The Silence of the Singing Isle
Ch:1 Adrift
It had been a very long two months for the Mugiwara pirates. The last island had seemed a paradise, but all too soon for their tastes they had been chased away to sea again by the isle's inhabitants, but such was the life of a pirate. Their expulsion had been so rapid this time that they hadn't even had the chance to restock their supplies. Now they were dangerously short on food.
As if their plight wasn't dire enough, with the threat of scurvy hanging over their heads, there was also a weary and stressed crew to deal with. Sanji, who had long since run out of cigarettes, and now going through an intense period of withdrawals, was almost constantly bickering with Zoro, who vented his own frustrations on the ero-cook. And Luffy's whining of boredom was getting on everyone's nerves.
Robin, Chopper, and surprisingly enough, Usopp were the three crewmembers taking the situation the best. Robin, as usual, was buried deeply in a book, this time about the notable islands in the grand line. Chopper had taken to rereading his extensive collection of medical and physics texts, and Usopp was off in some distant corner of the ship, tinkering with some new invention of his.
Just to escape the constant tension on the ship Nami had taken up almost constant residence in the crow's nest. With a telescope pressed to her eye, she scanned desperately for the island that she knew was close by. Her calculations were never wrong; she knew she could trust them. She just didn't know if the crew could last another increasingly hopeless day at sea. As if to worsen her already sour mood the too familiar sounds of the ship's resident hot heads getting into a squabble came rising from the deck.
"Baka-Swordsman!"
"Ero-Cook!"
Perfect, this was all the ship needed, another pointless fight. Deciding to end it before any more damage could befall the already severely wounded Merry Go; she leaned over the edge of the Crow's nest. In her best innocent voice, she called down, "Oi, Sanji-kun! It's so lonely up here. Will you come up and keep me company?"
"Hai, Nami-chwan!" Sanji cried, a look of adoration on his face. With a spring in his step he began to climb the rigging. "For you, my sweet, I would fly across a thousand oceans!"
"Hey! Where do you think you're going, baka?" Zoro snarled, stepping forward to stop him. "We're not done yet!"
"We'll have to finish it later, seaweed scalp. My Nami-san needs me!"
As Zoro was about to follow Sanji up the rigging to hand the perverted cook his own head, pairs and pairs of feminine hands bloomed from his own body, and restrained him in his efforts. Knowing better than to struggle against Robin's devil fruit power, he immediately gave up his intent to beat that ero-cook's brains in… Damn Hana Hana no Mi… Shooting his most evil glare in her direction, he was somewhat taken aback as the archeologist merely looked up and smiled her amused little smile at him, like he was some sort child.
"Oi, Robin, what's the big idea?"
"Just let him go Swordsman-san." Came the gentle reply.
"You say that as if I had a choice in the matter." Zoro grumped, waiting impatiently to be freed from her clutches. "I swear, he pushed me over the line this time… I'm going to kill him…"
"It's been a long trip for all of us, and think about it, who would cook for us if you killed him, perhaps Captain-san?" Asked Robin, her lips once more forming her oh so familiar, patronizing smile.
The mere thought of Luffy getting anywhere near the kitchen was enough to make Zoro's stomach perform back flips of revulsion. It seemed that his need to eat overcame his desire for vengeance… this time. "Alright. I'll let him live… for now."
As the extra limbs adorning Zoro's body vanished in a swirling cloud of flower petals he stalked over to the aft of the ship and took a seat, his back leaning against the railing, his three swords by his side. "But anyone who wakes me for anything other than lunch or landfall will have hell to pay… ok?"
"That's just fine."
Up in the crow's nest Nami was learning exactly how bad their plight was. Sanji's report was far from comforting. With a heavy heart, and a sinking feeling in her stomach she tried to wrap her mind around what he had just told her. "You mean there's only enough food left for two meals?"
"I'm sorry to say it, but I'm afraid so..." Sanji said, wishing he had a cigarette to light. Hell, even a lollipop would almost hit the spot right now. "I've even been rationing, but we haven't seen hide nor hair of any plants or animals in over a week. If something doesn't change soon, we'll be up a creek without a paddle."
In response to his words Nami was up in a blur, searching the horizons for an island, any island, with a new vigor born out of desperation. There had to be something out there… there just had to be! This was not the way it was to end for the Mugiwara crew. They had too much to live for!
Knowing there was nothing more he could do for Nami, Sanji slipped sorrowfully out of the crow's nest and headed back to his kitchen for what could possibly be one of the last times ever.
"Sorry Nami-swan…"
(A/N:) this is just a fix up of my past mistakes on this story, not an actual update. Oh well, I guess I'll have to pry myself away from W.O.W. to actually write something new.
I hope you liked it, and don't worry it gets a lot better from here on out. Please R&R, even if it's flames, I don't care. The warmth of their heat will keep me warm all through the cold winter nights...
I bet you're wondering how I came up with the title huh? Well, stand in line, so do I...