One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter Twenty-Three-
"When it happened, the country had been experiencing some strange weather" Vivi explained. "There had been no rain—not a single drop had fallen anywhere except one place and that was the capital" she confessed.
"Vivi, that would mean that your dad is the bad guy here!" Luffy cried out in realization, already pointing an accusing finger at the princess.
"No, you idiot! He was framed!" Sanji snapped while assaulting the raven-haired man's head with a series of kicks. "Her sweet, dear old dad would never do something like that—you got it?!" he sneered, not realizing that he was also jumping to conclusions in assuming that the man was nothing but a saint despite having never met him.
"Though that was a harsh way of getting that fact into his head, Sanji's right" I agreed. "I doubt Vivi would go through all this trouble if her father really had done something like that" I said.
"Of course, my father didn't have anything to do with it—he was innocent!" Vivi firmly stated before her shoulders slumped downwards. "Unfortunately, a large amount of Dance Powder was discovered inside the palace shortly thereafter..." she sadly muttered.
"Huh? They even had people working inside the palace" Zoro remarked.
"So, what is this? A road?" Sanji questioned as we came to a stop—before us was nothing more than a barren wasteland with only the slightest of indentations in the group to prove that something had once been there.
"Why would we stop if it was just a road?" I asked.
"No, it's not a road" Vivi shook her head. "It used to be a large canal that piped in freshwater from the Pandora River until someone destroyed it—now do you see what happened?" she asked. "With its canal gone, The City of Green lost its only remaining water source of freshwater—the people waited and prayed, but sadly the rain never came" she frowned as my gaze wandered...it was hard to imagine that this was once a lush and vibrant city. But the knowledge that it once was only made the barren scenery before us heartbreaking as the realization that all that hard work that was put into building up and making a name for this city no longer existed...
It was as if all that effort really meant nothing in the end.
"Wow, something like that and the Dance Powder incident really would make people distrust their king" Nami breathed out.
"No kidding, the worst thing that could ever happen to a country is when the people begin to distrust their king" I sighed.
"With no water, fighting began to break out in Erumalu," Vivi started, "and to escape the violence here, there was only one thing the exhausted citizens could do...they abandoned the city and left for the other oasis in hopes for water and then…" she trailed off almost as if she had become lost in thought. "The City of Green withered away" she eventually finished...
It grew silent after that.
No one knew exactly what to say to help lift the somber air that had now settled between us as we quietly shuffled around.
"What is it?" Nami jolted as a strange howling suddenly filled the air.
"Sounds like the howling of a wolf" I noted as the wind now started to pick up.
"Is it the Rebel Army?" Chopper whimpered.
"Or more of those creeps from Baroque Works?" Usopp shivered, his now head whirling around in every direction as if trying to spot the source of the sound.
"No, it's just the wind" Ace said, unfazed by what was happening.
"Sounds like a voice, right?" Luffy asked.
"Huh? You know, it kind of does" I agreed after taking a moment to really listen, realizing that in a way the howls we heard could be mistaken for the wails of a lost soul.
"Oh man, it's coming from all directions—this isn't good!" Usopp whined. "Ace, what are we going to do?!" he cried.
"There's no danger, it's just the wind blowing around the town and echoing off the old buildings" Ace calmly explained.
"I mean, it is getting pretty windy, so you're probably right" I squinted, eyes now growing irritated by not only the harsh winds but also the sand that was starting to kick up.
"It's like the city of Erumalu is wailing over what has happened to it..." Vivi whispered.
"Watch out!" Nami suddenly cried the moment she noticed the sandstorm that was being blown our way. Before I could react, I suddenly found my face being pressed against a firm chest as a strong pair of arms wrapped around my waist. For a moment, all I could hear was the roaring of the wind as my arms automatically wrapped around the warm body that held me. Burying my face deeper into the person's chest, my fingers curled and grasped at the back of their robes as if to help ground me as the storm passed by.
"Whoa! What's the deal with that freaky wind?!" Usopp shouted, voice practically muffled and nonexistent over the sounds of the storm. From my side could I feel the harsh rattling of my swords as they quivered against my hip, messily knocking into one another as if at any moment they could go flying. I could also feel the harsh way my hair began to whip around—strands of it shooting upwards and to the side, violently waving around while occasionally smacking against my back...
