#zoro just being mad at her dead body oh......

[hauntingblue]

ZORO LORE FINALLY ⁉️

[jessysapphireblue]

Confrontation Luffy x reader

This is part two. If you want to read part one -----> Here

As in part one, Je as a nickname, the craziness continues, enjoy.

Ever since your boyfriend admitted that you two slept together, you went out of the way from anyone. Usopp eyes followed you around whenever you passed him, as if to DARE you to get closer to Luffy.

"Puah! The food was amazing Sanji", Luffy beamed and patted his belly. "Thanks", the cook said with a sad voice. It took a turn on him as he heard the news this morning, that you his beloved Goddess actually slept with the Captain.

"Je! What are you doing, your plate is still full" "Ah, yes", you admitted, obviously. Taking his fork, he took some food of your plate and held it out with a innocent grin. "Here!"

The kitchen was dead silent. Only the drop of Sanji´s cigarette was heard, all holding their breath. Luffy feeding you. HE! WANTED! TO! FEED! YOU!

Usopp directly began to pray, sweat running down his face. "No Luffy, it´s ok", you admitted and a loud breath was released. "Eh? Don´t you like the food?" "AH! I failed you my Goddess", Sanji fell onto the ground curling himself up as he whimpered.

"No! No no no. I´m not really hungry. You can eat the rest, Lu" "Sure?" "Yes, sure", you admitted and within a blink of your eyes, the plate was clean.

Sun all vanished, the night sky took place. "Good Night", you said and waved to them. "Je! Wait I sleep-", Luffy was interrupted as Usopp grabbed the collar of his shirt. "No! You will come here, we have a lo to discuss", he looked mad at your boyfriend. "But-" "Goodnight, Luffy", you smiled and went into your room and Usopp dragged his best friend over to the boys cabin.

Inside, Usopp began to breathe out, the rest of the boys already there as "Luffy", he started calmly. "Yeah?", he was already sitting on the couch. "One question....HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!", Usopp began to shout, walking back and forth, " DO YOU HVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID?! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO HER?! TO US?! HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF MY BLOOD PRESSURE?!", he screeched so much that his voice broke.

"WE´RE PIRATES. THIS IS THE NEW WORLD!! YOU CAN´T JUST MAKE A BABY ON BOARD!" "Relax. I didn´t put a baby in her" " And that should calm me down?! I CAN`T EVEN-"

"you´re just mad that Luffy had sex before you, long nose", said Zoro with a smirk. "No!", admitted Usopp. "Really? You´re mad because I did it with Je?", Luffy tilted his head. "NO! What I mean is that you-YOU- who never-NEVER! Took an interest in this stuff suddenly know how this all works!"

"Usopp, are you still a virgin?", asked Franky and a blush covered the snipers cheeks. "YOHOHOHOHOHO! Usopp-san" "So basically, you thought you would get laid before Luffy", Sanji blew on his cigarette. "That is NOT the point! It´s Luffy, he doesn´t-"

CRUNSH!

A loud voice went through the cabin and all looked at Luffy who was eating cookies. "Where did you get these from?!", shouted Sanji. "Je makes them for me. She always makes too much and gives me the leftovers. She said when I´m hungry at night I can eat them", he smiled. Usopp inched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "Did you even pay attention to what I said?"

Luffy shallowed all of the cookies at once before turning to his best friend. "No, not really", he laughed and the next second Usopp flung at him, strangling him. "YOU STUPID RUBBER IDIOT! I´M GIVING HERE A LECTURE AND YOU EAT!!!" "ARRk-Z-Zoro", Luffy chocked out.

Jinbe simply laughed at everything that happened. "Leave Luffy-kun alone. He has finally become a man" "OVER MY DEAD BODY!" "Bone-chop!", said brook and hit Usopp head. "What was that for, Brook?" "Luffy turned blue if you didn´t noticed it", admitted Franky.

"Ok, following!", Usopp clapped his hands. "These who are still virgins, raise their hand", he said and rose his hand, the rest being down. "SANJI?!" "What? I know what I´m doing", he smirked.

Luffy laughed loudly as Usopp fell to his knees, praying. "Oh, God. Forgive my sin for being in this rotten crew!", he began to tear up, "please don´t kill me, I´m still innocent and love my life so please-"

The others ignored Usopp as "Yohohoho, Luffy-san, One question. Is her body as wonderful as it looks?" "OH! Yes, Luffy! We need this information!", Sanji became heart eyes and puffed air through his nose.

"Je? Her skin is soft and smooth, like a pillow! I enjoy hugging her when we do it" "Yohohohoho", blood dripped from their noses. "Luffy, how was even your first time?", asked Zoro. "It was super fun! We laughed and it sorta happened.

"FUN?! YOU IDIOT! She is a living Goddess, the light of this ship and you should worship her fully! Kiss her skin, whisper love confessions, show her how much you want her, make her whine, and leave her breathless", Sanji went on one knee, explaining passionately.

"Just show her who´s in charge", yawned Zoro. "Oi, Marimo! That works with cavemen but a goddess like her!" "And if I hear one more of this sweet as shit, I´m gonna puke in your bed, Hentai-brow"

Both were about to fight. "Why that? We both laughed and felt happy with each other. This is about the two of us so it should be happy for us! But I have to admit, her moaning my name gave me shivers", Luffy grinned.

"Super, Luffy! So manly!", laughed Franky. "Luffy, I will never, ever again see you with innocent eyes!", Usopp whined.

"Ah, you´ll get over it", admitted Jinbe. "How! I have images in my head I never wanted to have! I feel like I was being molested!"

"You overdo", all said and the door opened. "Je!", your boyfriend jumped up when he saw you enter. "shhh. Chopper fell asleep in his office." Luffy looked at the sleeping Chopper, grinning.

"I take him", Zoro came forth and took the reindeer from your arm. "And you guys go to bed soon. Sleep well", you smiled as Luffy took your hand. "Why are you up?" "I´m on watch", you admitted. "Ok! Bye guys", waved your boyfriend and tug you outside with him, closing the door.

"Huargh! No no no. Not again. The pics coming back", Usopp shivered and jumped around. "Stalker" "Hey! If we have a baby here in a few months, I told you so! Luffy does not care"

"Night" "Yo, you also" Yohohoho, night guys"

"LISTEN TO ME!"

[imaeraser]

Hi, I loved your ex-Admiral Reader joining the straw hats and U was wondering if you could make a part 2 where the reader and the Straw hats (separately) falling for the new reader.

Please and Thank you

🥰🥰🥰

Sounds great!

Luffy

At first, he thought that he was being friendly

Spending time with you, trying to make the Sunny as welcoming as possible, but then he started to get these warm fuzzy feelings

So he decided that he liked it, and spent even more time with you, but it only made it worse

It got so bad, that at one point he had to leave the room when you entered

When he talked about it to Nami and Robin, they just laughed

Then he got pouty and then demanded they tell him what they were laughing about

“You like them Luffy”

Of course, he likes you, he likes everyone on the crew. Then they had to explain to him that he was feeling romantic feelings

It all made sense, but he also got scared

He saw how love affects people and their careers. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to sacrifice that much for another person

But then Nami and Robin told him he already sacrificed so much for his crew

That’s when he decided he was gonna confess

Zoro

He was against you in the beginning

That’s why it didn't bother him when he wanted to spend more and more time with you. But it started to confuse him when he realized it wasn't to keep an eye on you

So he started to train more, but each time his mind drifted of it drifted off to you

Then he decided to (finally) take more showers, but while washing his hair, he found himself imagining your fingers rubbing his scalp

So he stopped taking showers (again)

Whatever he did, his mind drifted to you. How you would like something, what you would do if you were with him

So he opted to spend more time with you

This confused you, so when you asked he kinda blew up and talked about your allegiance. Of course, this made you sad, and seeing you sad made him realize that he screwed up. Later he talked to you in a hushed voice and apologized

I don’t think he’s the type to ask other people, but after yelling at you and apologizing (which he never does) he thinks it’s time to put down his pride

So when he talked to the boiz (I’m not sorry) they also laughed at him. Except for Luffy, Sanji, and Chopper. Luffy and Chopper were confused, and Sanji was making fun of him

This made him flushed, and as he was about to leave they pointed out the obvious, he liked you.

This made him even more flushed, and he slammed the door shut. But now that he knows what he is feeling, he can decide what to do

Nami

Was suspicious of you too

But as she spent more time with you, she realized that you were nice

So you guys started to stay up and talk about where you guys were from, dreams and aspirations, things you two wanted in the future. And of course about love, marriage, and kids. Just about everything

I think Nami would want to adopt two girls when she’s older. Just like Bellemare

She felt a fire bust in her chest when she saw your smile. She felt clouds split and the sunlight creep down her body when she saw you glance at her

And Nami is self-aware. You best believe that she knew what she was feeling

The knowledge made her shy away for a few days, but she realized that pushing you away wouldn’t make her happy

That means she put her flirtation on 10x

It did make you flustered— I mean a pretty lady hitting on you? Of course, you’re gonna be blushing

It’s mostly a series of compliments and dirty jokes added to the mix. But she didn’t confess for awhile

She didn’t want to disrupt the balance of the crew and was too scared to take the risk

But each time you talk to her, it makes her start to not care

Usopp

High-key scared of you

Was hiding behind Zoro as he interrogated you

But as he interrogated you, he realized that you were pretty nice

So he stopped hiding behind the human meat shield and decided to initiate contact himself

He was doing it to protect his crew… right?

Maybe at first, but he started to become interested in the person you are. Where you grew up, if you had any siblings, parents, dreams, and so on

Then he got addicted. He was a moth drawn to a flame, and he started to feel himself burn up— with love (It’s so cheesy, this is something I am sorry for)

He wanted to impress you. He would start to come up with all of these crazy gadgets

Sometimes he pranks you. He thinks you look cute when you’re mad

When he realized that he was feeling something romantic and not platonic— he went back to scared mode. Think of the stereotypical shy, cute, twiddling thumbs girl— yeah that's him

He keeps trying to confess, but then ends up chickening out

But after asking Franky for advice, he finally steeled his nerves

Sanji

Let’s just say that Sanji was a simp from the start

He may have been suspicious, but when he saw you his heartbeat unlike it had ever done before

It wasn't the usual feeling he got when he just saw a girl, it was something warmer

Of course, that made him want to explore it. Cue the excessive flirting

It honestly got kinda annoying, but once you guys started to talk about things that mattered (not him talking about how lovely you look) was when he started falling

And he fell hard

Sanji had never actually fallen for someone, so he got scared. That meant no more flirting, and him hiding when you entered the room

After you leave he holds his hand to his heart and breathes like he ran a mile

Poor Sanji, you give him butterflies. Too many butterflies

He wants to confess and get over it, but he finds himself getting lightheaded at the thought

Oh, there goes the blood

It gets so bad, that the crew has to take matters into their own hands

Chopper

He fell for you

Because you accidentally tripped him

(I’m not gonna make this romantic)

Robin

She was one of the only people who weren’t super suspicious

Instead, she took the time to get to know you better

When she got to see who you were, she couldn't help but start to fall for you

Make no mistake, Robin is very self-aware. When she started to get an inkling of feelings— she knew

But she likes to play oblivious. She’s good at masking her emotions. Plus, she doesn't want anything to change between you (except for the fact you don't kiss her yet)

She spends even more time with you now. She likes to read and do domestic things with you. She likes to imagine that you two live in a remote cottage

She likes to bring you tea when you read together

She wants to make a move, but she also doesn’t want to ruin what you guys already have

She likes to talk about her feelings with Nami

So every time you walk into the room, you catch Nami doing the wiggling eyebrows and Robin lightly slapping her arm

She just loves the way your brain works (as well as the way your lips look when they pull into a smile)

After enough pestering from Nami, she grabbed some flowers from her garden and decided to finally act on her feelings

Franky

You just started hanging out with him

Probably because he didn't care that you used to be in the navy

You would just watch him make things. And to be polite, he would let you try them out

Of course, this lead to you calling it amazing and boosting his ego

So he started to like when you were around

Then as a pastime, you two would get to know each other

That’s when he started to fall for you. He would start to notice the way your hair fell, and the way it caught the light

You became his muse. And all of a sudden, he's coming up with all of these crazy and brilliant inventions

No one noticed his growing crush on you, since you guys spent most of your time in his workspace, but one dinner the crew found him staring at you during dinner and tripping over himself

Cue the unnecessary teasing. He tries to cover it up as him being a pervert, but everyone knows that he is lying

Since he can’t convince anyone, he tries to convince himself. That means he starts to push you away

But when he starts to feel more empty, he owns up to his feelings and decides to change that

Brook

You would listen to his music

Listen, not just let it play the background

You always had this look of wonder in your eyes as you watched him

After getting to know him (which started by asking him how he learned so many instruments)

