The town centre was calm, unsettlingly so. The marines had driven through this area without any interest, heading straight for the orchard. Townspeople slowly gathered in the centre watching over their shoulders for any sign of the marines or their overlords; the Arlong pirates.
"Those marines... Damn animals, they looked straight past us and went for the orchard."
"Do you think-?"
"Obviously. They must be working in tandem with the Arlong pirates. There's no other reason for them to focus on Nami." Every single member of this town was constantly on the lookout for their notorious trouble causer, a child that took it upon herself to free them from Arlong's grasp. 10 years had passed, with the passage of time they saw that young woman grow and realised how a childhood had been deprived of her. Her family taken. Forced into an unfair deal, one that was tearing apart at the seams. A contract that was slowly unravelling and revealing itself for the sham it was.
"Poor girl, all these years and still can't catch a break."
"Well, I say; enough is enough. It's about time we take some independence. The marines and those damn pirates have taken it too far."
"Grab your weapons, send your children to their beds and meet at the entrance to Arlong park."
"...But what hope is there? If we lose, they'll kill the children too. Damn animals, the lot of them!"
"If we don't do anything we'll all be dead eventually. Can't you see? They never had any intention of keeping this deal! Nami is safely at the orchard. This is the best opportunity we'll ever get. Even if the chances are slim, I want to take that bet. I plan to place all the chips on freedom. Winning. Today. Who's with me?!"
Before the gathering crowd could raise an arm in uproarious applause, a single man with a scarred face and peculiar hat that swayed with the wind sat resting his weary bones on a barrel.
"Enough, you lot." His gravelly voice was quick to quell the villagers.
"Genzo!"
"You're wounded!"
"No matter, it'll join the rest of these scars. I would like to say we can wait for the deal to go through... but that doesn't seem very likely."
"Don't push yourself, Genzo-san! You've taken more than enough scars for the rest of us."
"I'm fine... There are more pressing matters to discuss."
"What is it? Don't tell me... is Nami okay?!"
"Mild injuries. The treasure is still in her hands as well."
"What?! But- Why did the marines leave?"
"That stranger that arrived, was a... friend of Nami's. They left after he offered himself up."
"Is he going to be alright?"
"I can't imagine he would've agreed if he didn't have a plan. I fear, I must ask something selfish of you all."
"We are prepared to fight whenever you need us, Genzo-san!"
"I'm glad that's the case... Though, I wager we don't have much choice in the matter."
"What do you mean? What happened?"
"That kid is going to bring the fight to Arlong."
"Did he explain the plan you were talking about?"
"No. That was just the impression that I got off of him. Don't underestimate the intuition of us old folk. We can feel the brewing of a storm through these old bones. And I can tell you, I've never once feared one more than this moment."
"Tch. Well at the very least this is... good! Good, we have another ally! That just makes our chances even better!"
"If only that was the case... Listen up, that boy's arrangements are probably going to be incredibly forceful. I wouldn't be surprised if Arlong intends to wipe us out after the fact. This is a dire situation. I propose you spend some time with your loved ones before we plan our attack."
"Genzo-san, we're going to win!"
"I admire your enthusiasm. But if it were that easy then we wouldn't have been here all these years..."
"I know it's a tough thing to ask... But do not forget the torment that those fishmen inflicted upon this island, do not forget the fear they made you feel this past decade of torture. If you can remember all those things and still have the courage, the strength, to fight against them all the same. Then be prepared to meet me in this very square come noon. Stay safe, all of you."
[Piracy?]
"Keep it down, Luffy. We can make it to the island as soon as these marines pass by. For now please stop making so much noise!" Johnny asked in a restrained shout as Yosaku covered Luffy's mouth, preventing further raucous cheers from escaping. The kind of noises that would no doubt gather the marine's attention.
"I don't like this. There haven't been any signs of fighting over there, no ships have visited Arlong park either. What did they even come here for?" The resident sniper took another look through his goggles at the large pagoda. It was situated a distance from the rest of the residential district. A huge tower erected emblazoned with the words Arlong Park in bold. If the fishmen's presence was a point of contention before, then that couldn't remain the case any longer. He was practically announcing it to the world.
