One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter Ninety-Seven-
"Wait, hold on—listen to me! Sure, we threw him off our boat, but I bet he's still alive!" Luffy tried to explain as the orangutan continued to rant and rave, clearly not bothering to listen to a single word the rubber man had to say.
"I don't think he cares, captain" I said.
"Havoc Shooter!" sucking in a large amount of air, the primate started to sing into the mic he was now holding...well, singing was a nice way to put it.
"The ship!" Luffy gasped as the boards to the other ship started to moan and creak until they eventually started to pull back and break.
"So what are they doing?" Sanji questioned.
"Destroying their own ship, it seems" I sweat dropped.
"Who cares? It looks amazing!" Luffy shined in awe. "He's destroying his own ship with his voice!" he laughed.
"Get to work, everyone! Let's use this to our advantage and put some distance between us and them!" Nami ordered.
"Great idea!" Sanji swooned with hearts all around him.
"Look, Nami's not a demon anymore" Luffy smiled.
"Better not let her hear you say that" I snorted, shaking my head.
"Really?" Chopper perked up upon hearing what Luffy said, seemingly pleased that the ginger was no longer in the mood to bite someone's head off.
"Well, I hope she'd be calmer after letting off all that steam from earlier..." Usopp grumbled before suddenly stopping in his tracks when he noticed that some of our boards were now starting to tremble. "Luffy, we got trouble! This isn't good!" he wailed, moving to hold one of the planks down.
"Yeah, seems like it" I hummed as I jumped on top of another board that was getting ready to spring up.
"Waves are moving faster than I thought—oh great, the ship's starting to break apart right when I just repaired it today!" Usopp groaned as more boards were beginning to be ripped up from the ship. "Ahh! She's beaten up enough already, if we stay here any longer we'll start taking up water!" he screamed.
"Full speed ahead! We need to get out of his voice's range!" Nami shouted.
-Later-
"I can't believe our luck..." Usopp heavily sighed, hammering away at one of the boards that had been ripped up as he tried to slot it back into place. "Seriously, that orangutan almost sunk us and now it's up to me to fix it all and keep this thing afloat!" he irritably huffed as Chopper happily stood next to him—handing him a new board whenever he needed it.
"I'm just glad we don't have to listen to that guy's singing anymore—if we stuck around just a bit longer, I'm sure my eardrums would have busted..." I grumbled, hands holding the metal that was wrapped around the mast in place as Zoro hammered down the nails that had been ripped up.
"Seems to me that this busted-up old ship is on her last leg" Zoro remarked. "We need a new one."
"How dare you even consider replacing this boat!" Usopp snapped.
"Yeah, how dare you!" Chopper echoed.
"You are all aware of the origins of this ship, aren't you?" Usopp asked as he desperately looked around.
"Yeah, don't you?" Chopper frowned, causing the corners of my lips to twitch.
"Yeah, we all know the story, Usopp—try not to be so defensive" Luffy smiled from across the ship where he worked. "The Going Merry is an important part of our crew and we all know we have to take care of her, you shouldn't take everything so personally" he reminded the sharpshooter.
"You're right, I'm sorry" Usopp apologized, shoulders slumping as he covered his eyes with his arm as if on the verge of tears. I chuckled as Chopper made faces at the crying pirate as if attempting to cheer him up.
"He sure does care for this ship" I couldn't help but comment as Zoro hummed.
"It means a lot to him—was a gift from someone he knew back on his island" he responded as I nodded.
"That so? Anything on you that you cherish from someone special?" I curiously asked, suddenly reminded of that old necklace I had made for him back in the day. It wasn't anything special whenever I thought about it, just a frayed piece of string with a couple of seashells strung along it. Unlike the flowers I'd pick or the small animals I'd catch, it was the only gift I recall never really disappearing or dying right away. I felt my lips twitch as I watched his cheeks flush a little before he looked away and grumbled something under his breath.
"What was that?" I teasingly questioned, a wide and playful grin pulling at my lips as he grumbled once more and turned his head, one hand now twitching and looking as if it wanted to reach for something but didn't. His words were still indecipherable and I couldn't tell if it was due to embarrassment or shame that he wasn't really answering me. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed to admit he still had that old necklace or ashamed that he no longer did...