He likes the way you laughed and smiled, and… just do anything

He would start blushing when you would come up to him and talk. When he would see you across the room. When he would think about you… all the time

The crew started to notice but brushed it off as him being flattered by you being interested in his music

But when you guys weren’t doing something music-related, the two of you can be seen drinking tea or watching the ocean

He’s pretty self-aware, but he wants to deny it for a little while

But once the crew notices (due to his non-existent eyes following you) they push him to go after it. He’s been lonely for so long, it seems kinda weird for him

He also feels bad for liking you, since he’s dead and old

But he decided that you only live once, but in his instance twice

Jinbei

He was very suspicious of you

He didn't even want you to join. So he decided to keep an eye on you

That backfired

Because he started to notice how good you looked… doing everything. When he started asking you about yourself— boy he started sweating

He can’t get over how cute he thinks you are. Everything from how you look to how you act. The thumping of his heart can be heard by the fishes below

Cue the shifty eyes, twiddling thumbs, and flushed cheeks

He is honestly so cute. But of course, if anyone asks him what’s wrong, he’ll say he’s fine… sure

He tries to woo you by showing you his helmsman skills. If that doesn’t work he’ll tell you stories about Fishman island. If that doesn’t work… he’ll just listen to you and give his sage advice

The crew catches on quickly. He is just too obvious. That means incessant teasing from all of the members (excluding you)

Most of them find it ironic how he was telling Luffy it was a bad idea to let you on board, to think what it would be like to grab your hand with his webbed fingers

He’s self-aware, but he is also scared since he has never felt this way before

But after getting tired of the teasing, he decided he was gonna take you out for a swim… and whatever happens, happens (aka he’s preparing for a stuttering love confession)

[cienie-isengardu]

Zoro & Sandai Kitetsu

There is something that was bugging me about Zoro’s swords for a long time and now, the Wano arc helped put thoughts in proper perspective. Namely four out of five named katanas used by Roronoa are, in fact, a heirlooms; a burden of someone’s else dreams or ambition or honor that Zoro (consciously or not) carry on while Sandai Kitetsu is the only one sword truly and just his. Because the same as the sword was chosen by Zoro, Zoro himself was chosen by Kitetsu,

The best known Roronoa’s sword, Wado Ichimonji in fact belonged to Kuina who died the night after she and Zoro made a promise that one of them must become the world’s best swordsman. He begged Kuina’s father to gift him with her sword and to honor Kuina’s dream, he created an unique fighting style - Santoryu.

Zoro could just replace one of his swords with Wado and yet Zoro’s fighting style is a fusion of his two-sword style trained since childhood and one-sword style used by Kuina. Which is his way to stay faithful to a promise made between them and maybe a promise between him and Kuina’s father too. That way Kuina - represented by Wado - gets stronger with each of Zoro’s fights and with him, one day will become the best swordmaster. Zoro has carried on her dream since childhood and in fact, their shared promise is both a great motivation AND burden. What was noted by Mihawk  (What burdens you so?) and something Zoro himself was well aware (“I may only have three swords, but the weight of our swords are completely different!“).

Wado is as much a memento of his deceased friend as much a burden to carry on alone. It’s Zoro’s most precious sword and at the same I think it will never truly belong to him. Wado was and always will be Kuina’s. He was not chosen by the great katana - he begged for that  sword and it was given to him by Kuina’s father. Because Zoro cared so much for their vow, when Koushirou dismissed Kuina’s dream when she was still alive. Koushirou granted the precious katana to a determined boy, so his daughter’s dream (and which it, a part of Kuina) could live on.

Wado is Zoro's most precious possession, but it is a “borrowed” katana that never truly was meant for him. It was Kuina who should carry on the white katana. Zoro only carried it in place of her, because she never had truly a chance to spread her wings. Thus, Wado is a memento, a shared dream, a burden and second chance (for Kuina, and maybe for Koushiro too). 

Then we have YUBASHIRI, given to Zoro by Ipponmatsu in Loguetown

Ipponmatsu freely gave Zoro this katana as an apology for looking down on him, once Roronoa proved how well skilled and strong willed swordsman he was by testing his luck against cursed blade. The given sword served him well, up until Enies Lobby, where Yubashiri was destroyed by marine captain Su, a man with devil fruit power of rusting.

Ipponmatsu did not tell Zoro that Yubashiri was in fact his own family heirloom - something pointed out by shop owner’s wife:

but once questioned about the decision, Ipponmatsu asked back “what is wrong with a man entrusting his dream to another man?!”

what implies that Yubashiri, like Wado, carried inside someone’s else unfulfilled dream of greatness.

In Thriller Bark, Yubashiri was buried alongside remains of Brook’s first nakama while its place was taken by SHUSUI.

Shusui was a black sword that belonged to legendary samurai, Ryuma. In Thriller Bark it was wielded by Ryuma’s zombie (with Brook’s shadow) and once Zoro saw the blade, he wanted it for himself, to replace destroyed Yubashiri and was willing to take it from the enemy's dead body. Though the fight was relatively short, Zoro’s skills were acknowledged by Ryuma and in result, Shusui was given to pirate.

Zoro honored his opponent by taking sword and being willing to pretend the match never happened.

Similar to Sandai Kitetsu, Zoro both chose a sword and was chosen (accepted) by the blade. But unlike Kitetsu, Shusui, as the most precious treasure of Wano country, couldn’t truly belong to him. The katana served its master well and Roronoa appreciated it very much, but since Dressrosa arc, he was constantly nagged by people of Wano to give it back. He didn’t care for their complaints and did not plan to do so, yet once asked by Kozuki Hiyori to return it to its rightful place, Zoro finally agreed. Because in the end he respected the dead swordmaster and how much the black sword meant to people of Wano. It was a sacred symbol, a heirloom of legendary samurai Ryuma while he was an outsider. Although Zoro proved his worth to Ryuma zombie, the sword (and Ryuma’s body) was stolen in the first place and Hiyori was willing to give up memento of her late father (personal treasure) for Shusui (a national relic). Such sacrifice proved how much Ryuma’s sword meant to people of Wano and Zoro, despite his claim, returned the black blade to where it belonged - asking only to let him visit Ryuma’s grave once the battle is over.

Shusui was another heirloom, a sword burdened by past and its meaning. It served Zoro well, but it couldn’t truly belong to him.

For returning Wano’s national treasure, Hiyori promised Zoro no less great katana - ENMA.

A legendary sword given to Hiyori by her late father, Kozuki Oden that is said to be the only blade that even injured Kaido. A wonderful gift, but the same as previous swords, it is someone else's heirloom passed to Zoro. Another memento of a dead person. Another burden to carry on. 

While Zoro trained with his new sword, Tenguyama Hitetsu (the creator of Sandai Kitetsu) told him the story behind Enma - Oden’s sword and Kuina’s Wado were birthed by the same man, Shimotsuki Kozaburo. Who, ironically, is Kuina’s grandfather according to SBS. What Zoro may have known now, since he did met Kozaburo as a child.

Anyway, Hitetsu assumed that Hiyori perhaps recognized Wado and because of that offered Zoro her heirloom as a replacement for Shusui. I personally think the reason was more selfish than that. Once Zoro saved her, Hiyori said there was a prophecy that “in time of the resurgence of the Kozuki line, strong, kind samurai from across the seas would come to our aid” and Zoro fits perfectly. Even more, since Zoro’s hometown, the Shimotsuki Village is in fact strongly connected to Wano by Kozaburo no less.

Hiyori, as Oden’s daughter, wants Wano to be a free, safe country again but for this to happen, Kaido must be defeated first. Zoro already proved to be a reliable ally. He came To Wano with her missing brother and Kinemon. He saved her and Toko from Orochi’s assassin and later, from enemy attack once the fight broke out after Yasuie’s death. He is strong (something she saw for herself) and to some degree has the samurai feeling about himself. 

Above everything else, Zoro will fight in the upcoming war against Kaido for the Kozuki clan even though he (like all Straw Hats) has no real obligation to her family. Whether she believed in prophecy or not, by passing to Zoro her family heirloom, Hiyori burdened him with her hopes and dreams for victory and justice for her murdered parents and for Wano country as a whole. She gave an outsider Oden's precious sword that can injure Kaido and by that, placed faith in Zoro. She can’t use the sword, she can’t fight in battle, but Zoro will carry on Oden’s (and her) wish to protect Wano into battle. 

Was Zoro aware of such a possible burden? Who knows. Still, he accepted the blade despite its dangerous nature - and any eventual burden (someone else’s unfilled dreams and hopes) to carry on.

Frankly, Enma and Sandai Kitetsu have a lot in common. Both are dangerous blades that drive weak swordsmen into madness and/or ultimately lead to their death. Both need to be tamed. And Zoro likes them very much, despite warnings of other people. Even manga presents their “introduction” as accepted and appreciated swords by Roronoa in similar way:

Yet there are two major differences between Kitetsu and Enma, what also are true for the three previous swords too.

First, already mentioned and explained the matter of heirloom and connected to that “burden” Zoro carries on alongside. In the case of Enma, once the battle is over and Wano saved, all the faith and hopes put in Zoro by Kozuki Hiyori through the Enma should not burden him anymore. Yet since Hiyori entrusted him the memento of her father, Roronoa will need to make sure to never bring shame to her (and by extension, the Kozuki clan) in later adventures & fights he will face one day. But frankly, this is the same with all of his swords bestowed to him by people who were important to him or which he shared mutual respect. It is strictly connected at core to sword fighting philosophy; to be worth of great blade.

Secondly, Wado Ichimonji, Yubashiri, Shusui and Enma, all those swords are desired and appreciated by swordsmen all over the world while Kitetsu, as a cursed blade, was not wanted. Kitetsu was feared by people, put in barrels between low quality swords in hopes to get rid of it. Even sword maniac like Tashigi, once learning the truth about the katana, did not want that blade despite its high grade and low price on it. She was even sorry for insisting previously Zoro should take it. Kitetsu drove previous owners into horrible deaths to the point “you will not find a swordsmen who’d dare to use a Kitetsu these days”:

Zoro felt that the sword was cursed, before Ipponmatsu had a chance to explain why Kitetsu had such a low price on it. And after learning the horrible truth, he decided to take the blade. The unwanted, bloodthirsty, cursed blade that brings madness and death because no one else would dare to use it. Zoro liked the challenge. Oh, he liked it so much he decided to test his luck (fate) against the curse of Kitetsu, putting his swordmaster future at stake.

The same as Zoro chose Kitetsu, the sword chose him. Like Ipponmatsu said, the sword chooses its owner. And yes, Zoro wanted to have Wado and Shusui but these blades were heirlooms burdened with someone’s dreams and greatness while Kitetsu was the unwanted, dangerous blade with a horrible past that Zoro faced only with his own strong will. No hidden promises to carry on, no ambitions or honor or hopes passed on him by previous owners. No legendary status to live up. Like Wado. Like Shusui. Like Yubashiri. Like Enma.

Sandai Kitetsu is this wild, bloodthirsty sword that was challenged by Zoro and decided to spare this insane man who looked at it, felt the cursed nature and did not throw it away but appreciated it. Something that, I imagine, didn’t happen in years. And there is very strong bond between Roronoa and Kitetsu, because Zoro always can tell apart the cursed blade from other swords

and he kept Kitetsu usually in left (dominant) hand during fight. All those little details give the impression Kitetsu is much more spiritually connected to Zoro’s core than Wado.

In short, Sandai Kitetsu was the only masterless sword Zoro picked solely by and for himself that did not burden him with sentiments, past promises or hopes. And though the sword was “problematic child”, its demonic nature seems to suit Zoro’s own very well.

[tsvestidiabolus]

the melody never changes

commission for @snurps

➵ my COMMISSIONS are open!

SUMMARY:  Robin's reflection on their newest crewmate, from Thriller Bark to Fishman Island, and Brook's growth from solitude to rockstar.

WORDCOUNT: 2529

CHARACTERS: Brook & Nico Robin

ALSO FOUND AT: ao3

Thank you for the commission!  I had a blast writing for Brook and Robin.  Theirs is a friendship that is immensely underrated.

To the charming skeleton gentleman,

First off, I’m afraid I must deny your inevitable request to see my panties.  I have self-respect, and I don’t think they would suit you.  Secondly, while we are not currently crewmates, our captain has declared you as part of the Straw Hats, and you’ll find him to be very persuasive.  Doubtless we’ll be spending more time together in the future.  In order to give you a warm welcome to the crew, I’ve decided to write a personal letter from me to you.  Partly because I know how it feels coming into this ship as a newcomer, and partly because I’m frankly interested in you.

As an archaeologist, of course.

