Their Astronomer

Chapter 16

"I wouldn't let them die. And you know that a silly whale can't kill me either." Luffy sniffed loudly and squeezed her a little tighter before finally relinquishing his hold on her torso. Anoki turned her attention away from her clingy captain, to the two newcomers who were smugly glaring at the pirates before them, large cannons swung over their shoulders. 

"Oh my Ms. Wednesday, look at this measly pirate crew," the man with a crown spoke with a hand covering his mouth, his body shifted towards the woman with blue hair, but was looking at them from the corners of his eyes. The woman, known as Ms. Wednesday crudely laughed. 

"You're right Mr. Nine. They look weak. We don't even need to deal with them to take down this disgusting whale," and with her comment, both of them stood and aimed their weapons at the walls of Laboon. Anoki cringed as she watched the first shots ring out and explode against the stomach lining of Laboon. 

Luffy cried out in rage and punched both of the strangers across their cheeks, rendering them unconscience and now slumped across the floor of the Merry. Nami cried out in surprise and smacked Luffy across the back of the head. 

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?"

"They were pissing me off," Luffy huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. The old man, known as Crocus laughed at Luffy's antics and smiled warmly towards the crew. 

"Thank you, young man. Those two have been trying to hunt Laboon for a while now for the island town that they live on. Laboon could feed that town for three years straight, but I can't let anything happen to Laboon, he means too much to me." Anoki stared blankly at the old man, making him shift uncomfortably. 

"Laboon is big and cute so I wasn't going to let anything happen to him anyways. Just make sure you keep taking care of him," Crocus sweat dropped at Anoki' bluntness, but nodded non the less. 

"Alright, well how about I get you young folks out of here now. The stomach acid is probably eating at the wood on the bottom of your ship by now, so we must be quick," Crocus said, getting on the Going Merry with the crew. Everyone nodded along and let the elder guide them out of the giant whale. 

As everyone was admiring the plumbing inside of Laboon, Anoki helped Zoro tie the strangers against the mast, neither one of them trusting the two. 

They both heard the code names. 

They both knew what and who it meant. 

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Anoki watched the two strangers come back to, her one eye trained so hard on them, that it felt to the two that they were being stabbed by small daggers coated in poison. Their faces turned to grimaces when she finally looked away to watch Crocus explain to Nami what and how the log pose functioned. Anoki heard the two struggle to break free from their bonds, but didn't bother looking in their direction. She knew they were weak and used an arrogant façade to make themselves feel better about their weak abilities. 

Luffy bounded towards Anoki with a plate of fish, smiling brightly as he presented it towards her. 

"I've noticed that you haven't been eating much lately, so as your captain, I order that you properly take care of yourself!" Luffy playfully scolded Anoki, a condescending hand on his hip. Anoki giggled at his antics and took the loaded plate from him and started chowing down. 

"I'll keep that in mind captain, thank you," Luffy's giggle was always such a delight for Anoki to hear, so she smiled softly at her young captain, casing his cheeks to turn a soft red color. Luffy turned away, embarrassed, and ran away to join the others on land again. Anoki giggled and turned and walked in the kitchen to wash her plate, picking up a glass of whiskey on the way. She swirled the fluid around as she stepped out and stood near the two guests. 

"What's the name of the island you two are from? If you lie, I will cut off your fingers. Continue to lie then I will take your toes next," shudders went down both of their spines as a sick look encompassed their faces. "Our fingers....and toes?" Ms. Wednesday weakly murmured, her face tinged a sickly green. 

"We come from Whiskey Peak, it's only a few hours if we were to sail," Mr. Nine weakly answered. Anoki hummed in contemplation, and walked away from the duo, ignoring the sounds of their relieved sighs. 

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Anoki hummed happily as the Going Merry started to sail off, everyone but Anoki and Zoro waving goodbye to Crocus. Anoki could have intervened when Luffy decided to pick a fight and claim a whale as his rival, but the moment was so touching, she decided against it. 

"Our next destination is going to be Whiskey Peak, and Nami; be careful for strange weather patterns. I'm going to my room to look through my studies from the books we got from Logue town." And with that, Anoki spun on her heels and slipped through the cracked door, and gently closed the door after her. 

"W-what does she mean watch out for strange weather patterns?" Nami mumbled to herself, a worried look crossing her facial expression. 

"Who knows, Anoki is so beautiful when she tells us what to do! I WON'T LET YOU DOWN MY ANGEL!" Sanji screamed, his eyes held bright pink hearts as he squirmed in his spot. Zoro growled and smacked the back of his head with the end of his sword, causing Sanji's head to knock forward with a chocked gasp. 

"Why you damn marimo..." Sanji growled with a clenched first raised. Before Zoro and Sanji could start fighting, Luffy smacked the back of their heads. 

"SHHHHH! Don't be loud! I don't want to bother Anoki anymore than we already do!" Luffy seethed at his crewmates. 

And with that, the crew tried to be as peaceful as possible. 

Which was difficult, especially when the weather changed so rapidly, the crew (minus Zoro) though they weren't even on Earth anymore.