"Maybe it's just a routine check?" Zoro said impassively between yawns.
"If that's the case the villagers would have asked those marines for help. Arlong being on this island is common knowledge, there's no reason for them to avoid the fishmen."
"Ayanokouji and Nami then? We don't know that much about either of them, it's possible the marines could be on the hunt for them." The sniper once again added to the conjecture, truly there was no way to know for sure.
"Are you forgetting who you're speaking to? It's in our job description to know these things, unless it's a very, very, new bounty then there's no possible way that's the truth." Johnny nudged the sunglasses slightly higher up his nose, to hide those beady eyes. "I'm good at remembering faces, we don't have a wanted poster for either of those two. I don't even have to look to tell you." Though he stated that with the utmost confidence, he still handed a shoddily made book with hundreds of pieces of loose, scrappy, paper to the long-nosed man. They were barely held together by a frail string. Longnose couldn't help but remark to himself; 'no wonder they flew apart in the ship yesterday.'
"We won't know anything so long as we don't follow them. They could be restocking their supplies for all we know." The blonde cook lit a cigarette as he stood talking, still regarding the moving marine ship with a measure of suspicion. The nearby small, jagged rock formations acting as a natural camouflage for the small ship the straw hats had taken.
Though, they may have been acting a bit too cautious, they had no jolly roger on board.
In truth this was a thoughtful decision, more of a preventative measure against Luffy. The aforementioned young man was the type of captain that would quickly tell anyone and everyone, that would listen, of his grand ambition to become the Pirate King. That sort of rambunctious seafarer.
"Fair point. We have bigger fish to fry anyhow."
"Off to see Nami-chan! Oh, how I can't wait to gaze upon that fiery visage once more. Like a beautiful flower in bloom." His eyes had enlarged and developed into hearts at the mere thought of the navigator.
"Dial down the enthusiasm just a little, will ya? Shitty cook."
"Why? I'm excited to see Nami. Oh, Taka as well!" Luffy said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"Yeah, but your reasons are probably a whole lot different than this creep's." The injured swordsman pointed at the fantasising chef.
"Shut up! Do you know how long I've been suffering... sailing on a ship with just middle-aged sweaty men to keep me company? And then finally a fair flower comes aboard. Ah, my eyes gaze out on this horizon only for you, Nami-chan."
"Deviant."
"Hah?! You want me to stick my foot up your ass, Marimo?"
"Guys! What did I just say? Stop, before the marines catch wind of us." Johnny once again tried to capture the attentions of these renegade pirates.
"They're already way too far to hear the Marimo's cries." The blonde chef added whilst squaring up to the swordsman, said swordsman lay on the ship's deck without a care in the world.
"What was that, swirly brow?" Zoro began to clean his ear idly, blowing the debris in the cook's direction.
"Heh. Running out of insults already?"
"You look like a picture a child drew; did they get bored when they finally got to your eyes?"
"Pfft!" The resident sniper choked back a laugh, not wanting to get any further involved in the two's conflict.
"Oh really? That's rich coming from Mr. Three-sword style. How many swords are you going to need to beat your next opponent? You've yet to get that back covered, maybe next time you'll have to shove a sword up y-!"
"Okay, okay. That's enough of that."
"AHHHHH!" A shrill scream came from the edge of the vessel.
"What now, Usopp?" Johnny asked the frightened young man.
"S-Sea King!"
A huge black and white spotted cow emerged from the water. Betwixt the nostrils, large enough to inhale an entire live human, lay a large golden bullring. The creature was so grand in scale that it practically dwarfed the ship dozens of times over.
"MOOOOO!" They droning voice of a cow was transformed into the fearsome growl of some creature which roamed the deep, the ghastly wails rapidly drawing tears from the bounty hunters and their long-nosed friend's eyes.
"Quick, quick, cannons! Or sails. Anything, just get it gone!" Johnny, Yosaku and Usopp ran about the ship like headless chickens.