We’ve recovered the three strongest of our crew, and those who were in the crew all the way back in the East Blue seemed to recognise the whale you mentioned.  It’s funny how life turns out that way - coincidences upon coincidences, friends meeting with friends again.  He’s called Laboon, right?  I certainly hope you’ll introduce me to him when we arrive at Twin Cape.

Nami is calling out to the crew - I believe she wants us to plan before we inevitably scrap any semblance of strategy and enter the main castle again - so I’ll have to cut this short.  If we somehow don’t survive and our mangled corpses rot on the island, which would be a shame, I’d have to hope this letter finds its way to you.

From,

Nico Robin

---

“Yohoho!”

Even now, despite all the hardships and suffering the crew had gone through in the past day, Brook laughed.  Such a melodic sound - one could almost mistake it for a song - yet it carried with it fifty years worth of promises.

The pirates were spread out across the castle of Thriller Bark, exhausted from their ordeal (yet at the moment that Luffy would shout it’s time for a party, they would be bouncing with energy) and taking their time to rest.  Some of them had been tending to their wounds with the help of Chopper, while others decided to help out those who’d been lost for years.  The Straw Hats in particular were fretting with worry over Zoro, even though they all were confident in his survival.

Brook practically danced past most of the Straw Hats, tipping his skull to those he passed by, before he settled right in front of the archaeologist of the crew, her nose stuck in a book.  Robin flipped to the next page of her novel, making no indication that she had noticed his arrival.  

“Ah, Miss Robin -”

“If you’re about to ask to see my panties, I’ll have to say no,” said Robin.  

Brook laughed. “Well, it was worth a shot!  But that’s not the reason I’m here.”

Her eyes never leaving the page, Robin arched a brow, the corners of her lips twitching upwards. “Oh?”  

“I wanted to give my thanks.  You’ve made me feel welcome to the ship already.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” Robin said, smiling.

“Yohoho!  I’ve never felt so honoured to call someone so beautiful a friend!”

With a tip of his hat, and a blank eyeless stare for a brief moment (which Robin later found out was Brook attempting to wink), Brook danced away from her, his skeletal legs skittling across the ground.  It was almost inhumane, the amount of speed the man carried in his light body, but then again their crew was full of monsters.  A living skeleton was far from the most terrifying thing in their crew.

As for the most terrifying thing?

Brook was bound to discover, sooner or later. 

---

To Brook,

Music has no language; it cannot be misinterpreted.  One strum of a guitar can tell a thousand stories and a thousand promises.  One beat of the drum speaks of a hundred wars.  One note of a violin can sing a song of sorrow in the drifting seas of time.  It is the one universal truth.

I see you sometimes, when I’m on watch duty, humming a solo that sounds so… lonely, and so melancholic, that it takes all of my effort not to climb down the mast and join you.  But I am a coward, so I leave you alone to your own devices.  To that, I am sorry.

How lonely must you have been, drifting alone on those waters for fifty years.  Only with your thoughts and determination to keep you going.  I’m amazed you can still smile, despite that (at least, I assume you’re smiling. It would be pretty strange for you to laugh without smiling).  In fact, I admire you.  And while I’m sure my words would have a better effect for you if I said them aloud, as I said before - I’m a coward.  It’s easier for me to write this down in ink.

But yet, you were on the cusp of madness, and you persevered.  You lived.  Sort of.

And to that, I want to know more.

Please, tell me your story.

From your crewmate,

Nico Robin.

---

Quietly, as the eve turned to night and the night to the dead hour, Robin slipped down the ladder from the mast.  It was Zoro’s turn now to keep watch, and she knew the swordsman would be perceptive enough to protect them in the instance of danger, despite his injuries and constant napping.  But it was not yet time to sleep, for as usual their newly appointed musician was out by his lonesome in the night, a gentle lul of the violin playing a song that reminded her of Ohara.  The song was enough to drift the boys and Nami to sleep, and Robin would have dozed off to the melody had she not felt so lonely just from the strings alone.  But it was not her loneliness that made her feel this way - she had long since accepted she was part of this crew.  That she wasn’t alone anymore.

It was Brook’s.

So, once she was safely down on the lawn of the Sunny, she joined him by the railing, leaning against the wood while he continued his solo.  His skeletal hands played the tune delicately, and in time she hummed along to it.  The nostalgia washed over her like a wave.  She closed her eyes and imagined Ohara again.  She could only imagine what Brook was thinking of.

As the last notes of the melody rang out and the song stopped, Robin opened her eyes and smiled at Brook.  He bowed his head back, setting the violin down the grass.

“Is that song known outside the West Blue?” she asked. “I’ve only ever heard it there.”

“It’s a West Blue classic!” Brook exclaimed. “Well, I say it’s a classic.  It was written by yours truly!”

Robin blinked.

“I would’ve like to tweak it before I left, but sadly there was no time.  The original music sheet must be lost as well!  I must rely on my ears now to complete it - but alas, I have no ears!  Yohoho!  Skull jo-”

“You’re from the West Blue?”

It certainly came as a surprise - after all, a majority of their crew had come from the East or the Grand Line, and she had no idea there was someone else onboard the ship that hailed from the West.  Even if he was the most recent addition.  Robin felt her curiosity peak up the more Brook revealed about himself.  His past was becoming more and more of a mystery to her, a clash between his demeanor and his tragedy.

Brook nodded his head in response, his afro bouncing as he did. “I served a royal kingdom there for sometime before I decided piracy was a better career.  Of course, I was a musician as well!”

She imagined him flashing her a grin.

“But yes, West Blue, born and raised - ah!  Miss Robin, if I recall correctly, you were from the West too, no?” he asked.

“That’s correct.”

“May I ask which is-”

“Ohara.”

She definitely said that too quickly, with too much of a snap in her tongue, that Brook paused and gave her enough time to regret it.  Before she could utter an apology, Brook picked up the bow of his violin and held it out to her.  Naturally, she was confused.  

Brook bowed his head down.

“I understand if you do not wish to talk about it,” he says. “I can assume from personal experience a deep tragedy has occurred there.”

Still, he held out the bow. 

“But know that Ohara is wonderful, and that its legacy - whatever that may be - is you.”

Curious, Robin took the bow and inspected it.  It seemed ordinary enough.  She couldn’t understand what Brook was -

Prof. Clover

Without realising, her hand had begun trembling from the overwhelming everything coming over her, and she looked up to Brook with glistening eyes.  The musician panicked.

“Miss Robin, I - I’m dreadfully sorry!” he sputtered. “I didn’t mean to upset you!  I merely - I wanted to explain that tragedies don’t have to - I’m sorry!”

“You knew the professor?” She was surprised she could manage to get even that out. “You knew Ohara?”

A relieved sigh passed through his nonexistent lips. “I stayed there for a couple years, back when I was a young man.  This violin was a parting gift from my dear friend at the time.  He’d just gotten his doctorate, and I think he wanted to show off.  Yohoho!”

Robin chuckled, wiping away a tear. 

“Ah!  But of course, this explains why you know my song!” Brook exclaimed. “Miss Robin, I knew I felt a kinship for you when I boarded this ship.  Us both being from the West Blue gives me a sense of familiarity in the crew.  I’ve never been more grateful to be alive - ah!  But I’m not alive!  Yohoho, skull joke!”

Robin was amazed, not for the first time, that Brook could joke and even dare to imply that she was the one being welcoming, when here he was, passing on Robin wisdom that she took twenty years to even consider.  It was often easy to forget that Brook had thirty years of experience out on the sea before the tragedy of the Rumbar Pirates occurred, but it was clear that those years were enough to sharpen the man’s mind and strengthen his heart.  But his heart was not made of stone, nor iron - it was laid out bare to the world, soft and beating, and his gentle lullabies sung of sorrows from his past that he dare not speak of.

So, she leaned against the railing, a slight smile gracing her lips. “Please, tell me more stories.”

And so he did.

---

Be alive.

---

She’d written the message in the dirt of the prison, pleading with whatever divine powers existed to ensure that the rest of her crew had lived.

After all, Brook owed her a concert.  One that would declare to the World that he was alright despite all the pain he’d been through.  That humans were resilient.

He’d better keep that promise.\

---

To Brook,

I do not expect this message to reach you.  The Government is constantly attempting to interfere with letters from the RA, and no doubt they’ll be trying to decipher any clues about their plans in this message (good luck, cowards).

It’s been almost two years already.  No doubt we will meet each other again soon.  I’ve been looking forward to this immensely, as no doubt you have too.  I think - I understand you, a little more.  Now that I’ve been infected with the Straw Hats’ boundless enthusiasm and joy, I can understand how you lived in isolation for all that time.  Not just because of the promise you kept to Laboon, but because dying would be spitting on their smiles, right?

Can you hear the waves crash against the shore where you are?  Do you hear seagulls, do you smell the salt?

Can you see the moon?

One day we’ll meet again.  I look forward to that day.

From Robin.

P.S. I keep hearing about this new rockstar that some of the Revolutionaries are raving about.  You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?

---

It wasn’t a soft strum that the bony hand had passed over the strings, yet it was strangely nostalgic all the same.  No, it was a thunderous sound, booming across the concert hall and somehow could be heard over the screams of adoring fans.  It was unlike anything Robin had ever heard before.  No - she never felt anything like this before.  The vibrations shook her very body, making her suddenly aware of the blood rushing through her veins, of her heart pounding against her chest.  The feeling was exhilarating.

She stared from the back of the concert hall to the star of the show.  As always, his feathered boa and skeleton-figure was instantly recognisable, as was his laugh.

“Soul King Brook, hm?” she whispered under her breath.  She couldn’t hear herself over the sound of the music.

There was something different about his music now.  She would have to ask him if he changed his muse.  Later, perhaps.

Now, it was time to find the Sunny.

---

It wasn’t hard to find Brook after the battle at Fishman Island.  Where there were cheers and melodies, there was Brook.  Robin waited by an alley, listening to the sound of Brook’s guitar as he sang a victory song for the pirates.  The tune was new, unlike anything she had ever heard before.  But there was a certain gentleness to it, despite the upbeat and heart-pounding vibrations it made.  Like Brook was unleashing happiness to the world.

When the imprupto-concert was over, and Robin could finally approach Brook, he tipped his hat and stared blankly at her.  She assumed he was grinning.

“Miss Robin!  Did you enjoy the show?” he asked. “I wasn’t sure about this song, but it looks to be a hit with the crowd!  Yohoho!”

Robin smiled back. “It was happy,” she noted.

“Mmhm!” he said. “It was inspired by our captain.”

“Luffy?” 

Brook nodded. “I suppose that’s why you picked up on the feelings I was conveying.  It’s an honour to sail under his flag, don’t you think?”  His voice took on a melancholic tone. “I would’ve never expected to find such a crew years ago.”

Neither did she.

“Are you happy, Brook?” Robin asked.  The question had just slipped out, but she was curious to know the answer.  

Brook looked at her, tilting his head. “Of course I am, Miss Robin.  How could I create such a song if I weren’t?”

Robin paused for a moment, before nodding her head slowly.  It made sense.  Brook’s music reflected his feelings at the time.  And now, as part of the Straw Hats, his tune had become one much like their captain’s.

“Now, shall we return to the party?” Brook said. “I’m sure Luffy would want to hear this too.”

Not a thing could crush Brook’s spirit.  Not being alone, not despair, not even death.  

He was alive, and he was happy, and he would make sure the world knew.

Robin couldn’t be more proud to call him a crewmate.

[doctorgerth]

On Sauerkraut and Stairs

Written by: @feminist-zoro

Pseudo name: Basilisa Title: On Sauerkraut and Stairs Characters: Blackleg Sanji, Nico Robin, Trafalgar Law, Roronoa Zoro Chosen word: Drunk Fic type: humor, (kind of) domestic pirate life Warnings: cursing, weird food, drunk people being drunk

Although he would rather die than admit it, Sanji really wasn’t much of a drinker. It wasn’t a big problem since he was usually too busy providing food during parties - but from time to time the crew stumbled upon groups that were interested in getting wasted more than anything else. The Heart Pirates were – as weird as it sounds – such a group and every meeting with them had ended badly for poor Sanji and for his even poorer head. It was like they were compensating for their captain’s seriousness and strictness. The Heart Pirates had been using the opportunity of meeting the Straw Hats to its fullest and had been always dropping a heavy drinking tempo, one that even Zoro couldn’t keep up with. This time wasn’t any different and Sanji quickly found himself blabbering and stumbling, with the night still young and both crews still eager to empty all the barrels. As he was still able to control himself, he decided to withdraw for a while, with an excuse of looking for a restroom. 

He intended to head straight to the men’s quarters and dive into his bed, but he sensed someone’s presence on the deck. Well, so much for sleeping. He really couldn’t show that drunk weakness of his now, when someone had spotted him. Especially, if that person was precious Robin-chan, enjoying her book in the light of deck’s lamp and wrapped in a cute blanket.

