A/n Unfortunately, I don't own One Piece. I only own my OCs.

Regular text - Story

Italicized text - Thoughts

Going Merry Interlude

A/N A brief look at Usopp meeting Wendi and the others

7:00pm

Usopp

The air had turned stifling. what had been a somewhat humid day had devolved into a sweltering night. The air had a heavy floral perfume that, while pleasant in the midday breeze when we arrived, now sat thick at the back of my throat, making me almost choke with each breath. Everything seemed nice when we got here. The harbor was free of Marines, cheap prices at relatively empty stores; hell, even the people seemed nice and willing to overlook our obvious pirateness. Everything was different now. The very island, our enemy. Our friends now fighting to get our Navigator back. I wish I could be there to see their face when those three monsters, plus Robin, kick their teeth down their throats.

That thought gave me a sudden sad feeling. I sighed heavily from where I stood near Merry's masthead, thinking again about how much I wished Sanji had thought I'd be helpful in the coming battle for about the billionth time. Him sending me with Chopper to ready the ship, while a good idea, in theory, screamed that he just wanted me out of the way. One less person to have to save, I guess. And honestly, I can't even argue with that. Rubbing my face to try and push away that depressing thought, I began to turn to go help Chopper secure the supplies Sanji had dropped off when I saw movement out the corner of my eye.

Instantly alert, I tensed and stared at the beach edge hard, trying to make out shapes in the moonless darkness. At first, all I could see was the slight waving of the tree fronds and the smooth shifting of sand from the humid breeze. But the longer I stared, I soon made out at least twenty heads hiding just past the tree line. Immediately my mind began to turn towards our approaching murders at the hands of dastardly maniacs. I suddenly felt a case of must-run-and-hide-itis coming on and had already started to turn to the ship's side with the gangplank when Nami's face flashed in my mind.

I could hear her laugh in my ears and thought of how much I longed to hear it again, talk to her again, and even have her knock me in the head again. I needed to be brave, for Nami, if not for myself.

"Chopper!"

The clomping of hooves on the decking came running from below. "What Usopp? Are they back?" He sounded so innocently naive.

I shook my head once, swiveling back toward the beach. "No, but there is someone out there. A lot of someones." All at once, Chopper looked deathly frightened. How am I the brave one here? "Be brave. For Nami." He nodded and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye before it could fall. I slowly pulled my slingshot out of my bag and placed an exploding star in the sling, and pulled it back slightly. After a brief look out over the beach, Chopper pulled a rumble ball out of his pocket and quietly called, "Arm Point." We turned toward the beach fully and moved to the railing as one.

Nervously I shouted, "C...Co...Come out now. C...Come out, and you might survive your encounter with the great Captain Usopp and his band of a thousand men!" Though my voice trembled, my arm remained steady as I aimed my slingshot at the crowd hidden in the woods. Chopper struck a menacing pose though I could see a fine tremor of nerves in his whole body. Silence followed, not a peep, not a crack of a twig snapping, nothing. Finally, I decided it had been long enough, and I pulled back on the star and launched it to the group's left.

Hushed footsteps and quick reprimands followed a brief shriek of women's terror. Good thing Sanji's not here. That woman's scream would get me a boot to the head for sure. Thinking of Sanji made me think about what my crew was currently doing deeper in the island, and I shook my head to bring back to our current predicament.

"You have been warned. Twice. Give up now, and you may leave with your lives!" I felt pride that my voice didn't shake this time. Beside me, Chopper was puffing himself up to be as large as possible, the both of us hoping they took our bluff.

Finally, from within the trees, a lone figure immerged. She was frail, waif-thin, with cornflower blue hair. Her too-short too-thin dress waved lightly in the evening breeze as she stood protectively in front of where I knew her cohorts her hiding. Why send this malnourished girl to attack us? I stood confused for several moments before she finally spoke.

"Are you Usopp?" I almost staggered from the shock. How does this girl know my name? Did they torture the information out of my crew? Were they dead? Are we the last? My mind went down a spiral as I contemplated all the horrible scenarios. I must have been muttering aloud because Chopper whispered to me,

"You announced you were the Great Captain Usopp not five minutes ago, you dunce."

"Who you calling a dunce, you raccoon."

"I am a reindeer!" I chuckled at his childish exclamation. I was just trying to get a rise out of him. Riling Chopper was so fun that I forgot the intruder at our door for a second.

