Steel Heart

Ch 63 - The Tracker

"Speaking of.." Nana said as the doors slid open and she saw Luffy, Usopp, and Camie walking towards them.

"Yohoho! Luffy-san! Usopp-san!" Brook called out as he waved to them, "Camie-san, it's been awhile."

Usopp and Luffy grinned when they saw the skeleton. "Oh! Brook!"

"Camie-san, may I see your-"

Thwack. Thwack.

Pappagu kicked Brook on one side of the face while Nana punched him in the other. "She's a mermaid," they both scolded at the still smiling skeleton.

Pappagu shrugged at his rockstar friend and then jumped over to hug Luffy. "Straw! Nose! So good to see you guys."

Usopp looked over at Brook. "I didn't realize you were with Pappagu, Brook."

"Apparently, Pappagu was the one who found Brook floating around near the cove. No one else was with him," Nana said.

"Oh, Nana-san, I didn't realize you were listening," Brook mused, "You were so concentrated on drinking your beers."

Usopp scratched his head. "You've only been gone for twenty minutes. How many beers have you had?"

Nana shrugged.

"Nine," Brook reported, "And a half glass of water."

"Nine beers?!" Usopp and Luffy shrieked.

Nana shrugged again and turned to Pappagu. "Didn't you say something about going to your place?"

"Oh yeah! Straw," Pappagu said as he turned to Luffy, "You guys aren't leaving today, right? If you're interested in the cafe you can come later because I'm inviting you back to my place for some sea monster meat."

Luffy's eyes sparkled. "MEAT?! You can eat meat? Camie says that you guys only eat shellfish and sea plants here."

Pappagu shook his head. "Unlike Merfolk, Fishmen eat fish and meat so you can still get it here."

He then turned to Nana. "If you want some stronger stuff, I have some top shelf liquor in my-"

"Done!" Nana said as she waved her arms at a fish with a hat that said Taxi on the front.

"What the hell, Nana?! Are you turning into Zoro?" Usopp demanded as Nana climbed on board.

She made her way to the backseat and sat down on the fluffy cushion with her feet propped up on the seat in front of her. Luffy followed after her and then after awhile, the rest of their group climbed in.

Nana saw that Brook had a wanted poster in his bony hands. She raised her eyebrows at it and nudged him with her foot. He glanced up at her and showed him the poster. It was a picture of a fishman with beige skin and long spiky black hair.

"This is a wanted poster for Vander Decken...but I thought he was a ghost," Brook explained.

"The guy on the ghost ship?" USopp asked.

Pappagu took off his sunglasses and blinked at the Straw Hats in surprise. "You guys saw him? The whole nation has been looking for him. He's a pirate who started sending love letters to the Mermaid Princess once a week ten years ago. Since then, the letters became packages, then threats to marry him, and then actual threats."

"Ten years?" Nana asked, "How old is the princess?"

"Sixteen," Pappagu said.

Nana's feet swung off of the seat in front of her and she sat up. "He's been stalking her since she was six?!" she shouted loud enough to initiate another round of violent coughing.