"Oh, right. We don't have cannons..." In their confusion and fear Johnny had forgotten they were commandeering their own tiny vessel and not the ship of these pirates. Meaning, they had very little in the means of defence against such a gargantuan threat.
The creature's eyes lit up, entertained by the preys fear. Maw opened, slobber dripping into the sea as it slowly creeped over the group's head, eclipsing the sun that was battering down on them just a few moments prior.
"AHHHHH!"
"What the hell are you guys crying about?"
"MOOOWWWW!"
"Shut up, already!" Luffy, Sanji and Zoro had all jumped into position and prepared to send an attack in the direction of what was a monstrous threat to the faint of heart, to them little more than an overgrown annoyance.
Zoro grabbed at his sword, Johnny and Yosaku quickly leaped towards him and piled on.
"What's the big deal?!" He asked whilst the two bounty hunters had restrained him to the floor, even in his injury, the swordsman was strong enough to require their full attention.
"You aren't supposed to move too much, or you'll open the wound again, Aniki!"
"And jumping on top of me is much better?" Although he had a point, Zoro was also the type of person that would take these exceptions too far.
"Only way to stop you."
"Get off of me!"
"No can do."
"Gum-gum Pistol!"
"Muton Chop!"
The blonde cook and captain both successfully impacted against the large creature sending it crashing into the sea a distance away.
It whined and whined in response, lazily turning over from its exposed belly. Looking at the two strange humans that had rebuffed it successfully, with fear evident in otherwise hollow eyes.
"Hehehe, what's this Marimo? Too weak to fight the scary sea king, huh?" The cook sneered at the swordsman lay on the deck, the bounty hunters lay across him to prevent further injury. A frankly 'shit-eating grin' was etched onto Sanji's face.
"That's it. You want to do this now, shitty cook?!"
"Bring it."
"Can't we travel without this constant bickering for at least a few minutes. Luffy, some help over here?" Johnny sighed to himself.
"OOOOOHHHH!" The captain had stretched and rocketed off of the small vessel towards the spotted cow-like creature. Landing on the oversized belly and making his way up towards its face. "Cool! You're going to be my pet from now on!"
"Eh? Luffy, don't go taking in random strange creatures." Usopp uttered with a very noticeable inflection, tears escaping from hollow eyes.
"But it's so cool! I think I'll name you... Mooey."
"And he's gone and named it..." One could witness Usopp's soul escaping from his gaping mouth.
The animal corrected posture in the water, once upright, Luffy sat on the head of the oversized creature in a similar manner to the way he would rest atop the Going Merry's figurehead.
"Go, in the direction of Nami!"
"Oi, that's not going to work idiot. We don't even know where she is."
"MOOO!" To their surprise the sea king made his way in the direction of where the marines had left, a distance from Arlong Park.
"Why are we following some random sea king?"
"Not like we have any other leads, we'll have to scour the entire island eventually."
"...I guess."
They were camouflaged by the dotted islands and rocky formations as they approached Cocoyashi village. Momoo, (now named Mooey) led them to an isolated craggy cliff at the edge of the island. It was a fairly sparse location, very few buildings could be seen from the ship. An orchard and single log cabin atop the steep cliff they meandered around. Eventually settling at an edge of the island, a distance from the cliff, though they could at least tether the small ship and embark onwards.
"So this is where Nami is?"
"MOO!"
"We're really relying on this cow, fish thing?" Sanji said with some trepidation. He didn't want to waste even a single moment more whilst retrieving Nami.
"Thanks, Mooey!" The captain jumped from the creature's head landing atop the rocky beach, which would act as their port.
The crew escaped the small vessel and the large creature, which had quickly sped off in the opposite direction after sending a few glances around the island.
Pacing through the woods they quickly approached the orchard. A tangerine mangrove, the same they had seen on their journey. They stepped around the orchard with their flanks to the water's edge, eventually coming across a shoddy wooden cross. A tombstone.
The head itself was of bad quality, the grieving family probably unable to provide anything more substantial. But one could tell even at a glance that this particular grave site was attended to daily. It was clean, with a single tangerine placed beside the tombstone. The faint smell of sake in the air, someone had shared a cup with the departed recently.