A delicate clearing of a throat interrupted my line of thought, and I swiveled my head sharply. "Look, sirs, Zoro said I could find a ship here with a sheepshead mast and to ask for Usopp. Are you him or not?" Though delicate in appearance, her voice was steel.

"Zoro sent you?" It seemed unlikely, given Zoro never thinks past his next fight or nap.

She nodded once, her hair flying out around her. "He found us. He freed us. He told us to come here to hide. Please, we are tired. Some of us are injured. We need a safe place to go." She seemed so earnest, and her eyes shined with unshed tears. As if the thought we might turn her away was crumbling the last of her resolve. What does she mean by "freed." I never got to ask aloud as at the mention of injury, suddenly Chopper was all doctor and jumped into action. "Quick, come aboard. Put those injured near the galley door so that I can help them the quickest."

A girl with purple hair and a few of her friends were suddenly stomping out of the underbrush toward the ship, and a few others trailed more slowly, nervously. Only the initial girl and one other stayed where they were. The girl seemed caught off guard by the sudden shift in Chopper's personality, but those behind her didn't seem to have the same issue.

"Chopper, what are you doing? What if they are sleeper agents sent to gain our trust and then kill us in our sleep?"

He gave me a baleful look, odd-looking on his reindeer features, "Usopp, they are underfed and look exhausted and sick. Even if they were assassins, my oath as a doctor would demand I help them."

I still felt suspicious, and I kept my hand firmly on my slingshot as the girls moved up the gangplank. The speaker had finally followed the others and brought up the rear with her arm around another girl with cornsilk-blond hair.

She eyed us nervously as she approached.

I tried to look menacing and blocked their entrance to the ship and said, "Explain."

She took a deep breath and said, "My name is Wendi. We," she gestures to the girls around her, "were King Pin's harem. I've seen Nami. She was in our cell; King Pin took her and Lavender just after dark. Zoro came upon us shortly after and freed us."

The idea of Nami being forced into a harem makes me clench my hand so hard my slingshot cuts into my hand. Beside me, I see Chopper's wide eyes fill with tears, and he pulls nervously at his hat. Tightly I ask, "Nami, was she ok? Alive, when you last saw her?"

She nodded emphatically. "She was. And with Lavender there, my hope is that not much will happen to her."

"Why's that?"

"Lavender is our protector." A dirty-blonde girl scoffed when she said this. Wendi ignored her, and another girl put her hand on her shoulder as if to say 'not now'. Wendi continued, "Lavender takes the brunt of Marcus's attention. She's his favorite." She scowled when she said this as if it hurt her to say.

I choose not to pry. I may not be the gentleman Sanji was, but I wouldn't knock a woman when she was down. I decided that if Zoro, halfwit that he was, could trust her, I could too. "Our cook is out trying to save Nami. Can you cook at all? We just restocked, and some of you look like you haven't eaten in, well, in ever. And I'm more likely to poison you with my cooking instead of nourishing you." I tried to make a joke, hoping she wouldn't take it wrong or be offended. She gave a small smile and nodded again, "I can make simple meals. A broth would probably be best for our stomachs."

"Good, follow me, and I can show you the kitchen. Chopper!"

Suddenly, back in his standard form, the tiny reindeer was at my elbow. "Tend to the girls. We will make something for them to eat." I look around and stop on the girl with purple hair.

"Maybe tend to her first," I indicate to her with a nod, and both Chopper and Wendi look over, "she looks like someone knocked her gourd." Wendi surprisingly laughed at this making me a little suspicious, but I decided that was a matter for them to sort out amongst themselves.

I set her up in the kitchen, hoping Sanji wouldn't be too mad that someone had touched his precious cooking utensils, especially if it was a lady. He'd probably damn near cum in his pants. I chuckle and make my way back to the deck. Girls were milling around everywhere. Resting and some falling asleep while sitting, others already passed out in clumps. Poor things must be exhausted. Chopper was flittering from girl to girl, administering IVs and vitamins, tending to scrapes and bruises. Taking a rag from my back pocket, I wrap my bleeding hand. I'll ask Chopper for some proper bandages after he helps the girls. I turn to face the beach and replace an exploding star in the pocket of my slingshot.

The ship is ready. Now I have a charge to protect. Let Sanji and the others get Nami. For now, I will defend this ship, and now these girls, with my last breath. Around me, the air became oppressive but alive. And it felt like anticipation and slightly of hope.