“Robin-chwaaan~”, Sanji rushed towards her, swirling up the gangway. He tripped midway and almost fell, but Robin caught him in time.

“Sanji, are you alright?” her eyes showed concern as she smiled at him so gently and lovely as only she could smile (Sanji would definitely melt right away, but the world was still circling around him and he wasn’t fully sure what was going on). She held on to him and didn’t withdraw with her Devil Fruit ability until Sanji stood firmly on the deck and stopped looking like he’s just about to faint.

“Of course I am”, he huffed a bit more harshly than he usually talked to women, but almost immediately turned back to his silly self, eyes shining, and cheeks covered in vivid blush. “My amazing Robin-chan is so strong and beautiful! I was blessed with this wonderful rescue!”

“I’m being serious here, Sanji”, she gave him a piercing look and it knocked all ideas and resistance out of his drunk mind. “Are you really alright?”

“… I might have overdone the booze a bit.”

“Oh my”, she couldn’t help but chuckle under her breath seeing Sanji making a face of a kid caught on stealing candies. “They went too hard on you, didn’t they? My poor cook.”

Sanji just whined , “I’ll be so dead tomorrow. And this wild bunch of animals will demand a special hangover breakfast, I’m sure of it.”

“Judging by their tempo, I doubt anyone besides Zoro and Luffy will show up anywhere near food in the close future.”

“Those two alone are enough to kill me.”

Robin laughed aloud, not even bothering to cover her mouth with a hand. She stretched under blankets around her and massaged her stiff nape.

“Would you be so kind and tell Law to bring a cup of coffee for me too?”

“Everything for you, Robin-chwaaa- wait”, Sanji was already half up the stairs when he realized what exactly Robin had said to him. “Tra-guy is here?”

“He said he needed some caffeine, so he should be in the kitchen?” she pointed, but Sanji was already gone, only some muffled swears audible from distance.

Trafalgar Law was indeed in the kitchen, half buried in Sanji’s precious fridge. It took a lot of willpower for Sanji to not kick his butt to teach him a lesson on raiding the allies’ food supplies.

“Has no one told you it’s a dick move to touch other people’s stuff without permission?”, he teased him instead. “Especially if there’s a padlock on it?”

Law turned to him and gazed straight into his eyes as he continued devouring a slice of cheese. He had his pockets stuffed with – as Sanji suspected – the dainties hidden for special meals for Nami and Robin and held a jar of Nami’s hand-made tangerines in syrup. Sanji could feel his anger boiling as the Heart Pirates captain reached for another treat, a slice of ham this time, and – without breaking eye contact – slowly consumed it whole.

Sanji would really kick him for this but the world made a move against him and started swirling around again. He had to grip a counter to prevent an embarrassing fall on his ass. Law looked like he was about to interfere but with one deeper breath he realized it’s not an illness, but just the result of rum and sake.

“Blackleg-ya, you better go to sleep.” He patted Sanji’s shoulder in an awkward attempt of showing sympathy and continued with looting the kitchen. Sanji didn’t really feel like stopping him anymore, just observing him with eyes half opened, so the world wouldn’t dance anymore.

“If you’re looking for something for Robin-chan, then give her cookies with that coffee”, he suggested as Law finally got his hands on the coffee maker. “No sugar nor cream, by the way. And candies are in the storage.”

He threw him a key, missing a good foot in distance. Law immediately roomed it right into his hands, giving Sanji a disapproving look. Yeah, it was definitely time to do something about this spinning. Sanji hummed to himself some old song he randomly recalled, trying to find in the mess of his head some kind of solution. What would the old geezer tell him to do? The answer was so obvious it made Sanji laugh and almost loose his balance when he rushed to execute the idea.

In the corner of the kitchen there was that one specific barrel, which Sanji had never let anyone touch. It was full of high-quality sauerkraut he had been storing for a rainy day. The good, old (but smelly as heck and hard to feed Luffy a dose of) life-saving treat had been with the Strawhats in all dark hours, when Nami’s trees hadn’t been bearing fruit and they were out of other citruses. Sanji thought he could never be its bigger fan than he had already been – until now, as he remembered the magical feature of its juice, the real-life antidote against alcohol. The taste maybe wasn’t the best but the result? Sanji almost cried due to happiness of saving himself from a long and painful process of sobering and surviving the hangover.

Law, though, was far away from happy when he caught him gathering the juice into a cup straight from the barrel and gulping on it like on fresh, cold water. He couldn’t even look straight into Sanji’s face as he gave him the key back, “Blackleg-ya, you don’t need to be that disgusting in public.”

 “You’re the one who got his ass into my kitchen”, Sanji, teasingly, took a long and loud sip. “Shoo, get lost.”

Law looked like he was about to return the late-night snacks. He grabbed the coffeepot and cups and almost bolted out, murmuring some lame excuse under his nose. Sanji celebrated his little win with the last full cup of sauerkraut blessing.

“Robin-chwaaaan, I’m going to use the bathroom~” Then he glanced over the deck, finding his beautiful archeologist and the traumatized surgeon enjoying their coffee and relaxing on the lawn. “Wanna have a bath with me?~”

“I’ll pass but enjoy your time.” Robin sent him her cute, precious smile and he almost melted again.

“You sure you gonna make it up there, Blackleg-ya?” Law still didn’t dare to look straight at his face after their little encounter – or at least Sanji couldn’t tell it from the distance. “You’re drunk as a skunk – and I’m not putting you together, if you fall from there.”

Sanji flipped the bird at him and firmly made his way on the top level. He could feel Robin’s concerned gaze on his back, so he obviously couldn’t fail right now. There’s no way he could make her worried, not his precious Robin-chan! And with the power of sauerkraut behind him, nothing could possibly knock him dead.

He, indeed, won the fight with the stairs – but wasn’t expecting the bathroom door being slammed open for him. It alone almost made him jump but…

“DAVY FUCKING JONES!”, he screamed in pure horror as a weird creature came out, slouching and lurching towards him. He could swear it had multiple limbs and at least two heads. Sanji jumped back, way too far, as he soon learned, leaning over a railing. And, finally, falling headfirst down on the deck.

Robin and Law both acted on reflex, clashing their activated Devil Fruit abilities as a result. The upper part of Sanji’s body was held firmly by Robin’s hands and he could see his legs flying away in the opposite direction, carried by the Law’s power. Someone – maybe even he himself – cursed like an old sailor, something was thrown on the deck and been rolling while making weird noises. The terrifying creature on the top level glanced over the broken railing as Robin put half-conscious Sanji’s part on the lawn.

“Is he finally dead?”, it asked, revealing itself as Roronoa Zoro; very confused and heavily drunk as well – but definitely pleased at a sight of what he had done. The extra limbs Sanji saw were nothing more than his three swords, moved for some reason on the shoulder instead of hip. The ‘second head’ was meanwhile a huge pitcher full of delicious sake. Zoro drank straight from it, almost chocking on the drink and his own laugh.

“You could have killed him, you idiot”, Law scolded him. Together with Robin he tried to put Sanji back together into one piece, what, obviously, wasn’t that easy. The cook was resisting, kicking like mad and turning his torso around in nothing but a pure drunk panic. Robin had to sit on his chest and pin him down, so Law could room the rest back on its place without any other fail.

“Like hell I was expecting him to walk into the bathroom in the middle of a night party”, the main offender didn’t even try to hide a mischievous grin. “Need any help with knocking him out?”

Robin gave him a warning frown, “You rocked the boat enough”. Her serious poker face broke a bit and even Zoro didn’t want to see her really pissed.

“I’ll carry him to the quarters then”, he proposed almost apologetically and rushed down the stairs.

“You better watch yourself; you are wasted and…” Zoro didn’t even let Nico Robin end her sentence as he slipped and drove down the stairs on his ass.

Law just groaned and facepalmed, “Now you know why I don’t let my people drink, Nico-ya”.

When later asked by Chopper how on Earth he got splinters in his butt cheeks, Zoro honestly couldn’t remember anything and Robin, when asked, just made a weird face, suggesting she wouldn’t answer any questions even under torture. So no one asked, including Sanji who’s memories ended very vaguely on seeing something weird in the bathroom. But when you live on the one ship with a living skeleton, humanized reindeer and a dude made of rubber, you quickly learn to exclude the word ‘weird’ from your dictionary.

The barrel of sauerkraut became the only victim of the night. It got ejected into the back of the storeroom and covered with a few layers of rugs. For some unknown reason, Sanji developed a strong disgust towards its smell and taste.

“I would rather die on scurvy than touch this shit”, he claimed, much to Luffy’s happiness.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

558-560: "The Noah Closing in! The Fish-Man Island Facing Destruction!", "Hurry up, Luffy! Shirahoshi's Life in Jeopardy!" and "The Fierce Fight Begins! Luffy vs. Hordy!"

This is like watching Hitler stab Elliot Roger. Can you even cheer for this?

I can’t because let’s just say I’m not the biggest fan of either of them. The most I could muster was a grim nod. “Yes, that’s brilliant. Now the other one needs to go.”

Luffy should step up in the next couple of episodes, so I’m looking forward to watching Hordy Jones chow down on a generous slice of Karma pie. It’ll be old and moldy too because Hordy’s comeuppance is long overdue.

I get the feeling that the (literally) biggest problem facing the Strawhats right now, though, is neither Decken nor Hordy. It’s Noah: the massive ship that is currently floating just above Fishman Island.

How big is this ship?

I’ll let Franky sum it up.

Noah: The Ship of Promise

The shots of Noah drifting straight for Fishman Island were weirdly beautiful. I mean, I know this thing was close to killing an entire nation full of people plus the Strawhats, but the art was so good. Dat perspective. Dat chiaroscuro. Dat cool shot of the surface tension stretching the bubble. The seaweed strung chains alone were so huge they demolished buildings and minor geological features with ease. Toei did a good job escalating the sense of threat here.

Another interesting thing is that, for the first time, Neptune has really freaked out with fear. But not for himself. It’s for Noah. Apparently, the ship has a nickname: the ship of promise. Neptune was worried because that ship was Not To Be Used before the appointed time. He even freaked out about the possibility of it being damaged.

Hmmm... Intriguing. I guess this means Noah is culturally significant to Fishman Island (or at least to the Royal Family/Neptune who is the only one who clearly understands its significance, as the princes called it “a relic from the past”). What did he mean by “the appointed time?” Why was it built in the first place? Starting to think it’s not an ancient weapon. Maybe it was built to transport Fishmen to a better place? It has loads of windows. I guess I’ll find out soon. :)

But first, there is a villain to be dealt with!

Long-Distance Roasting

Luffy scrapping with Hordy in 558 was glorious. I’m enjoying watching the new tricks he’s learned over his two year stint with Rayleigh. I love how surprised Luffy was that Hordy staggered upright after being punched through a wall.

He used hardening haki to obliterate iron shields, landed a blistering hardened kick and smacked Hordy with a hardened fist. Faced with an opponent who was levels above him, Hordy panicked and fired off water arrows indiscriminately. Luffy’s observation haki pretty much ruined that half-baked plan. It was hilarious watching Hordy get his ass handed to him. It must have really ground Hordy’s gears hearing the islanders praising the strength of the world-renowned Strawhat pirate captain.

Unfortunately, Luffy couldn’t finish the job because it was about that time the Noah Eclipse moved across the island. At that point, even the Strawhats were thinking, “Shiiiiiiiiit.....”

One of the smaller shadows belonged to the Sea Bonze dude that worked for Decken. It grew rapidly as he plummeted to earth. When he shook himself off, he looked up and freaked out because the ship was sailing without him.

“Stop the ship!” he yelled. “I slipped and fell off. I don’t wanna die!”

You know, I thought for one moment that Decken’s one saving grace was that he at least cared about his crew.

Turns out he doesn’t even have that. He said straight up to his Sea Bonze buddy: “Yeah, I’m gonna need you to become a sacrifice along with the rest of Fishman Island.” What a guy.

I mean, you’ve got to be a proper piece of crap when Hordy Jones, of all people, is pissed off with the psychotic shit you keep pulling.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

But Decken’s deeply creepy breakdown spurred one of my favourite moments of the arc. 

When Decken made his appearance, he, of course, took the opportunity to harass Shirahoshi one last time. “SHIRAHOSHI, NO ONE CAN LOVE YOU LIKE ME! SO DROP DEAD ALONG WITH THE REST OF FISHMAN ISLAND.”

Logic? Nah. It’s in very short supply with this guy. Must have departed long ago with the last crumb of sanity.

When it became obvious that Decken was about to involve the entire island in his mad quest to “prove his love”, Shirahoshi did something very brave. Decken had thrown Noah towards his marked target, just like all the knives and axes before. Knowing this, Shirahoshi he put her life on the line and swam right up to the ship, stopping it from crashing into the island where she stood.

