The echoing sounds of feet splashing in water filled the dark large canyon. A thick fog covered the nearby rocks and corals surrounding the stony area. In this environment the air was thick, a foul stench crept out of the darkest and deepest corners and condensed into a heavy carpet that smothered the first feet above the ground. Light was a rare phenomenon due to the thick, stuffy air, so it was not uncommon that when coming across something alive, red or yellow glowing eyes usually shone out of the darkness - even if it was the middle of the day.
Rubble rolled down the mostly steep, stony slopes. The dust was heavy and mixed with the fog, making breathing a heavy task. However, this did not stop it from raising its huge paws and swinging at the small creature in front of it. With a shrill roar and widely spread mandibles, the large insect pinned the woman between the narrow canyon and swung its razor-sharp covered arms in her direction. With a great crack, rocks were split, coral splintered and the viscous substance that covered the ground to within a few centimeters of the surface swirled up. With a shriek, she jumped to the side, grabbed a nearby branch-like appendage protuding from one oft he nearest corals that still were intact and swung herself to another, higher rock. Stumbling forward, she stopped and watched on as the giant Mantis fixated its large greenish eyes at her. She could feel her heartbeat rising from the effort it took for her body to move in this area where her lungs barely could filter the oxygen from the reeking thick air. Nontheless, the adrenaline kept her going.
The mandibles pressed together as its many legs closed the distance between them. Only a few more feet….. Arms spread out wide, legs getting ready for another jump while the adrenaline kept pumping through her system her eyes focused on the task in front of her.
It had been too long…. Too long since they could get something to eat. Her body ached for energy, the malnourishment already taking its toll on her already skinny body. A few more days and she was sure that her last stored fat resources would be used up resulting her rips to get visible through the very thin clothing that covered her most intimate body parts. She couldn`t remember how actual cooked food tasted, how different spices transforms almost any meal into a delicious dream. She missed salt…. She never would have imagined that she would miss something that basic. But mostly, she missed eating food to get her stomach full without the fear of getting poisoned. Drinking water without getting the feeling of sickness, without having to throw up when drinking too much of it or eating food without the urge to spit it out due to its foul taste. The thought alone made her want to vomit, fort he second time this day.
„What are you doing?"! a young, male voice screamed out in panic. She immediately shook her head and scrunched up her eyebrows. She looked up to see the giant arm of the large mantis raising and aiming at her tiny, fragile silhouette on the rock at the sideways of the narrow canyon. Her mouth opened wide when her lungs pulled a large amount of air into them, the oxygen and the mixture of methane gas burning up the tiny pulmonary arteries, making her heart beating rapidly and her veins burning up, readying her muscles for the next jump when the mantis swung its arm down and split the ground by the heavy impact.
She stumbled backwards and fell on her rear causing her to yelp in surprise. She could hear rustling coming from the higher corals around 100 meters behind her, the rustling echoed through the narrow space and causing the giant mantis to look up. With a heavy breath, she called out, panicking. „NOW!".
And then a tiny glassy bottle entered her vision as it collided with the walls at the right side of the insects head. A massive, deafening explosion was set off and loosened the wall, giving the mantis no time to prepare for the sudden attack. A large pile of sharp rocks and corals shattered on the body, burying it underneath. She covered her face with her arms as tiny splinters of corals rocketed through the air and buried themselves into the skin of her arms, midriff and legs. She grunted out in pain and clenched her eyes shut. Her palms covered her ears still in hope to reduce the painful ringing inside her head, weakening her mind further.
She couldn`t hear it before she felt it. A warm hand gently laid on the pale skin of her shoulder and carefully pulled her arms from her head. The fingers of another hand trailed down her cheek and rested on her chin, lifting it slowly. A gesture that she always welcomed. It soothed her in many dangerous situations in her past many many years ago. Light brown eyes blinked as she looked directly into his face. The explosion mingled the fog, removed a large amount of corals that had been lined up at the tip of the canyon and revealed a thread of light that was shining at their small figures standing on the rock in the narrow pathway. The light blurred the face in front of her. The usual dark skin seemed to brighten up in the unusual light, the dark brows knitted together and lips forming a deep frown. Dark eyes looked down at her with worry, small strands of black hair coming out from under the furry, dirty hat. She didn`t miss the faint shadows right under those eyes and the characteristic dark sideburns and goatee.
„Oi, are you okay?"
She smiled.
„Law?" she didn`t even recognize her own voice, it felt so weak.
She could hear a sigh when the warm fingers under her chin left and instead he rested his palm on the left side of her cheek.
„….. You are doing it again" he rasped out in a worried tone. She frowned at the voice that seemed so much younger than the voice of the person she saw in front of her. Her bad…. Her pupils dilated and she blinked again, trying to get rid of the burning of her eyes resulting from her staring. Once her vision sharpened the goatee and sideburns disappeared and instead, she looked into a much younger face of a teenage boy only 4 inches taller than her. His bright brown eyes continued to stard into hers, refusing to look away yet.
„I`m sorry, I thought-„
„I know" he interrupted. He pulled away from her face. „It had been almost a week" he explained. His own stomach growled out loud as if reminding them both of their situation. He grabbed her left arm and inspected it. She couldn`t hold back a twitch of her lips upwards.
„I cannot help it, you almost look like him. He had been overly protective as well, you know" she giggled at the annoyed huff coming from him. Every time he would stop in his tracks and check on her well being and every time she felt like teasing him would lighten up their mood. In truth, she deeply apprecciated that display of concern and kindness.
