Hiding the Truth (One Piece)

Chapter 12 - The Davy Back Fight

Nami went to the kitchen knowing Sanji, Luffy, Usopp and Chopper would be in there, and I went to get Robin and Lana. Robin was lounging on a deck chair out near the railing in the upper deck holding a book as she drank what I guessed to be tea, no doubt prepared by the women-loving cook.

"Hey, crew meeting in the kitchen" I informed her with a jab in the general direction of the kitchen. She looked up, pushing her sunglasses down as she nodded, lowering her book onto the table that was placed beside her.

"If you're looking for Lana, she's still passed out up there" she pointed at Nami's tangerine bushes and a heap of golden brown hair tipped over the edge of the wood. I jumped up onto the higher deck, walking over to see that she had moved from where I had left her. 

She was sleeping peacefully on top of the soft grass at the base of a bush, no doubt having rolled about to get comfortable. To think that she was a shifty sleeper was strangely endearing. Realising the others were probably waiting for us, I gently shook her awake and she slowly woke up. She looked into my eyes and I saw confusion and worry, still disorientated at being woken up.

"Zoro? What happened? Did Luffy do something stupid again?" She asked and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Not yet but there's a crew meeting and we're delaying it" she got up to only stumble a little, I leaned forward thankfully catching her before she would fall back onto the ground. She looked up at me and I hadn't realised how close our faces were. We both blushed and pulled apart leaving a reasonable space between us.

"Come on, we should get going" I added and she nodded. We made our way to the kitchen and the others turned around at our entrance.

"Good, you're finally here. So were coming up to an island and from the shape of it, I did some research and found out that it goes by the name of Long Ring Long Land and is currently inhabited by nomads. We shouldn't be expecting any trouble from them but it won't hurt to stay alert" Nami informed us. Her words couldn't have concluded at a better time as just then we all felt something hit the helm of the ship. From the jolt, it was no doubt that we had neared to island and had hit some reefs.

"I guess we're here. Sanji, Luffy and Usopp can go out and see what they can find" Nami proposed and we all nodded in agreement. Little did we know that we had made one of the most stupid mistakes we had ever made in our lives.

Lana's POV

It hadn't even been an hour since we sent the three idiots ashore when we heard the ricochet of bullets echoing through the air.

"What did you do this time Luffy" I groaned looking into the distance where we had last seen them. Those that had gone ashore joined us a little later, telling us that Luffy had agreed to some type of game called the Davy Back Fight and that we could possibly loose a crew mate or our pirate flag as a result. I grabbed Luffy by the collar and brought him down so I could glare into his eyes without looking up.

"Do you not think about what you're doing Luffy?! What happens if you lose a nakama huh? You might not get them back!" At my words his eyes widened, probably finally hitting him as to how serious our situation was.

"I won't let them" He grabbed his hat and looked determined. I sighed at how naive my brother was, it seemed that even with the years apart, this part of him hadn't changed a bit. He would have to soon realise that his will alone wouldn't always overcome the circumstances, sometimes there was nothing that could be done.

I looked around and noticed the Foxy pirates, the crew that had challenged us to this stupid game in the first place, had set up a sort of carnival with food stalls along with several marquees spread out across the plains. Whilst the other crew was setting everything up, the scheming captain of their crew could be seen perched atop a large stage that stood at the centre of it all, where he stood looking down at us as if we were cattle and was looking for the best one to buy.

"You might not have a choice" I turned to everyone and I pulled them into a tight circle. "Okay from here on out we have to stay focused and try not to lose in the challenges because one slip up will be the end of it for one of us. We can assume that they're not going to play by the book from the looks of them" we all looked up to see Foxy, their captain, throw us a creepy smile which sent shivers down my spine. As if he already knew what we were discussing. 

I felt a protective arm snake around my waist, pulling me a little further into the circle we had made so I was no longer in the line of sight of the opposite crew. I looked up to see Zoro glowering at the captain, his stare so full of contempt and hatred it took me a moment to register that even Zoro had this side to him, the side that looked out for his friends. 

I turned away, hoping to seem unaffected by how warm his actions made me feel and it didn't help that with the way he held me sent flushes of heat to my face. It seemed though from the smirks on Nami and Robin's faces I wasn't exactly putting up enough of an act. 

"Okay, come on let's do this" I shook away the not so innocent thought to focus on the situation at hand. The rest cheered, pumped at the notion of winning these ridiculous games so we could be on our way. 

~Time Lapse~

"I can't believe we lost. How could we lose? We were winning! Th-the weird lady and the shark from their crew were far behind us. What is this rubbish?" I moaned holding my head in anguish as I knelt on the ground. The others were no better, all of us wallowing in shame at our failure.

"Hahahahahaha" the opposing crew continued to laugh at our expense which only riled us up even more. I could only think of strangling Luffy for being the oblivious idiot that he was, for being the reason we were in this mess in the first place. As the surrounding pirates continued to cackle, there fingers pointed at us in amusement, my anger building until it reached a breaking point.

"I'm going to kill you!" I turned to Luffy, pulling him into a choke hold, putting all my effort in beating some sense into the idiot. With my attention drawn to killing Luffy, I'd missed Foxy's announcement. 

"I want her!" the Straw Hats froze and I looked up to meet Foxy's finger pointed right at me. I saw the horrified expressions of the crew and the angered expression on Sanji, Luffy and Zoro's face.

"Oh you've got to be joking me" I muttered. It just never seemed to end with this crew.