“If I am the only one who you want to kill, please do not harm the other people of Ryugu Kingdom.”

She was willing to endanger herself in order to protect her people. Shirahoshi is most definitely no coward. In fact, she’s as brave as Otohime, who threw herself in front of a bullet to stop a revenge killing.

Despite Decken upping the creep factor, “How beautiful you are, even your mind! You’re taking the matter into your own hands to save the country, aren’t you? You’re definitely eligible to become Vander Decken IX’s wife after all. You’d better die while you’re still beautiful and live in my heart forever.”

I have no words. Unfortunately, I know this is not unrealistic.

Decken hurled a dagger at Shirahoshi. But despite being injured, she still swam off and lured Decken - and most importantly, Noah - away from the island. She swam all the way to the open sea.

As far as I’m concerned, Shirahoshi deserves major props for quick thinking and saving everyone from being, as Robin said, smashed all at once. (lol)

Hordy Has a Little Moment

While this was going down, Hordy hauled himself upright and stood there like a lost lemon, grinding his teeth and raging at Decken’s “betrayal.” Hordy, the guy has several screws loose. If he is distracted by Shirahoshi in any way, he will drop whatever dumb scheme he’s involved in to pursue his main interest.

He watched Luffy be lauched after Noah by Sanji (that was cool, by the way. Sanji was about to join him, but Luffy pulled him back and said he had to take care of the plaza. Instead of insisting on running after the mermaid princess, Sanji agreed. Obviously the order from his captain, who he also respects as a friend, takes precedence. That’s much better, Sanji! :D) 

Only then did his rage move him to action. He decided to hijack Decken’s plan. He leapt onto the hanging chains, even shooting at the islanders (who tried to slow Noah’s progress because they were so worried for Shirahoshi). I kept thinking, Luffy, now is the time to knock that dumbass off the chain.

But he didn’t. Shirahoshi broke through the bubble and Luffy emerged into open water. He had to use the Bubbly Coral Jimbei handed him. But he couldn’t use the full stretch and strength of his power confined in the small bubble.

Then Hordy swam up behind him and had a little moment when the tables turned. “How inconvenient it must be to be a human!” he gloated, using all his old favourite slurs. “You act so tough on the ground but you couldn’t even win a fight with a Fishman child in the sea!”

Of course, he forgot Zoro beat him in the water before he snacked on a fistful of Roids, but such thoughts are inconvenient. Luffy couldn’t replicate the feat because, as a DF user, he was at a major disadvantage and was forced to fight in the bubble. Hordy was straight up too fast and the water arrows pierced the bubble.

If it wasn’t for Fukaboshi, Luffy would have been screwed. I actually cheered when he showed up. xD It was also nice when Luffy asked how he was. “Thanks for rescuing me. You got hurt earlier. You okay?” (and it was funny when Fukaboshi told him off for being impressed at how Hordy was “almost like Zoro in the water”.) At least they have come to an understanding now. Fukaboshi apologised for suspecting the Strawhats, and Luffy, in his usual way, said, “Don’t mention it.”

They didn’t have time for a drawn out apology-fest, anyway, because Luffy had a plan and he was in a hurry.

Bye, Bye, Decken?

Now, I’m not sure if Ryuboshi and Mamboshi (is that how you spell his name?) gave Shirahoshi the best advice. She was swimming out into open sea away from the island. Instead, they advised her to swim upwards. I guess they couldn’t have predicted Hordy would spear Decken and, once the Mark Mark power wore off, the ship would come crashing down on top of Fishman Island, but still.

The betrayal scene was cool. Decken is obviously so detached from reality he had no idea Hordy was seething with rage when he hopped on deck.

“O hai, pal!” he laughed. “What happened to Neptune? Did you kill him? I’ve been tormenting Shirahoshi with the Noah. What do you think? Good idea, right?”

“Oh, I have an idea,” the shadowy figure of Hordy leered. “If you die now... what’ll happen to this ship?”

Then he stabbed Decken through the chest with his trident. That wasn’t the end of it. Decken hauled himself off it, blood dripping, then accidentally touched Hordy in the process, leaving  a mark on him.

“I panicked a bit when Noah sailed over,” Hordy admitted. “But I can’t kill you yet. Then the Mark Mark power will be ineffective and the ship will fall onto Fishman Island and destroy everything. More than anything, I want the Strawhats gone. Thousands of my men will die too, but I can get as many human slaves as I want later.” Nice, Hordy. Thousands of your men will die, but it’s okay, they can be replaced with human slaves. What happened to Fishman supremacy, eh?

Decken told him to drop dead and threw a blade. I’m not quite sure what happened here, but Hordy either ducked or moved behind Decken and the blade sliced into Decken. Ohhhhhhh, the shot of that sweet, sweet long distance body fall. Decken landed right next to his rose axe (which is a bit suspicious, to be honest. As I have not yet seen a body, I bet he’ll use the axe to take revenge against Hordy. The mark has not yet been removed, so...) 

Of course, counter betrayal accomplished, Hordy pressed on with his plan to hijack Decken’s psycho scheme. He caught up with Shirahoshi and grabbed her by the hair. Luckily, Luffy and Fukaboshi arrived fresh from a strategy talk. I have no idea what move it was Luffy pulled on Hordy, the snake shot one, but it looked like his hands were on fire? At any rate, Luffy said it didn’t work properly because he needed a bigger bubble, but it definitely hit Hordy hard. Looking forward to seeing it on a proper, ass-kicking scale! :D

“A fool like you can’t protect anything!” Hordy jeered.

“No,” Luffy said, absolutely dead pan. “I will protect them all. That’s what I’ve worked for over the past two years.”

For all Luffy adopts a happy-go-lucky attitude, I’ll never forget how low he was post-Marineford. It’s obviously affected him and this is one of the times he lets it show. He will never let something like that happen ever again. If anything threatens his crew, his friends or anyone he loves, they will regret it.

And speaking of...

Meanwhile... Back in the Plaza

Zoro and Sanji are having a great time!

I can’t wait to see Zoro kick that drunken Fishman swordsman’s ass. That guy is such a liability. Imagine killing all your allies just because you love cutting people. Great hire there, Hordy.

Classic Robin. xD

[onepiecefeatstuff]

Sacrifice| Sanami week 2018

Sanji was a man of big gestures. He couldn’t say “I love you” without twirling and almost bursting into song, he loved to prepare special snacks and beverage for the ladies without them even asking, and he would buy them presents whenever he had the chance. And the biggest gesture of them all was sacrifice.

Sanji read a lot as a kid, as a way to escape from the horrible world he had been born in. His favourite tales were always about a knight in shining armor, going to save the princess from the villain who had her prisoner. The prince who killed the dragon and received an ovation from the whole village, married his true love and lived happily ever after. He longed that. Over time, his fantasies faded away, but the essence still remained untouched: the wish of playing the hero, of being recognized for his actions and getting a reward. He never really got over that, and that’s what made him the hopeless romantic he was.

A bit later in his life, he learned that not every story has a happy ending, but by then, he had already made up his mind to be like those heroes of the stories: fearless, charming, gentle and elegant. And he realized that the ending didn’t really matter. In fact, he started to glorify these heroes that sacrificed themselves so that the rest could live happy. And when he learned that Zeff had sacrificed his leg so that he could live, it struck him like lightning. He could do that, too, in his own way. He could help that way.

So whenever he had the chance, he offered himself as a sacrifice. In Skypia, he thought he was about to die, but he knew that he would die happily knowing that his crew would live another day. And it brought him a sense of comfort only comparable to the realization, moments later, that he wasn’t dead. It wasn’t like he wanted to die (he didn’t, in fact, he believed he had so much to see left in the world), but he wouldn’t regret anything if he did.

 According to Nami, Sanji had to be sick. The romantic virus had to have taken his body completely, because he clearly wasn’t thinking straight. At first she thought those were just one of his extravaganzas, and he never really thought about it seriously. But the more she knew about him, the more concerned she was. After his big sacrifice gesture in Zou, she really thought she would never see him again. And it drove her so crazy that she navigated to Whole Cake just to bring him back. Having seen him so willingly sacrificing his future with them to assure their lives had brought so many memories to her. Memories about her past, with her mother.

Nami understood his chivalry, and she understood why he was always open to sacrificing. But that didn’t stop her from being furious at him. How could he do that without feeling guilty? If he was gone, nothing would be the same. And the whole point of being a crew was having each other’s backs. Then why did he have to always act like it wasn’t such a big deal? He would be dead sooner than later, and he wouldn’t complete his dream. He behaved like a crazy person.

She had confronted him about it many times, but he never seemed to really listen. He was always willing to do anything for her, but somehow he could never do the most important thing: avoid putting himself in danger.

“But Nami-san, we’re always in danger” he said, lighting up his cigarette. “There’s no way of avoiding it.”

Nami sighed. She had the feeling it would be a useless talk, but still she had to try.

“That’s why I said as much as possible. Luffy is a risk seeker and we’re never going to be totally safe, but it wouldn’t kill you to not jump headfirst into the enemy. In fact, it will keep you alive.”

Sanji let out a laugh, but Nami wasn’t laughing. She was dead serious.

“It’s almost like you’re obsessed with this idea of sacrifice” she continued, glaring at him. She wanted him to notice her killer look, to know that she wasn’t joking. “Don’t you see it won’t lead you anywhere?”

With the last syllable, her anger faded away. And all it remained was sadness and fear. Fear that he wouldn’t come back one day. Fear that he would leave her forever. And as she began to breathe heavily, the panic started to grow. She tried to hold back her tears, but it was no use.

“How stupid can you be?!” she cried, covering her face with her hands. She had already failed to be strong, but she wouldn’t let him see her cry.

Sanji’s cigarette fell, and he became paralyzed. He had promised himself to not make her cry ever again, and yet he had done it. He felt terrible, his heart ached. He wanted to make things better, to assure her that everything was going to be alright, but he couldn’t. Deep down, he knew that if he did, he would be lying. So he just stood there, frozen, unable to say anything.

Nami turned her back on him, until her sobs stopped.

“You know what?” she said, wiping away her tears. She still wasn’t facing him. “I’m done.”

Her words felt like knives to Sanji, but he couldn’t blame her. He was a lost cause, and she had finally realized that. It was better that way, so he let her go. But if he was doing the right thing, then why did he feel so terrible about it?

“Way to handle the situation, you idiot.” Zoro muttered when Nami was far enough not to hear him.

Just what he needed. The stupid marimo commenting what just had happened. Could the day get any worse?

“Shut up” he said, stepping over the cigarette in the ground “I don’t take lessons from you.”

“Well maybe you should, so you would stop acting like a dick.”

“I’m not acting like a dick!”

His voice came an octave higher than he wished it would be, and everyone stared at him for a second.

“Yes, you are.” This time, it wasn’t Zoro who said it. It was a feminine voice. Robin didn’t tend to take a stance on his fights with the marimo, so he started to think that maybe Zoro was right. “For someone who cares a lot about feelings, you were being quite insensitive.”

Was that really true? He didn’t think he was acting like a jerk, he just was unable to promise her she wouldn’t do it again. Because he would, anytime.

“I…” he opened his mouth to speak, but he wasn’t sure of what to say. He wasn’t sure if he had to say anything at all, actually.

“Look, dumbass” Zoro punched him slightly in the arm “That witch was a fucking mess when you left, she couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t really care if you had gone for good or it was one of your stupidities, but she was so annoying that she convinced Luffy to go after you. And now you’re saying that you could do it again?”

“I didn’t say that.” he rushed to say “I would never say that.”

“Well you didn’t say the opposite either.” Robin intervened again. “We all get that your sense of duty makes you want to take the shot for all of us, but no one wants you to it. Specially her. Someone already did it once in her life and I’m pretty sure she still blames herself for it.”

He had never thought of it before, and the realization hit him harder than any punch he had ever received. He suddenly lost his balance, while thousands of thoughts filled his head, and had to hold on to the railing.

“I have to go” he said, as soon as he regained composure. He walked, no, he ran looking for Nami through every room in the Thousand Sunny, only to find her in the most expected place she would be: behind her tangerine trees. Maybe he was an idiot after all, not having figure it out sooner where she would be.

“What are you doing here?” she clicked her tongue, clearly pissed. She was sitting behind the tree, with her hands covering her knees. A couple rays of sunlight passed through the trees and crossed her face, still a little reddened from crying. He had to contain himself not to shout to the four winds how beautiful she looked.

“I came to apologize.” Sanji said, his voice a little rough. “I’m sorry.”

Nami let out a sigh. “I don’t care. You will do it again, and I’ll grab you back by the ear, and then you’ll apologize and I’ll forgive you. And then you’ll start over.”

“That’s not how it works” he assured her, sitting beside her. “It has only happened once.”