„Can you drop it please?" he started, a slight pout replacing the frown he held only seconds before. „We should get going to work. I doubt that we will have enough time for the harvest before they come. The explosion will attract the smaller ones as well. Hurry up" he ordered and hopped down the rock, making his way towards their prey.
She released a heavy breath and followed soon after. Her bare feet landed on the greyish liquid covering the floor with a loud splash. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She couldn`t wait to leave this dirty place. The stones that covered most of the insects body were slowly lifted up and carefully placed to the ground, giving them access to the main parts. He jumped on the head and grabbed his primal knife attached at his belt, starting to cut the fangs out while she started to work on the chest. Removing the plates protecting the soft skin and flesh underneath was no easy task, but they had been experienced enough to be able to detect tiny cracks in between the plates, plunge their knives in them and lever out the large hardened scales. She set down a large bag next to her as she started to harvest the soft greyish tissue, carefully leaving the veins intact. In most insects their blood was enriched with cyanide and it was nearly impossible to get rid of it without the access to clean water.
She could hear a crack when she saw him pulling out the large mandibles. He used his power to break off the tips and stuffed them inside his own bag then he stood up and swung the bag over his shoulder. With one singly jump he landed next to her on the plates of the giant chest. Putting the bag next to hers, he closed it and then grabbed another, longer clean knife and started to harvest as well, throwing the slices into her bag.
A distant loud roar caught their attention and he immediately tensed up. „We should go before they track us down" he took the bag when she put the last piece into it, clolsed it and swung it over his shoulder, tying it around his chest. When she reached out for his lighter bag, a tatooed had grabbed it and lifted it out of her reach.
„Hey!" at her protest he simply tied it at his belt and jumped down on the ground. „We don`t have time for you to slow down" he explained in a professional tone.
She hopped down next to him, the irritation visible on her face. „I`m very capable to carry bags as well, Mister Arrogance". He chuckled at that and gave her a lazy smirk. „Make me believe that and maybe you will get a berry today". Her eyes started to shine and her mouth to water. „You still have berries?!" she called out in delight. Then she shook her head and grumbled out at the revelation of her stupidity. It was a hit to her pride when she realized how easily he could catch her off guard.
„Oh, shut up" she lightly hit the back of his hat and stalked forward. He followed closely.
The light of the fire was calming them. They laid on their backs and stared at the ceiling of the small cave that had been their home for a while now. It was practical. Warm and cozy it had enough space for their storage of boiled water and supplies and it provided protection from most of the dangers outside. After they prepared the supplies for the next day and ate, they decided to call it a day. They hadn`t rested for days, probably a week, always on search for food or hiding from the dangers surriounding them.
Living in such a dangerous world, they tried to relish every moment they could, knowing that death could occur at any time. Although he was born into this world and therefore didn`t know the place his mother came from, but he always had been curious. In good days, she would tell him about that place. She wouldn`t stop smiling when she told him about the world filled with life. A place with a non poisonous ground, fresh air, clean water, tasty fruits and veggies, and the deep blue ocean. He couldn only imagine how the fresh air on the surface would feel like when the light of the sun warms up the surface of the skin and the taste and smell of salt would fill his mouth. He had no idea how freedom felt, but he had a strong guess and he admired the way she described her crew – especially her captain.
He was the man who freed her. Who put an end to years of captivity. He painted a picture of a hero and pure bravery, a thing all boys loved. Nami knew it well. She always had been a natural talent when it comes to children so it was no surprise that she managed to raise him so well despite the world they live in. He placed his arms below his head as he continued to lie down and listen to her talking. He loved to listen to her recalling her memories of the adventures they had. Throughout all of these adventures, her captain has taken down tyrants, freed countries and people, he saved lifes while he endagered his own – and the lives of his crew.
Nontheless, he was a man with a pure heart who did what he figured is the right thing to do. A man with an intuition never failing him. And while Nami often kept an irritated tone when she told him about Zoro and his annoying bad orientation which resulted her and her crew having to face enemies when he was caught by the Navy or missed the right path to escape, her voice held a deep respect for the swordsman. He respected him although he never met him in person. He basically would respect everyone who was able to protect her from any harm. This would also include the other strawhat members, although he would lie to himself if he said that meeting a talking reindeer – whatever it was – and a moving and talking skeleton would be boring.
He couldn`t follow her when she was telling him about their fight against the thunder god of that city in the skies. The coward, running and hiding kind of person she had been at every situation that didn`t involve her in need to save her crewmembers, that was a person he could hardly imagine. He had known her as a very caring and very bold person, not hesitating once to follow the forbidden path in order to find the rarest bushes filled with small red berries where the most dangerous creatures would be waiting. She would ignore a deep gash in her thigh when carrying her little, sick son in her arms and strode through the land in search for any supplies she needed to filter the water or to find nutritious food to help him getting better. She would try out unknown fruits and vegetables, checking if they would be poisonous before she would let him take a bite. She wouldn`t leave his side every time nightmares hunted his very young self, curling into his mothers arms for protection. And even nowadays, even though he knew that they had no other choice, she refused the little food they have, only eating the minimum she needed to keep going so he would have enough strenght to use his ability. It was a way for their survival, no matter how often he tried to deny it. No matter how much she hated to put such a heavy responsibility into the hands of her teenage son.
He opened his eyes when she stopped talking. He turned to look at her sleeping form and smiled to himself. He turned on his side and closed his eyes. No matter what, he would do everything in his might to keep her safe. And he would soon find a way to escape this place. They will come back into the surface world and when they will, she will find a way to meet her crew again.
And he would hunt down the man who fathered him and dared to leave them behind to rot in a place like this….