"Let's get moving." Johnny put his hands together and lowered his head for a quick prayer, bypassing the gravesite shortly after. The group followed suit. Coming across the log cabin a moment later, smoke erupting from the chimney. It was occupied.
"Guess we should knock o-"
"Hello." Luffy said whilst opening the door, with absolutely no regard for common decency.
"idiot!" Zoro quickly chopped the top of the captain's head, with little to no effect.
"Oh, Nami!"
"Huh? That cow thing was actually, right?! Nami-chan, I've spent countless nights remembering your beauty."
"Dude, it's been a single day..."
"Shut up, long nose. A single day has never felt so long."
"You're all right! Seriously you should've said something before disappearing... Nami, where's Taka?"
"You guys again..."
"Hm, what's up?"
"Get out. Leave, all of you. Now!"
"Huh? But we're here t-..."
"I said leave. Now!" She grabbed the closest thing she could find in the cabin and threw them at the group. From random boxes to foodstuffs. The group had quickly escaped from the cabin when they noticed her hands reaching towards the kitchen knives.
She heaved a few breath with fury in her eyes. Watching their escaping figures through the opened door.
"Those your new friends?"
"No... Just some stalkers that got too attached. Just focus on recovering, that bullet wound isn't in the best place."
"You know, if you don't start being honest with yourself, you'll push everyone away."
"A whole lot of good it's done being honest in the past, right...?" Bellemere's face crossed her mind.
"The job of an older sister is to send you on the right path. You can lie all you want, you're happy that those guys are here, same for that other guy that came. Though, I don't know why... he's insane."
"The only thing I'm happy about is the fact that I've kept the treasure. Soon enough, we'll be free."
"So you've finally become heartless, huh?"
"Exactly. That's what it takes. Even if he had to sacrifice himself for it... I'm happy."
"Love you, sister. But you've always been a terrible liar when it counts."
"..."
"We've been trying to escape reality for too long. You, me, and everyone else on this island. You know what needs to be done next."
"Shut up. Now turn over, I need to clean the wound again."
"...Why do I feel like you're doing that just to hurt me?"
"Who knows?"
"...Such a precocious girl." Nojiko turned over all the same, flipping her shirt up above her navel. As her sister quietly cleaned the surface, applying clean bandages after.
Nami wasn't stupid. She knew what the marines were here for. She knew that Genzo and the others would work it out easily enough. She could tell what their next move would be as well... suicidal to put it bluntly. However, what she couldn't do was give up the same goal she had been preparing for this past decade. She had given the better part of her life, Ayanokouji had sacrificed himself on that ship to keep the treasure. It didn't matter if he was assured of his survival or not. As soon as they realise, he lied, they'd bring him to Arlong. Then he was as good as dead.
The only chance she had was using the money and their agreement. Maybe if she brought the treasure before him publicly, he would be forced to hold his end of the deal...
That hope was the last tether. She just needed to ensure the islanders or Luffy and his band of misfits didn't interfere with that plan. And for that she needed to leave her sister for a brief moment.
[Piracy?]
Noon had arrived.
And so the villagers had gathered. A single woman stood in their path, her bright orange hair drifting in the wind.
"Please, stop! All I have to do is continue. I'm so close. So close, just a few months, no a few weeks. Even if it's just a few days, I'm sure that I can do it... Don't give up on me now..."
"You stupid child..." Genzo's head was lowered, the familiar pinwheel revolved in the wind. His eyes were hidden behind the shadow cast by his cap.
"Please, I don't want to lose any of you!"
"You aren't going to lose anyone. Wait here. We've lived with those tyrants lording over our heads for too long, about time we brought the fight back to them." One of the islanders said, pitchfork raised in his right hand.
"You guys don't stand a chance, you're going to get yourselves killed!"
"You did good, kid. All those years, it must've been so lonely. I'm sorry we couldn't have been there for you sooner... To think that it'd take some pirates coming to the island to change that. It's late, but this is our repayment to you, Nami." Genzo silently made steps in the sand, coming ever closer to the girl, ever closer to passing by and going to that horrible place just beyond.
