indicated and a shiver of terror ran through them as they could finally see the reason for the phenomenon that was dragging them: the Sunny was on the outskirts of a gigantic mass of water about ten kilometers in diameter which hollowed out in concentric circles, drawing the ocean towards an immense bottomless well.

"Wow, wow, that looks deep!" Luffy exclaimed, pushing his hat down over his head as the wind picked up.

"Is this kind of a Knock Up Stream?" Zoro asked.

"It's completely different," Nami replied, "No water geyser will spring from it. It's a simple aspiration of infinite power."

"Why do you look so calm?!" Usopp reproached her, perfectly hysterical. "Don't you realize we're gonna be pulverized?! Do something!"

As it to confirm his words, the Sunny pitched violently again and picked up speed, attracted by the whirlpool. The crew was suddenly thrown to the floor and the sniper screamed even louder.

"Nami, what do we do?" Luffy asked her, turning towards her. The young woman slowly met her captain's eyes then. "Luffy, I'd like to go down and study it."

The straw hat boy frowned. "Study it?"

"A maelstrom is a rare phenomenon. It's made up of strong currents and the one we were following must have crossed their paths, that's why we got caught up. The northern current remains the most powerful though and we'll just need to take it again to leave."

"But we're getting dragged," the straw hat boy showed her, also hanging onto the railing.

"We can use Coup de Burst to catch up with the current."

"We're gaining speed again!" Malek pointed out, alarmed.

"This whirlpool is super wide and we're heading straight at it," Franky added while trying to maintain his balance.

"Nami, it's too dangerous!" The little reindeer was worried and he struggled to keep from falling.

"The Grand Line isn't fun even at normal times," Zoro grumbled, "You sure about that?"

The young woman nodded firmly then turned away from her friends to stare into Luffy's eyes. He was observing her attentively. "I promise I won't take any unnecessary risks. If I see that I can't analyze the whirlpool, we'll leave right away."

"I don't know, Nami…"

"Please! I want to map the whole world and such a chance to study the ocean may never come again!"

The navigator saw the torment dancing in the eyes of her captain, whose straw hat flapped in the wind on his shoulders. Under their feet, the Sunny was leaning dangerously towards the side of the whirlpool even though it was still a good distance from the center and the waves were crashing in all directions against her hull. Nami knew what she was asking was crazy. Not only regarding her safety but also that of the entire crew.

She grabbed the railing to pull herself up to the straw hat boy then, placing her hands around his neck and closing her eyes to whisper despite the wind swirling around them.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. This is my dream."

Nami opened her eyes and found the implacable gaze of her captain fixed on her. The navigator shuddered at his intensity. She knew Luffy was fighting against this monster who had almost separated them and she looked back at him, more determined than ever.

"Trust me, Luffy." He took a deep breath. "Okay. I know you're stronger than him."

His hands closed around her arm when the young woman slipped under the force of another jolt and he kissed her hard on the lips before looking back at her. "You can go but hurry up. The Sunny won't last long."

Nami felt pride swell in her heart at these words and she squeezed his hand with her own. "Thank you." She rushed towards the edge then, beaming. "Okay, I won't be long so get ready!"

"I'll go with you." Zoro handed his swords to Robin as he took off his shirt and Nami nodded while she was throwing the rope ladder into the water. "Usopp, I'm gonna need Liam's instruments, they're more precise than mine," she called to him. "Chopper, if you can find some diving goggles, that'd be really great. Franky, you have to keep the Sunny perpendicular to the water to prevent her from capsizing."

"No problem, Nami-sis!"

Her three friends immediately rushed off to their respective tasks and Brook approached in turn as Nami studied the surface of the swirling water once again.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Watch the horizon and be prepared for Coup de Burst. If the whirlpool gets too big, tell me and we'll go back up."

"You can count on me!"

Robin then tied a long rope around her friend's waist to guarantee her safety as much as possible and the navigator took a shaky breath, both terribly excited and frightened. "I'm gonna make fantastic discoveries, Robin, I know it!"

"I'm sure you will, but take care of yourself all the same." Nami nodded eagerly then stepped over the railing, Zoro right behind her.

Near the waves, the speed and the elements were all the more impressive and the swordsman firmly grabbed the rope connected to the young woman's waist while he clung with his other hand to the rope ladder. At his side, Nami put on the glasses Chopper had given her after Usopp had handed her a small backpack filled with measuring instruments that Liam had given her.

"Pull on the rope if you feel like you're being dragged away, I'll pull you back up. If I need to tell you something, I'll give you a pull and if you don't come back within two minutes, I'll come get you," the fencer decided.

"I'll be quick," she assured him.

"You better be. I don't wanna rot in here."

Zoro watched the rope in his left hand slowly unravel. The twisting because of the choppy waves, the movements of the navigator underwater and the sudden shifts due to the shaking of the Sunny had truly worn it out and it wouldn't be long before it gave in. Catching his breath to adjust his grip, the swordsman also noticed that the ocean was hollowing out more and more in front of him. In the ten minutes that he had been stabilizing the navigator, their speed had increased considerably and he knew that they would soon no longer be able to ignore the threat of sinking that awaited them.

At this moment, Nami came to the surface, suffocating, and waved her small device in her hand excitedly. "There are at least three currents from different areas, it's incredible!"

"Yeah, that's great, but we gotta go. Have you identified the main current?"

"Yes, it's a little further on the right."

"Good. Let's go back."

"Okay. Oh!"

The Sunny creaked above them, caught in the increasingly strong current, and Nami's device slipped from her hands. Without thinking, the young woman rushed to catch it and Zoro saw the rope break. Quick as lightning, he jumped to grab the loose end before the navigator disappeared but in doing so, the Sunny's ladder escaped his grasp.

"Goddammit!"

Suddenly, an arrow hit the hull in front of him. Another rope was dangling from its tip, and Zoro literally propelled himself forward to reach it, breathing in relief when his fingers closed around it. He then raised his head to see Malek leaning over them, his bow in his hand, and he thanked him with a look before holding on tighter. At the same time, he tightened his grip around the waist of the navigator.

On the other side of the rope, the rest of their crewmates pulled them up when the cyborg's voice echoed over the wind. "We're being pulled into the whirlpool, what do I do?!"

"Engage Coup de Burst and turn thirty degrees to starboard!" The redhead shouted while clinging to the swordsman. "The current's right there!"

"Super!"

The Sunny's holds soon began to rumble but the ship didn't escape yet another wave arriving against the current. The swordsman and the navigator were violently pushed back in the opposite direction, only held by the rope to which their crewmates clung in return. Nami screamed in terror.

Luffy's elastic arm wrapped around them and pulled them brutally upwards, making them twirl under the combined force of his gesture and the movement of the Sunny. Propelled into the air, Zoro grabbed the navigator's body to protect her from the violent impact that threw them onto the deck a few seconds later when they crashed in a thud.

Immediately, everyone rushed towards them, worried despite the imminence of their take-off, before noticing with relief that the redhead was catching her breath, her eyes wide and her bag clutched against her.

"I have… never seen… anything so amazing."

She began to laugh, overcome with emotion, and the fencer stood up, grumbling. He met Franky's equally cheerful gaze next to the helm.

"Coup de Burst!"

This was a chapter slightly more adventurous but still quite dense!