She turned her head to him. “But you’re willing to do it again. All for the sake of making a big gesture. Oh, the great sacrifice!” she was starting to raise her voice, obviously mad. “If you want to sacrifice yourself, sacrifice yourself to commitment. To live. That’s the ultimate sacrifice.”

Sanji was speechless. She clearly understood him more than he knew, and that made his heart beat fast. She wanted him to live. She cared about him, she really did. Her words were repeating in his mind over and over again.

He didn’t know for how long he had been frozen, but when he regained his consciousness again, there she was, placing her head on his shoulder. And a smile lurked in the corner of his mouth.

“Commitment…” he repeated, as his smile grew bigger “Is this a marriage proposal, Nami-swan?”

Nami punched him within a second, but he noticed a little smile on her face. And he realized, the pain he was feeling was a worthy sacrifice to see her smile. He could work on that. He would never forget those stories, those magnific heroes; nor his fear of losing a friend, and he would always jump headfirst into trouble to save their lives. It wasn’t an obsession or an illness, it couldn’t be cured; but now he had someone in the back of his mind to remember him to live. He had Nami’s voice telling him to do so. And that was enough for the moment.

Author’s note: This is one of my faves so far. Now off to writing some more!

@sannamiweek

[genogenocrazycatman]

Stillwater - Chapter 12

Stillwater [Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.Net, Mibba]

Characters: Original Female Character, Monkey D. Luffy, Rorona Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Nefeltari Vivi

***

"We build as only children know to build

We made a way where there's a will

No slowing down or standing still

Innocent and reckless

"How did we get so old and never notice

How did we gain the world and lose the moment

Rise and fall, the tide surrounds us

And drowns us all"

-Hands Like Houses

***

“What a shame. Already over? Well that was disappointing wasn’t it?” Zoro said, sticking three swords in the ground. I had to assume they were stolen. They most certainly weren’t his. Wado, Kitetsu and Yubashiri were currently at my hip.

Bodies littered the ground around Zoro, and the people of Big Horn were staring at him in awe. Clearly, Zoro had taken all of these men out, but considering their lack of skill, I wasn’t particularly impressed. In fact, I was rather irritated.

“Right, Zoro! That was a good job, just like I told you to do! Yeah!”

“What about what I told you to do?” I asked, Usopp coming up behind him, still on the horse that Dalton had nabbed from Cocoa Weed.

I had made it to the Merry only to find the ship seemingly abandoned. I was confused at first, because I was sure that Kitetsu was there. A short search revealed the sword, its two companions, Zoro’s shoes, coat, shirt, socks and haramaki on deck, but not their owner.

I was worried. Where the hell was he? What the hell had happened? Had Wapol’s men gotten him and Carue? I was still thinking these questions over, when a thunderous sound caught my attention. There wasn’t a storm brewing. The sky was cloudy, but they were regular snow clouds. There was no sign of thunder snow. I trained my eyes on the island. An avalanche was coming down the mountain, a massive one considering I could recognize it, despite being as far away as I was. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Sanji and Luffy were the cause of it.

They caused it. They could handle it. I wouldn’t have been able to catch up to them anyways.

I wasn’t sure how far away was far enough, but I knew that I was probably far enough away to be safe. After all, I was on the ship. Fortunately for me, and the horse the snow hadn’t reached us. It did make things more difficult, because now there were no tracks for me to look for.

I had to find Zoro, and the only idea I had was to seek out his very presence, which was faint in comparison to that damn sword.

I would’ve liked to have trained more, to have practiced, but that wasn’t an option. I closed my eyes and did everything in my power to push out that dam demon sword and to lock onto Zoro. Kitetsu was madness. It was anger and blood lust and violence, but Zoro wasn’t. Zoro was determination, pride, and honor.

The second I was able to lock onto him, I was moving again back to Big Horn, stopping only to fish a half frozen Carue out of the river.

“You,” I started, pointedly looking at Zoro. “You are supposed to be watching the Merry with Carue, and yet I found your stuff on the Merry without you and the duck half frozen in the river.”

My words snapped Zoro out of his boasting, Usopp out of his lying and Vivi out of her amazement.

“Carue!” she cried, rushing over, and hugging the duck. “Oh my goodness! What happened to you?

“He’s alive,” I told her. “Cold, but alive.”

I looked at Usopp. “You two are supposed to be in Gyasta. Why are you in Big Horn?”

“The avalanche,” he answered.

“The doctor,” I reminded him. “Nami. That didn’t just go away, and where is Dalton?” I asked, realizing that he was missing from this scenario.

“He was shot and buried under the avalanche. We have to find him.” That brought the crowd back into it, their shock becoming worry and concern for their de facto leader.

I shook my head. “Hopeless the whole lot of you.” I tossed my bag full or Zoro’s stuff at him. “Get dressed.”

I closed my eyes and once again, opened my mind, trying to sense out Dalton’s devil fruit this time instead of Zoro.

“Don’t just sit there! Do something!”  someone yelled at me.

“I am,” I growled out, trying to focus. I had managed with Zoro. I could do it again. It was just frustrating that it took so long and that it required so much concentration, even though he couldn’t be that far away.

“Mira-“ Vivi said. She was treading carefully, trying not to upset me.

I put a hand up to stop her. “Got ya.” I stood up and walked over to the patch of snow, where I knew Dalton was and started digging, revealing his face after a moment.

“Yo!” I called, beckoning the others over. Immediately, they got to work, helping me dig the big man out.

“This is horrible! I don’t feel a heartbeat!” a man yelled.

“Damn it!” I swore. No way of telling how long his heart had been stopped, how much damage it had done. ‘I should’ve been faster.’

I moved to start CPR. I didn’t know what good it could really do. Even if I could keep his blood pumping, there was no doctor to try to fix the damage. There was no chance that he would make it up the mountain in this condition.

“He’s too large. A tiny girl like you isn’t strong enough to-“

I ignored the person speaking, starting the chest compressions with ease.

“No! Dalton! Please wake up! Please Dalton! You have to!” Vivi cried, taking his large hand in her much smaller one.

Everyone around us, just looked on sadly.

“Vivi. Mira,” Usopp said gently.

“No,” I said sternly. I could still feel that devil fruit. Until it disappeared, he wasn’t dead.

“You can’t die! Dalton please!”

“Don’t worry. He’s not dead.”

I glanced towards the voice, seeing Wapol’s private doctors standing there.

“The 20 MDs?!”

“He will be, if we don’t act soon. He has severe frost bite,” another said.

“We can begin treatment immediately, if you’ll let us.”

“Hey what do you know, there are doctors here. That’s funny. I thought I heard that there weren’t any in this country,” Zoro noted.

Usopp filled Zoro in. “There are a few doctors, but these guys are the 20 MDs. They work exclusively for Wapol, so that makes them bad doctors.”

“That’s right! We can’t trust any of you! Traitors! You expect us to leave Dalton with you? You surrendered to Wapol without a fight and turned your backs on us.”

“Wapol probably sent you here to kill Dalton.”

“Please, if you want to save him, just do as I say.”

“They’re cowards,” I said, still doing compressions. “That doesn’t make them bad doctors. It just means that they’re more motivated by fear than anything.” I looked up at the 20 MDs. “I don’t know your intentions. Maybe you’ve had a change of heart and are finally doing the right thing. I don’t care. You’re going to save him. If you don’t, I’m going to make the rest of what will be your short existence an absolute hell.”

“The 20 of us are still doctors. Even though we were forced against our will to serve only Wapol, we’ve always worked to advance our medical research for the benefit of all the patients in this country. It was all because of a certain quack, who taught us never to give up. We can’t afford to lose any more men like him.”

“Then quit standing there, and get to work,” I barked.

The doctors immediately got to work, one of them taking over for me. I stepped back and took a deep breath. I looked around at all the people gathered, staring.

“See about unburying one of these houses,” I ordered the crowd. “Dalton’s going to need some place warm and a bed to rest in. I’ll watch the doctors.”

They all seemed hesitant at first, but Zoro and Usopp took charge, leading the digging effort, getting the people doing something.

Vivi stayed at first, but I urged her to go check on Carue.

I wasn’t a doctor. I couldn’t say that I fully understood what it was that the 20 MDs were doing. I couldn’t trust what I was seeing, due to my limited knowledge, but neither could the others. Unlike them, I could handle this. I could watch as the doctors treated Dalton. I wasn’t close to the man. I hadn’t been out right wronged by the doctors. I had no reason to trust them sure, but I also didn’t have that need for revenge that the others did. I wasn’t like Vivi, so emotionally involved at this point, you would’ve thought that she’d dealt with Wapol’s tyranny firsthand as opposed through the stories of others.

They managed to stabilize him, just as the crowd managed to clear a path to the door of someone’s home. I helped carry Dalton, setting him on the bed in the home. The doctors were then able to perform the more delicate procedures necessary to save Dalton. It took hours, but at long last they were done. Now the only thing we could do was wait for him to wake up.

A few of the villagers came inside to wait. They watched as the doctors continued to monitor Dalton. It was a tense atmosphere, but that tension was released, when Dalton opened his eyes.

“It’s a miracle!”

“He’s awake!”

I stood there while the doctors did a few tests and once overs. Dalton wasn’t fully there yet, having just woken up, but according to the doctors everything looked good.

With Dalton awake, my watch was over. I popped off of the wall that I had been leaning against and stretched, heading out, while everyone crowded around Dalton. Once outside, I took a deep breath the freezing air helping to clear that last but of tension out of my body. Then I went looking for Vivi, Zoro and Usopp. Carue was in the house in another room, wrapped in blankets sitting near a fire.

“You’re worried about Nami, and Luffy, and Sanji and Dalton. And everything that’s going on in Alabasta.”

I followed the sound of Usopp’s voice. “Vivi, can’t you see it? You’re carrying too many burdens on your shoulders. Calm down. You don’t need to go up there at all. You know why? Cause those three are fine. That’s Luffy, and Sanji and Nami up there. I have faith in them.”

“Thanks a lot. You’re full of wisdom, Usopp,” Vivi complimented the sniper.

“No. He’s full of crap,” Zoro argued. “He’s just afraid to go up that mountain.”

I found them standing between two houses by a fence, just a few down from where Dalton was being treated. Zoro was poking Usopp, whose legs were shaking with fear, in the forehead repeatedly.

“Agh! I heard there were things like yetis and huge man-eating bunnies up there! I don’t want to get eaten!”

“Then say so at the start coward.”

I rolled my eyes, but laughed. “Zoro, leave Usopp alone. It was a nice sentiment, even if it was just because he’s scared.”

“Mira, how’s Dalton?” Vivi asked.

“He was just waking up, when I left,” I told them.

“That’s a relief,” Vivi said.

“He’s a tough one. He’ll be fine.”

The door to the house opened, and Dalton came stumbling out.

“It’s Dalton!”

“Thank goodness!”

“What is that idiot doing?” I asked.

“Can someone please tell me who this guy is?” Zoro asked.

“Dalton, please listen to reason.”

“Get out of my way. We can’t let Wapol retake the castle. We can’t.”

“So that’s where you’re heading? The castle?” Vivi asked.

“In your condition?” Usopp added.

“My country is far more important,” Dalton said. “HE CANNOT SUCCEED! I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN! NOT NOW NOT EVER WAPOL MUST PERISH!”

“But you’re not strong enough to fight them in your condition sir.”

“And the rest of us are no fight for them either.”

“I’m going to settle this thing once and for all. I’ll stop Wapol, even if it kills me.”

“Got admire his determination and his dedication to his country,” I said. “But I put forth entirely too much effort in to keeping him alive to let him go and kill himself.”

Usopp moved first walking over and stepping in Dalton’s path. I watched on, curious as to what he was gonna do. Dalton was a brave warrior, something that we knew Usopp admired. It was interesting to see that his approach was. I doubted he was going to try to talk Dalton out of it. This kind of heroic endeavor was just the kind of thing that Usopp loved.

Not surprisingly, Usopp was on Dalton’s side. What as surprising was that Usopp planned to carry Dalton up the mountain.

“Oh this is gonna be sad,” I said.

“Embarrassing,” Zoro added.

It was. The thought was nice, but Usopp just wasn’t strong enough to carry Dalton. He gave it a good try though.

“Alright, go help him,” I said to Zoro. “You’re the only one, who can carry him without dragging him on the ground.”

I could lift Dalton. It would be easy. I just wasn’t tall enough to carry him without dragging his feet and considering that he had frostbite that probably wasn’t the best idea.

Zoro shook his head, walking over and lifting Dalton up on his shoulder.

“Are you gonna sit there and whine or are you coming with us?” Zoro asked Usopp.

I hurried over, catching up with them.

Usopp was yelling at Zoro about stealing his thunder, hitting and kicking him.

“Boys, play nice,” I scolded, trying to hide my amusement.