"I don't need this! I don't want you to pay me back. I just want you all to stay here!"
"That's impossible now. They never had... No, that's beside the point. We're going. Prepare yourselves everyone." Genzo's held his head higher, his eyes were sharp. Resolve oozing out of his features. His upper lip stiff with trepidation, fear and foolhardy bravery.
"Let's show those bastards the strength of Cocoyashi!"
"They've made our Nami cry for the last time!"
"Freedom for all!"
"Please!"
"Step aside, Nami."
"I don't care if I have to do this to stop you all. I'm only preventing you from killing yourselves..." She brandished a small knife from a pouch on her hip. The small blade rigidly resting in her two hands with which she gripped the handle. Her hands and shoulders betrayed the brave face she exhibited, shaking and shivering as the islanders took each step towards her.
"Nami. You've been alone for so long that you think we no longer understand you... I already know you wouldn't ever do anything to harm us. That's why you've suffered all these years."
"Don't, Genzo-san... I-I'll really do it!"
"Go ahead. You'd have every right to plunge that into me. I've disappointed Bellemere for too many years now. That kid... she grown up and mothered you two, then left you to me. And what have I done in return...? I failed at every step. Even if you put that dagger in me, I'll make my way to Arlong. Even if I have to crawl through the dirt, I'll drag him off this island by his gills back to the water from where he once came."
"B-but..."
"Rest now, Nami. We'll be back soon." He rest a single hand atop her head, tousling the red locks before passing her by completely. "Villagers of Cocoyashi. We move!"
"UWWOOOAAAHHHHH!" A stampede of villagers ran past. The only evidence left was the footprints they left in the sand. The redheaded girl completely powerless to prevent it.
The faint sound of snivelling echoed in the now silent town. The young woman gripped at the flesh of her arm, digging nails into that blue tattoo. Aiming to gouge the flesh and remove that stain forever. The moniker of her turmoil, it was no less than a shackle that continued to weigh upon her soul.
A slave... That was what he had called her, he couldn't have been more correct.
She knew it... Perhaps, it was a truth that was layered, drowned by many hopes and fantasies, so deep that they eradicated the possibility of it all being a convenient ruse.
What else was she supposed to do? She wasn't strong. She was smart, but didn't have any allies. The marines wouldn't help her, others she attempted to ask for help would backstab her at the earliest convenience.
As a child on the open seas, she had been working tirelessly to make that fortune, to achieve freedom for the village and eventually herself.
Luffy and his crew weren't the first people she had met in her travels, nor were they the first she travelled with for a time. She had worked with others, and each and every time when she asked for assistance... she was betrayed. Eventually the girl learnt not to ask, to simply do.
If no one would save them, then she would have to save herself. And with that she developed that internal shell, that armour that prevented her from ever connecting fully with others. Because those ties would soon enough be cut from the opposite end. Instead, she would gather the fortune and continue in solitude, use people as they intend to use you...
If it weren't for this damn thing, she thought.
If it weren't for that man.
That thing.
She would be free, they all would.
The clear-cut picture of the familiar fishman standing on top of the villagers, blood littering the ground like a powerful storm, all the while his dreadful laugh echoed in her mind. So loud and with such clarity that he might as well have been right beside her ear.
"ARLONG!"
The dagger that had fell onto the sand was slowly gripped, loosely in the tired palms of the girl.
Shink!
The head of the dagger punctured the flesh of her left arm, the shoulder dripping with blood.
Tiredly, the mechanical motion of continuous stabs continued in the same place. The girl grit her teeth, tears flowing freely. Even through the pain and sadness her eyes remained focused forwards, in the direction of Arlong Park. The monotonous sounds of the blade slick with blood sliding into the battered skin. Bruised and gashed by the constant stabbing and impacts of the hilt at high speeds. Still the girl looked forwards, attempting to drown out the internal pains with some other sensation, maybe in an attempt to join the villagers whom she assumed would meet their demise much too soon.