The possibility of him having lost such a gift made me give pause for a second as my grin withered a little in thought.
Would I be mad if he had lost it? No...I don't think I would considering how poorly made that necklace had been and how much time had passed. Considering how many of our gifts to each other back then were always running or withering away or getting lost or even destroyed, I'd be more surprised if he did still have it. It's not like the necklace itself really matters in the end, it's more the warm feelings and memories of that day when I had first gifted it to him that do...
At least to me.
"Oops!" I closed my mouth the second I heard Luffy's voice as I turned my head.
"What are you doing?! We're trying to save the ship, not sink it!" Usopp snapped as I silently assessed the damage that had been done, already abandoning my conversation with Zoro as I became engrossed with the mess now taking place right before my eyes.
"Sure thing—I'll fix it" I winced as even more damage was inflicted on the ship, our captain now blankly staring at what he had just done. "Oops, that didn't work" was all he could say with a sheepish grin.
"Luffy!" Usopp and Chopper angrily cried out.
"Idiot" I softly chuckled, shaking my head as I turned back to Zoro.
-Everybody's P.O.V-
"We've left Mock Town and headed east by circling around the northern shore of the island—our destination is here..." Nami muttered to herself as she looked over the map that had been given to her earlier. Occasionally, she would let her gaze flicker upward and curiously stare at the rest of her crew. She looked from Luffy who was eagerly looking out at sea for the shoreline to Zoro and Skylar who were currently speaking to one another in low murmurs—their voices soft as they subconsciously leaned into one another, occasionally bumping into one another with a grin or laugh...
This wasn't anything new.
No, it was a common occurrence to see the two become lost in their own little world the minute the crew set out to sea and were left to their own devices. Quietly speaking to one another as if they were the only two people in the world. Sometimes she was tempted to sneak close and listen to what they had to say—sometimes she wanted to just sit and listen to whatever it was they spoke about that made them smile and laugh the way that they did as they'd occasionally blush and push one another while their smiles would get even wide. She never acted on those temptations though. No, she was content in just watching them from a distance and observing the way they so naturally interacted with one another.
She couldn't help but smile as she noticed just how relaxed and genuinely happy the two were. Something about the way they so easily got along with one another, strangely enough, reminded her of old friends that haven't seen each other in years, yet still clearly remembered all the ways they used to interact that it felt almost as if they had never even been apart in the first place. It was an odd thought to have since neither have said anything about previously knowing one other, yet it was an accurate assessment she felt whenever she or any of the others caught sight of the two together.
"We're supposed to meet that man there, what's his name?" she suddenly asked, gaze quickly darting the way the second she saw Skylar shift and suddenly look back. She ignored the warmth of her cheeks at almost getting caught as she looked at the woman silently standing beside her who seemingly had no shame in being caught staring. Instead, she only smiled at the brunette who gave a small wave before looking back at the swordsman beside her and brightly smiled as she shoved him with a laugh after he said something neither of the women had heard.
"His name is Montblanc Cricket" Robin answered.
"And you're sure that he'll be able to help us, right?" Nami cautiously asked, now starting to have doubts that their meeting with this man would really lead to anything other than more humiliation.
"Whoa! Amazing!" Luffy and Usopp awed at the castle they saw as the ship finally started to approach land.
"That's where he lives? It's a fricking palace!" the captain gaped.
"I've never seen a house that big before, this Montblanc Cricket guy must be really loaded!" Usopp whistled.
"Look closer" Zoro suddenly said, reluctantly breaking away from the casual conversation between him and Skylar after casting a glance toward the castle they were approaching. He rather enjoyed their little chit-chats and how nostalgic they typically made him feel that it was always disappointing whenever either of them would have to break away for one reason or another.
"It's really unattractive, guy has some serious guts to build a house that's that ugly" Sanji remarked.
"He could have gone for a prettier color scheme, that's for sure" Skylar said, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked at the multitude of colors and patterns slapped onto the front of the castle to the point that it almost looked cluttered in its design.