“Hey! Hold up. There’s an easier way up to the castle,” someone called out. “Instead of walking, take the rope way.”

“The rope way? That’s impossible. There hasn’t been one connected to Wapol’s castle in a while.”

“Someone must’ve just recently reconnected one, because I just saw it. There was a rope going from the castle to a big white tree outside of Gyasta.”

‘Of course, where we should’ve headed to begin with.’

We along with a number of the Drum Island residents headed to Gyasta. At the base of the rope was a gondola, which Vivi, Usopp, Zoro, Dalton, myself and roughly a dozen men crowded into. It was entirely too crowd, resulting in it being slow moving, but it was at least moving.

Dalton was seething, where he sat.

“You need to settle down. You’re just going to worsen your condition, if you keep behaving like this,” I said.

My words were ignored. He continued to rant and rave. I understood he was upset, but he was going to die, if he didn’t settle down.

I finally understood why I was ignored, when he pulled multiple sticks of dynamite out of his jacket.

“When we get up there, everyone take cover. There are going to be explosions, once I get inside.”

I was the only one still paying attention to the top of the mountain, the smoke that had started to come from it along with a few loud crashes. ‘Captain made it,’ I thought, grinning. “Dalton, when we get up there. You are going to sit down and take it easy,” I told him.

“Wapol-“ he started.

“Luffy!” I shot back. “Our captain is up there. Our navigator. Our cook. That’s what Wapol ran into, when he came up here to reclaim that castle.”

Everyone started looking up at the castle like I was.

���She’s right,” Usopp said, sounding smug. “You brought that dynamite to blow up Wapol, but there isn’t going to be any Wapol to blow up.”

“I know he doesn’t look like much, but I’m willing to put the fate of my own country in Luffy’s hands. You should have faith that he will protect yours,” Vivi said.

“But he doesn’t know-“

I smiled back at Vivi and Dalton. “That bastard ate part of our ship, tried to eat Luffy, and if he’s up there, has likely threatened Nami and Sanji.”

“Luffy’s gonna kick his ass,” Zoro said.

The people of Drum just looked at us, probably thinking that we were mad. I didn’t blame them. If I had been in their position, I’d have my doubts to. I turned, keeping my eyes trained on the mountain top.

Sure enough, a few moments later, what looked to be a much thinner Wapol rocketed overhead.

“Atta boy, Luffy,” I praised.

We made it to the top, Zoro, Usopp and I getting off and going ahead to scout out the area. We didn’t know, who else was with Wapol or even for sure if the guy that had been launched off the island even was Wapol.

Usopp, who had declared that he was going to go ahead and brave whatever dangers there would be, was cowering behind Zoro by the time we reach the top of the staircase that led from the gondola bay to the outside world.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” Zoro asked, swatting at Usopp, trying to get him to release his leg.

“Just watching your back.”

‘Idiots,’ I thought fondly.

The view from up here was gorgeous.

A familiar scream caused me to spin around and Zoro and Usopp to stop bickering. Luffy had rocketed himself towards us… Because of course he did.

“LUFFY!” the other two screamed in panic.

They dove out of the way of our captain. I braced myself, digging my feet into the ground as much as I could, but with the snow it was difficult. I caught Luffy around the torso, the impact caused me to slide back roughly twenty feet, before coming to a stop.

Luffy started laughing. “Nice catch, Mira!”

“Thanks, Captain,” I responded, chuckling.

“Why’d you do that, you moron?!” Zoro raged.

I set Luffy back on his feet, and stood up properly, dusting the snow off of myself.

“I didn’t recognize you,” Luffy explained. “I thought you were more of Big Mouth’s guards ready to fight. I’m surprised you came up here. Well not you Zoro, Mira, but Usopp, aren’t you usually scared of doing stuff like climbing mountains?”

“HAHAHAHA! Yeah right,” Usopp scoffed. “Whenever there’s a towering peak in front of me, I climb it, but let me tell you scaling that mountain hand over hand was no picnic.”

“Actually, we took a rope way car,” Vivi explained, causing Usopp to topple over. “Nami and Sanji are they alright?”

“Yeah! Both of them are just fine.”

“Thank goodness.”

“I knew you had it all under control.”

“So what was that you were doing on top of the castle a few minutes ago?” Zoro asked.

“Beating the crap out of the king,” Luffy said.

“Dalton,” I greeted, seeing him exit the stairwell. “You’re just in time.”

“You mean that person I saw flying through the air was actually Wapol?” Dalton asked, disbelief clear on his face. “You beat him?”

“Yep. I sure did.”

“And his two henchmen what happened to them?”

“Well the reindeer beat him up.”

“But those two? A reindeer?” Dalton was still struggling to accept it.

“Reindeer?” I asked.  “Another zoan?”

“Hey Usopp, I made a new friend. You gotta meet him. Get this. He’s a reindeer.”

‘Leave it to Luffy.’

Dalton notice something in the trees. I followed his gaze to wear a little reindeer was standing. I think it was trying to hide, but it was backwards. I had thought that, when Luffy said a reindeer he had found a human that had eaten the ox ox fruit, model reindeer, but based on his appeared this appeared to be a reindeer that had eaten a human human fruit.

I wasn’t thinking about that at the time though that came later, because my first thought, which tumbled out of my mouth on its own was, “So freaking cute.”

Dalton bowed to the reindeer, thanking it for helping the country. The rest of the people of Drum finally made their way over to us. They all looked at the reindeer.

“What? What is that strange creature behind that tree?”

“It almost looks like a reindeer.”

“No. You’re wrong. It’s a monster.”

Humans. Ignorant creatures. Afraid of what they didn’t know of what they didn’t understand.

“No! Don’t shoot him!” Dalton ordered.

Something finally registered in Usopp’s head, because he screamed, eyes nearly popping out of his head. “It’s a yeti! Somebody shoot it!”

The words of the people upset the reindeer, who sped off into the forest, crying.

I spun around and knocked Usopp upside the head, at the same time as Luffy.

“You jerk face!” Luffy yelled. “He’s not a yeti, you idiot! He’s my new friend!”

“You coward! He wasn’t hurting you! Don’t go screaming fire until you know something’s a threat!”

You’d figure that after Little Garden Usopp would’ve realized that things weren’t always what they seemed, but no. Fear controlled him more than anything else.

“You scared him so bad he ran away,” Luffy continued.

“If you could kill Dorry and Broggy would you have just shot them on sight? You wouldn’t have a master then would you?”

“You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not us that you need to say sorry to,” Luffy said.

Usopp slumped in defeat.

“I’m gonna go get him, so that you can apologize.” With that Luffy took off after the reindeer.

“I never seen Mira get this mad. Way to go Usopp,” Zoro jabbed.

“I’m not mad,” I corrected. “I’m annoyed that a crewmate of mine would behave in such a manner. I know what it’s like to be afraid. I also know what it’s like to be the thing that people are afraid of. It hurts, especially, when you know that the only reason people are still afraid of you is because they won’t give you a chance.”

I glared at the villagers, who looked appropriately sheepish.

“The doctor is here right? We need to get Dalton to her.”

“The girl’s right,” a voice called out.

The villagers gasped. “Doctor Kureha?!”

“Yeah. Good to see you too. Now be useful and get the injured guy to the medical ward.”

“I recognize you! You’re that damn old hag from before!” Zoro yelled.

You would think that seeing a woman dressed like she’s twenty, despite probably being seven times that, would be a dead giveaway that she was sensitive to the whole age thing, but apparently not to Zoro. Kureha brought her fist down on top of his head, knocking him to the ground. I could see the goose egg forming.

“You had that one coming,” I told him.

I shook my head. “Someone keep his feet from dragging,” I said, hoisting Dalton up over my shoulder.

The villagers were all still.

“I’d do what the girl says, or you’re going to be in pain like this man here,” Kureha said.

That got them all moving, lifting Dalton’s feet as we headed to the medical ward.

***

Notes:

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Previous | Next

***

Master List | Mobile Version

[bleachanimefan1]

King And Queen Of The Pirates

Chapter Nine, Expose The Plot! Pirate Butler, Captain Kuro!

In the field, Zoro, Nami and the three kids were waiting for Usopp to return along with the twins. As they waited, they heard the birds tweeting harmoniously in the sky. All seemed peaceful. However, Zoro couldn't help but feel that something was off. A sense of dread flooded through his entire body as it sends chills down his spine. 

"Our captain's been gone for quite a while." said Carrot, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, Luffy and Aya, too." said Nami.

"He probably just need some time." Zoro dismissed.

"Whenever he gets really upset like this, you can count on him being at the shore." said Pepper. Suddenly, they heard the sounds of footsteps and looked up to see someone running towards them, it was Usopp.

"Captain!" The three kids called out to him. He ignored them, as if he didn't see them, and continued running, heading straight towards the village.

"Hold on, where are Luffy and Aya? I thought they were with him?" Questioned Zoro to himself. He frowned. Why weren't they with him? Did something happen to them? Zoro's thoughts began to drift off as Aya appeared in his mind. He was getting a bad feeling that something had happened. Zoro let out a tired sigh. What have they gotten themselves involved in now?

"Hey, where's Luffy is he still at the shore?" asked Nami as she called out to Usopp. But, he didn't answer her.

"Wow, he looks really upset. But, why? Is he still mad at the butler?" said Nami.

"Who knows?" Zoro shrugged.

"That wasn't just a mad face." said Carrot.

"That looked like a face of sheer desperation." Added Pepper. Zoro stood up looking at the three kids.

"Why don't you guys show us the way down to the shore?" asked the swordsman. The three kids ignored him as they huddled around in a circle, whispering to themselves.

"This sounds like an adventure to me!" said Carrot.

"Yeah, something happened at the shore." said Onion, excitedly. Zoro growled in frustration.

"ENOUGH ALREADY! HOW DO WE FIND THIS PLACE?!"

As Usopp made it to the village, he was panting hard, trying to catch his breath. He still couldn't believe that this was actually happening. As he gathered his breath, Usopp took in a deep breath and began screaming at the top of his lungs.

"PIRATES! PIRATES ARE COMING! EVERYBODY RUN! RUN! COME ON, THEY'RE GOING TO ATTACK THE VILLAGE! WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN! IS ANYONE EVEN LISTENING TO ME? RUUUUNNN!"

Suddenly, he heard the doors from the houses open and he signed in relief. One by one the villagers came out but with weapons in hand. Usopp smile dropped.

"Alright, Usopp. We can't take it anymore." said a villager.

"We're putting a stop to this here and now. For your own good." said another villager.

"No! It's not like that. It's the truth this time, I promise!" said Usopp as he quickly tried to reason with them. They all glared at him with irritation.

"Stop it! We all know that you're nothing but a liar." shouted a villager.

"Klahadore told us. Why should we believe anything that you say?!" said another one.

"Everything you say comes out with lies."

Usopp backed up as they began to inch closer towards him. He looked at them with horror on his face as realization hit him in the chest as it began grow tighter. 

"Oh no. This is exactly what Klahadore was counting on. He knew that everyone won't believe me." thought Usopp to himself.

At the mansion, Kaya squealed happily as her friend Merry handed her a gift that he got from his travels. He was a tall man with a lamb like appearance. His hair was white and curly with two lamb horns sticking out the top of his head. He handed the young a purple case with a pair of glasses inside of it.

"Are these to your liking, Miss? I had it made to your exact specifications." said Merry. "It was quite a trip to get them."

"Thank you. It must have been quite a trip to get those for me." said Kaya as the man handed the case over to her. She took it and smiled.

"I can't wait to see the look on Klahadore's face when he sees these. It's been almost three years since he arrived here. He's always have taken such good care of me." She said.

"He'll be delighted to receive such a gift." said Merry as the two talked to each other, smiling.

Back at the village, Usopp tried to reason with the villagers.

"Please hear me out, everyone! Our lives depend on it! Listen to me! Pirates are going to attack the village in the morning!" He pleaded. "Please believe me. We don't have time! I'm not lying this time, I swear! Don't you get it! They'll murder you all!"

They stared at him angrily.

"You're lucky that we don't murder you!" shouted a villager. Suddenly, they began to advance closer to Usopp. He gritted his teeth and took off running.

"I'M NOT LYING!" shouted Usopp. The angry mob of villagers chased after him

"Get him! Don't let him escape!"

Usopp ran towards the only place, to the only person, who he hoped would believe him, Kaya.

At the shore high on the cliffs, Zoro, Nami, and the three kids were looking around trying to find the twins. But, they were nowhere in sight.

"This is the place!" said Pepper.

"Our captain always comes here alone to think." said Carrot.

"I don't think that straw hat guy is here." said Pepper, worried. 

"I don't see that creepy lady either." said Onion. Zoro frowned as they looked around. Nami walked over to the edge of the cliffs looking at the bottom.

"The rocks sure are loose here." She murmured.