Just as another lazy stabbing motion started, a hand interrupted. Grabbing her slender wrist and the bloodied dagger alongside it.
"...Luffy. Didn't I tell you to leave already...?"
"Yeah. You said that."
"Why are you here? Just... JUST LEAVE ALREADY! Leave! Leave!" Those useless screams, her hand struggled against his grip. It was futile, his strength surpassed hers. Noticing she couldn't free the dagger, she begun clawing at the ground. With handfuls of sand, throwing them at the straw hatted man. He stood still, holding her frail wrist in his grip.
She had hit rock bottom. There was no hope left, every single thing she had held herself to for the last ten years, it was all flashing before her eyes. Was it all pointless, she never had a single chance of saving them after all? Was there even a point in fighting back now? It was all... so tiring.
But if this is the end... Then it wouldn't hurt to do it one more time. She had been betrayed at every moment in the past. It was so slim that it didn't even register as a ray of hope in her mind, she asked simply because... She didn't know why. If everything was over it wouldn't matter, would it? What is there to be disappointed about if everything she did was useless anyway?
And so the words fell out of her mouth...
"...Pl- Ple...ase help. Luf..fy. Please, help... me."
The world was quiet for a moment.
...
'Ah, so it was useless after all...' she accepted that reality internally. A bleak reminder of the world they lived in.
The sound of something rustling and a single motion captured her attention. A hat rest atop her head. Weightless, yet it felt as if it would crush her entire body all the same.
A guttural scream reached the edges of the island.
"OF COURSE I WILL!"
Nami's mind; that which was fragmented and broken, beyond hope and littered with despair. A single ray of light pierced through those cracking foundations and took residence. It was a tiny ember, more a flicker than anything of substance. But that was the funny thing about hope, truly it shone the brightest when you had reached your lowest. The idea that this small ember could grow to be the size of a burning star, filled her with newly reformed resolve. Enough to see this through.
It had taken her a few moments to realise... she still had the dagger in her hand. He had never taken it. 'The choice was still mine at the end of the day'. Tears bubbled into existence, her shoulders shook with the realisation. Through her tears she regarded the young man's back once again. So thin... and yet that back is so unbelievably broad.
Luffy walked down that long meandering road, right in the direction of Arlong Park. Solemn confident steps taking him ever closer to that destination. 'If only I could've been like that from the start', the navigator thought to herself.
The dagger fell from her limp hand into the sand. The wind blew more and more grains over the tool. Soon enough, by the time she had raised herself from the ground, the dagger was already half buried.
The weapon had been forgotten. The only tracks left being the innumerable footprints, proof of this island's existence and their will to fight.
---
Word count: 4701
Might be a confusing timeline but here we go:
· Ayanokouji goes on mission in the morning, defeats the fishmen and sinks the ship and using a single survivor to come back on land evading sight from the other fishmen.
· Meets Nami and goes with the marines.
· Whilst with Marines passes by Luffy and crew.
· Genzo talks to townspeople first time, agree to meet later.
· Ayanokouji takes over the ship and sets course for Arlong Park
· Luffy and crew take Momoo and arrive at Nami's house
· Nami understands the townspeople will attempt to fight Arlong and fishmen, awaiting them in town centre.
· Genzo and townspeople arrive.
· Walk to Arlong Park
· Ayanokouji sets an ignition in the ship's magazine, to set the munitions ablaze.
I think I may have made the time constraints too tight in this instance, which may lead to confusion. So apologies on that front. If there are any questions feel free to send them my way.
Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter, let me know any of your thoughts in the comments below.
Feel free to visit patreon.com/Shir0249
Access to three chapters ahead of public releases for:
Class C: Civil War
Scars Of White
Piracy? Unchanging Facade in a new world!
Phantom Opera: White Soliloquy
Extra plug:
I'm serializing an original novel on Webnovel, Wattpad and my patreon under the same author name. It's free on all platforms. If you enjoy isekai or cultivation, feel free to give it a try and let me know what you think. It's called Bloody Awakening.
Until next time.