Before we knew it though, the storm had passed.
"Hey, are you alright?" Zoro asked as he pulled away and gently grabbed hold of my face. There was something soft about the way that he tilted my head, moving it from side to side as if searching for any signs of injury.
"Yeah, but I'm not so sure about my hair" I chuckled as I gently took hold of his hands and pushed them away. "No doubt this is going to be a bitch to brush later..." I muttered, head tilting downwards as I began ruffling my own hair in an attempt to knock loose the stray specks of sand that had gotten caught in it. "What about you? Are you alright?" I asked, peering up and through the strands of hair that had now fallen into my face.
"Yeah, I'm fine" he softly smiled, gently brushing a few strands of hair out of my face in the process. "You look ridiculous" he suddenly chuckled after a moment of silence, now eyeing the mess of tangled curls that was my hair after being viciously whipped around by the storm.
"What are you talking about? I look good" I grinned, tossing my hair back before violently shaking my head as if to knock loose any remaining specks of sand while at the same time desperately attempting to get my hair back under control. "Rat's nest are in, don't you know?" I joked, aware that I was possibly overexaggerated yet at the same time not as I hastily ran my fingers through my mess strands.
"Someone collapsed!" Nami suddenly gasped, causing everyone to jolt as she pointed toward the slumped-over figure that currently lay sprawled out on the ground not that far from where we were. Luffy was the first to react—racing ahead to check up on the person before anyone could protest.
"Wait! You mean there are still people living in this city?!" Vivi jolted, taken aback by this sudden revelation as she quickly took off after the captain with the rest of us soon to follow. Thick was the tension that soon filled the air when it was eventually revealed that the hunched-over figure we had saw was nothing more than a skull covered by a discarded robe. "What did my father and the other good people—what did they ever do?" the princess grounded out, grasping the skull and delicately holding it in her hands as her body slowly began to shake with both anger and sadness. "They don't deserve this...it's hard enough to live in the desert...every day is a struggle just to survive...
"Somehow the people of Alabasta found a way to do it and they lived happy lives, but Crocodile destroyed those lives! What gives them the right to do that—what?! All the while as one of the Seven Warlords he's passed off as a hero to the people" she grounded out, her grip on the skull only tightening. "They don't know what he's really doing! No one realizes that he's actually deceiving the entire country even as they cheer him on...
"I can't…I can't let him get away with this!" she sobbed, finally breaking down as she now cradled the skull close to her chest. At some point, Luffy had stalked away from the rest of us—I winced at the sudden collapse of a nearby building that had most certainly fallen victim to the captain's barely contained rage.
"Oh well, hope that made him feel better" Zoro sighed.
"Yeah..." I muttered in agreement, watching as Ace kneeled beside the princess and offered her a hand in digging a small grave for the skull that she held. He even went as far as to track down some sticks and tie them together into a makeshift cross that could be used to properly mark the grave.
"Vivi, let's get moving—okay" Luffy popped his shoulder as he came back, still radiating nothing but pure anger off his person. "I'm itching to do this..." he muttered, already taking the lead and walking on ahead of all of us.
"He's right, let's get to Yuba" Nami agreed.
"That's where the Rebel Army is, right? Yuba?" Zoro asked as he slipped his hand into my own.
"Yes, but I must stop there—I'm going to persuade their leader" Vivi nodded as she finally confessed to us all her plan.
"Persuade him?" I echoed.
"How so?" Zoro asked with a raised brow.
"I'll tell the Rebel leader the truth" Vivi answered. "That all of this is Crocodile's doing and have him stop all this pointless bloodshed" she explained...I couldn't help but stare as even more voices from long ago started to crawl their way from the dredges of my mind.
"Tell me, what's the worst thing that could happen to a country?"
"War? It's war, isn't it?"
"Though that's technically true for any country, that's not the answer I'm looking for—I mean what's the worst thing that could happen to a country from the inside."
"Is it…um…a rebellion...?"
"You sound unsure, why's that? Your brother here sounded far more confident in his answer than you do and he was wrong."
"Hey—lighten up! It's not her fault she's too afraid to answer you!"
"Don't you dare speak back to me like that! Do you wish to go to bed hungry again tonight?"