"Nami, be careful." Said Zoro. As Nami looked closer, she spotted something and gasped in horror.

"Look! Down there!" She shouted. Everyone quickly ran over to where she was and saw the two twins.

"Luffy! Aya!" shouted Nami.

"Hey, it's them!" Exclaimed the three boys. Zoro let out a sigh in relief when he saw Aya, but frowned when he saw that Luffy was not moving. Aya looked up and saw them.

"It's about time you guys showed up. What took so long?!" She said. Everyone quickly rushed over to the two twins and gasped as they saw the state that Luffy was in. He was not moving, one might assume that he was dead.

"Luffy! What did you do?! How did this happen?!" shouted Nami in disbelief. 

"He fell." said Aya, bluntly.

"And how in the world did that happen?!" exclaimed Nami. She narrowed her eyes at Aya in suspicion.

"Don't look at me! I didn't do this! Some freak with a ring did something to him." said Aya. Suddenly, everyone went quiet as they heard loud snoring. They looked down to see that Luffy was sleeping.

"Wait, a minute." said Zoro as he smiled in relief. "You lazy bum."

"I've tried everything to try and wake him up, all except for one thing that usually works." said Aya to herself.

"What's that?" Questioned Zoro.

Aya smirked. "You'll see." She said with a twisted smile on her face.

Then she put the top of her finger in her mouth and wet it then bent down and plunged it into Luffy's ear, giving the straw hat captain a wet willy. The group cringed. Luffy let out a loud squeal as he quickly sat up wiping his ear. He turned glaring at Aya with a look of disgust on his face.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" exclaimed Luffy angrily. "GROSS! YOU KNOW I HATE THAT, AYA, YOU JERK!"

"Well, look who's finally up." said Aya smirking. "Did you have a nice nap, sleeping beauty?"

Outside of the mansion, Usopp was panting hard as he tried to catch his breath. He had managed to escape from the angry mob that was chasing him. He only had one thing on his mind and that was to warn Kaya. Usopp removed the block from the hedge and climbed through.

Kaya was sitting in her bed reading a medical book when a rock hit her window. She looked up, slightly startled and walked over to the window, opening it. She relaxed when she saw that it was Usopp. She smiled.

"Usopp!" She said. "I was worried that you wouldn't come back." Her smile dropped when she saw that the long nosed man had a grim look on his face.

"Run, Kaya! They're going to kill you!" He warned.

"Huh? Someone's going to kill me?" asked Kaya, confused.

"He's tricked the entire village. Klahadore's really a deadly pirate captain!" said Usopp.

"Is this a story? I don't like this one." Kaya frowned.

"This isn't one of my stories. It's the truth! I've heard it with my own ears! Klahadore's really a pirate captain who weaseled his way into your family's home so that he can steal your fortune. He's pretending to be your butler for three years so that he can kill you and inherit your money!"

"What are you talking about, Usopp?"

"His crew is going to take the village at dawn and in the process, you're going to get killed! Klahadore's a very bad man. You have to run. You have to escape!" He said. Kaya looked at him with disbelief.

"I know Klahadore said some harsh things to you, but, this is unlike you. Why would you say such things?"�� 

Usopp felt his heart began to break when he heard her words. She didn't believe him. 

"Kaya, please, I'm telling you the truth. I'm telling you the truth...please believe me!"

Back at the shore, Luffy and Aya told everyone what they have heard.

"What?! Pirates are going to attack the village?! They're going to kill Kaya?!" exclaimed the three boys.

"Yep. That's what they said. No question about it." said Luffy, bluntly.

"So, what made you think that it would be a good time for a nap?" asked Zoro.

"That's the thing. I don't remember going to sleep or getting down here at all!" said Luffy.

"Klahadore's a bad guy!" said Carrot.

"Usopp saw right through it!" said Pepper.

"I bet he's on his way to warn the village." said Onion.

"Well, that's perfect! Those stupid pirates wont hurt anyone if the town's abandoned when they get there!" said Nami. The three boys didn't hear her and took off running leaving the group behind.

 "Let's head for the hills!" They screamed.

Usopp stared at Kaya with disbelief and a hurt look on his face. Kaya looked at him with a sad look in her eyes.

"Those stories you told me. They brought joy to my heart. But, they were all just a bunch of lies." She said. Her head began to feel fuzzy as she began to feel lightheaded. Her legs began to shake as she couldn't feel them. Luckily, Kaya had managed to grab onto the curtain, as she tried to retain her balance.

"Kaya, please believe me. I'm not just trying to get back at Klahadore-" said Usopp as he tried to reassure her.

"Why would you do that?" asked Kaya.

"Kaya, please, I-" The door opened and Merry walked in with a concerned look.

"Miss Kaya is everything okay up here?" He froze when he saw Usopp next to Kaya. He quickly pulled out his pistol. Usopp grabbed Kaya as he wrapped his arm around her waist.  

"Let's get out of here, right now!" He said.

Kaya tried to break free as she struggled against Usopp's hold on her but was too weak. "Usopp, stop it!" She shouted.

 "Unhand her immediately, you villain!" shouted Merry. Usopp pulled Kaya out the window and jumped to the branch then landed safely in the ground as he carried Kaya. He placed her down but Kaya she backed away from him, scared.

"Please trust me, Kaya. You gotta get out of this village before that butler gets back!" He said. Suddenly, two of Kaya's bodyguards, who were guarding the gate, heard the commotion and they all rushed at Usopp. Usopp fired his slingshot at them, knocking them out. Kaya watched in horror.

 "Stop it!" She shouted. As the last guard fell to the ground, Usopp ran over to Kaya and grabbed her hand.

 "Come on!" He said. But, Kaya didn't move an inch. "I promise, this will all make sense tomorrow. But, right now, we need to go!" Slap! Usopp stared at Kaya with a hurt look on his face. She had slapped him. What hurt him more than the stinging pain that he felt on his cheek was that he saw that her eyes were filled with disappointment. She looked away from him, and looked at the ground with a sad look on her face.

 "You're pathetic." She muttered, coldly.

Ussop's heart broke into pieces as he heard her words. Then Merry appeared as he rounded the corner of the mansion aimed his pistol at Usopp.

 "Leave Miss Kaya alone, you maniac!" He shouted. Ussop quickly turned and ran, but Merry already had him in his sight. Kaya looked in horror as she felt her heart dropped and quickly jumped in front of his range of fire.

 "NO!" She screamed. Merry gasped as he quickly rearranged his aim but his finger had already pressed down on the trigger. The gun fired and Usopp fell as he felt a sharp pain on his left arm. He quickly got up and gave one last look to Kaya then ran off. The villagers were walking around the estate and Merry quickly ran over to them.

 "Don't let that lunatic get away! He broke inside and tried to kidnap the lady of the house!" He shouted, pointing to where Usopp had ran off. The angry mob chased after him.

"Why...why won't anyone believe me?!" thought Usopp as he ran. His eyes eyes began to burn as tears began to call from his face. Kaya watched from afar seeing the villagers chased Usopp until they were out of her sights as they ran over the hill.

"Usopp." She said, sadly. She felt her whole body to numb as she loss the strength to stand, completely overwhelmed with shock. Merry quickly catches her as she faints.

 "There, there, Ma'am everything's going to be fine!" He said.

The sun was beginning to set, Usopp was walking on a dirt path, holding his bleeding arm. He had managed to lose the angry horde of villagers that was chasing him. As he was walking, he was remembering the day that he had first met Kaya.

He felt his heart began to break more as he cried. He turned and glanced at the village behind him. Tomorrow, there was going to be nothing left. The village was going to be destroyed. The villagers were going to be slaughtered by Kuro's pirates. And Kaya, she was going to be- Usopp but his lower lip as more tears came down.

"CAPTAIN!" Usopp heard several voices call of to him. He looked up and saw the the three boys, waving, Zoro, Nami, and Aya ahead of him. Usopp quickly wiped away his tears and his his wounded arm behind his back. He smiled as he walked over to them.

"Hey, how's it going you guys?" He asked as he got closer. Then he spotted Luffy who was standing behind the group, who beamed as the long nosed man approached.

"Hey!" Luffy called out. Usopp's mouth dropped in shock as he gawked at the straw hat captain who was standing in front of him, alive and complex unharmed and without a scratch on him.

"Wait, you're alive?!" exclaimed Usopp, shocked. Aya smiled. Then she noticed that Usopp was hiding his arm She frowned in concern. "Did he get injured?" She thought to herself. "Wait a minute, why am I worried about him? We only just met!" She quickly dropped her frown and smirked.  

"I told you. It'll take more than a fall to kill Luffy." said Aya.

"And I had a pretty good nap!" said Luffy, smiling.

"He was sleeping the whole time!" explained Carrot.

"We better hurry and warn the people in the village, so they'll have time to get away!" shouted Pepper.

 "Warn....everyone."  mumbled Usopp to hims, quietly. His body shook as he remembered what the villagers said to him. Everyone looked at him with a worried look on their faces until Usopp suddenly starts laughing out loud.

"I was lying as usual. That butler and me so mad so I thought that I'll get him back by saying that he was a pirate!" He laughed. The three boys started laughing along with him. Aya looked at Usopp with a surprised look on her face. She frowned as she stared at the long nosed man, a little angry.

"W-What are you talking about? I was there with you! We all heard-" Just as she was about to step forward, Aya felt a hand on her should and looked to see that it was Luffy. He shook his head. Aya stayed silent. Then the three boys walked away.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" asked Usopp. He flinched when he saw the three boys looked at him. Their eyes carried so much disappointment and anger in them.

"Honestly, you really disappointed me." said Carrot.

"Even though that butler guy was a jerk, I thought that you were better than that!" exclaimed Onion, angrily. Usopp looked sadly to the ground, silently.

The three boys walked off leaving the man that once looked up to and the group by themselves.

Nighttime had fallen as a crescent moon shined high in the search and cloudy sky. The group were at the shore while Usopp was sitting down as Aya tended to his arm. He gritted his teeth as Aya was finishing as she tightened the piece of cloth around his arm, stopping the bleeding. 

"There all done." She said. "That wasn't so bad, was it you big baby?" 

Usopp gritted his teeth as he felt his arm throb then looked at Aya.

"Thank you." He said. Aya smiled which made Usopp's heart flutter.

"Don't mention it. Just don't make it a habit." She said as she winked.

The two heard a voice cough as they cleared their voice behind them and looked to see Luffy, Zoro, and Nami looking at them. Luffy was staring at them with a blank look on his face, confused, as his eyes dart back and forth at the two. Zoro had a sinister and dark look on his face which send chills down Usopp's back, as if he was going to murder him. Nami was smirking mischievously as she looked back and forth at Aya and Usopp, silently.

"So, how come you lied to them?" asked Luffy.

"Because all I do is lie. There's no way that anybody is going to believe in what I have to say. Why should they?" muttered Usopp sadly.

"Because what you were telling them, was the truth." said Zoro.

"Those pirates are going to attack, right?" asked Nami. "Can't you warn them?"

"They'll think that I'm lying if I tell them. Everyone in the village thinks that tomorrow is going to be just a normal day." said Usopp  as his shoulders began to shake then he looked up. "They think I'm lying and that's all that I need them to think! I'm going to stop those pirates at the beach tomorrow, myself! This is all my fault for being such a liar. I don't care anymore if they drive me away with brooms or shoot me in the arm. This is my village, this is my home, and I love everyone on it. I have to protect them!" He shouted as he cried. Zoro smirked.

"You're hell of a good guy, sending your cronies away to fight the battle alone." He said.

"Just so you know, I call dibs on all the pirate treasures, you got it?" said Nami with determined look on her face.

"So you want a little help, or what?" asked Aya as Luffy cracked his knuckles, smirking. Usopp stared at them with disbelief.

"Y-You guys, you're going to help me fight all these pirates? I don't get it, why?" He asked.

"Well, they're a bunch of bad guys, right?" said Luffy. 

"You look scared to take 'em on." Added Aya, seeing Usopp's legs beginning to shake like a leaf. Usopp got up.

"For your information, I have nerves of steel. I am perfectly okay to take out tons of those guys. After all, you're looking at the legendary Captain Usopp brave warrior of the seas!" He declared. He felt his legs began to shake more. He hit them, trying to stop the shaking and let out a growl in frustration.

 "Damn it. Alright fine I'm scared! Who wouldn't be? They're Captain Kuro's pirates! Just leave. I don't need you laughing at me!" He shouted.

 "We're not laughing at you, we're helping you because you are honorable." said Zoro.

 "You really think that we risk our lives out of pity?" asked Luffy, smirking. Aya smirked as she raised her fist into the air.

 "LET'S KICK SOME ASS!" She screamed in anticipation. Usopp stared at her then the rest of them with a shocked look on his face. He began to tear up again.

 "Thanks,...you guys!"