"What's that?" Chopper curiously asked once the ship came to a halt and Luffy jumped ashore, eagerly running to the other side of the house where he made a shocking discovery.
"This isn't a palace at all!" he shouted in disbelief.
"What?" everyone questioned.
"The actual house is only half that size, what you see is a façade—a fake" Zoro explained as Skylar hummed, now leaning over the railing to get a better look at the cardboard cutout that had fooled them all into thinking it was a castle.
"Well aren't we a Mr. Smarty-pants" she teased with a grin, laughing as the swordsman rolled his eyes with a small smile.
"This guy is even more vain than I thought..." Sanji grumbled.
"Why exactly did Cricket decide to leave his home and come live here?" Nami couldn't help but ask as she examined the place.
"I don't know the exact details, but I think it has something to do with his belief that a large amount of gold rested somewhere in Jaya" Robin guessed.
-Skylar's P.O.V-
"Gold?" Usopp questioned.
"Gold, huh?" I echoed with a hum as I peered back at the raven-haired woman.
"Do you think he's here searching for some sort of buried treasure?" Nami eagerly asked, her fingers now twitching as the corners of her lips started to tug upwards.
"Well, I just don't know" Robin truthfully answered.
"Gold!" the ginger squealed, suddenly grabbing Chopper's arm as she booked it off the ship and right around the house. "Try over here, Chopper! Dig up this spot!" she hastily demanded, pointing to the spot she wanted the reindeer to dig up with his antlers.
"I'll be right there, Nami" was all he could respond with as he went along with her demands.
"Must be hard to live alone in such a remote area" Sanji couldn't help but comment as he looked around.
"Who knows? Maybe he wanted to live alone" I hummed. "If he didn't, he would have left this way of living a long time ago" I said, causing the blond to hum in thought.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I'm just saying that some people in this life sometimes choose to live alone, especially when treasure's involved—it's not an ideal life, but that's just how things are for some people..." I mumbled, I was aware that for some, the choice of being alone was never really theirs to begin with. But to live this sort of life instead of just leaving all because of the possibility of treasure made it clear that the man who lived here was probably choosing to isolate himself of his own volition.
"Hello!" Luffy called out, grabbing my attention as I watched him push open the backdoor to the man's house.
"Don't just barge in there!" Usopp and I snapped as he casually walked right into the house uninvited.
"Huh? It looks like nobody's home—anybody here? I guess he's gone" Luffy concluded after one shout and nobody responding to him right away. Usopp hesitantly peeked inside the home from the safety of the doorway as I crossed my arms.
"Get out of there, you idiot—this guy could be dangerous" Usopp frantically whispered.
"If you're going to trespass then the least you could do is not touch anything" I scolded, watching how carelessly the rubber man was being as he fiddled around with the man's possessions.
"Hey, you guys! Nobody's home!" Luffy called out to us as if that would justify his actions.
"Huh? What's this?" Nami suddenly asked, catching mine and Usopp's attention as we now wandered over to her and away from Luffy once we realized that he wasn't really listening to either of us. "A book? And it looks like it's pretty old" she remarked. "Huh? It's called Noland the Liar" she read aloud with a soft chuckle as if the name amused her.
"Ah, sounds like it could be good—I sure like the title" Usopp smiled.
"Of course, you would" I snorted, smiling at the pointed look the sharpshooter gave me.
"Noland the Liar?" Sanji questioned.
"Yeah, have you heard of it? It says here it was originally published in the North Blue territory" Nami said.
"It was—I was born in the North Blue territory, I'm certain I must have told you guys that" Sanji suddenly revealed.
"I don't remember you telling us that" I hummed, trying my best to think back to a time when the blond could have possibly shared such information yet found nothing.
"Nope, that's news to me—I always thought you were born in the East" Usopp shook his head.
"I grew up there" Sanji said, not really bothering to go into further detail other than that.
"Enough already, Chopper! What are you doing?" Nami frowned when she saw that the reindeer was still digging. Chopper lifted his head upon hearing her voice, screaming just a little in shock when he finally took notice of just how much he had dug.
A/N: Enjoy
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