"N...no, sir."
"Good, and yes, it's a rebellion—do you know why though?"
"Because…uh…because…I don't know..."
"Tch! Useless. It's because once a rebellion starts, it will not end until nothing is left—civil unrest is something to be admired for the people will not stop until the streets run red and they are satisfied, do you understand?"
"Y-yes, sir..."
"Pathetic, all three of you. I see you've been slacking in your studies, so I expect you to stay in your rooms for the rest of the night and go over the last few chapters we've been reviewing—I'll also be expecting a twenty-page essay summarizing all you've learned these past couple of weeks on my desk come morning before breakfast, understood?"
"But—"
"Understood?"
"Yes, sir..."
"Hey" I blinked, gaze refocusing and zeroing in on the group that was now a little ways ahead. "You alright?" Zoro asked, one eyebrow raised as my gaze slowly drifted towards him and the way that his brows soon knitted together in concern.
"Yeah" I nodded. "Just…thinking..."
"You sure?" he pressed, clearly not sounding all that convinced.
"Yeah..." it felt silent between us as my gaze once more drifted ahead and toward the group was now getting further away. Eventually, he sighed before giving my hand a gentle yet comforting squeeze as if wanting to reassure me that he was there.
"If you say so, let's go..." he mumbled, lightly pulling me along as we hurriedly followed after the others.
-Later-
"I'm burning up! I don't think I can sweat anymore!" Luffy complained as we continued to trudge onward through the desert. I couldn't help but silently agree as swiped at the sweat that build upon my brow before using my free hand in an attempt to fan myself off...it did very little to help and barely generated much of a breeze.
"Will you please spare us the melodramatics, Luffy?! You're only going to tire yourself out!" Nami snapped. "Geez, I guess he's not listening..." she irritably grumbled when the rubber man only continued to complain.
"How in the world are you not bothered by this heat?" I asked the moment I noticed just how unbothered Zoro was by the overbearing heat.
"What? Are you bothered by it?" he asked, an eyebrow raised in amusement.
"No, I actually love it so much—can't you tell?" I sarcastically asked, swatting at him as he snorted in response.
"I can't go on...I can't take hot weather, I'm fine in cold weather..." Chopper rambled from behind us, sprawled out over the makeshift sled that Zoro was currently using to carry him. Like a dog, his tongue lulled out as he heavily began to pant as if exhausted. No doubt the heat was starting to get to him, I doubt the fur on his body was helping any.
"It's because of all of that fur, why don't you take off that stupid reindeer costume" Usopp insulted.
"Hey now" I frowned.
"What did you just say to me, big nose?!" Chopper sneered as he changed into his human form so that he could probably be eye to eye with Usopp. "Don't make fun of reindeer!" he snapped.
"Ah! Monster!" Usopp screamed.
"Chopper, don't turn yourself big or I'm going to quit pulling you!" Zoro grunted when he found that it was now difficult to pull the sled while the reindeer was in his current form. Perking up, I wrapped my arms around his own as I now peered up at him with wide, pleading eyes that caused him to raise an eyebrow.
"If you're going to quit pulling him, then could you pull me instead?" I begged before shivering at the glint in his eye as a grin suddenly spread across his face. I drew back a little the second he leaned down until finally, I could feel his breath against the shell of my ear.
"No, but if I'm being honest, I wouldn't exactly mind doing something else with you" he huskily breathed.
"Okay!" I squealed, harshly shoving him away the moment I felt him playfully nip at my ear. "That was unnecessarily perverted, my good sir! My virgin ears did not need to hear such vulgar things!" my face felt as if it was now on fire as he barked out an amused laugh.
"I'm only kidding" he teasingly grinned.
"Maybe the heat really is starting to get to him..." I weakly muttered to myself.
"Who are you calling a monster, you big-nosed freak?!" Chopper snapped, once more capturing our attention as he and Usopp appeared to still be fighting.
"You better take it easy on the nose or I'll have to get tough!" the sharpshooter retorted.
"Turn small, will ya!" Zoro growled, now irritated with the two as he pushed down on the reindeer's head until he returned to normal size.
"Hey, the desert doesn't seem to bother you much, Vivi" Sanji suddenly noted.
A/N: Enjoy
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