Standing with her arms crossed, Faythe narrowed her eyes at the towering sea creatures that smirked down at the Going Merry.
"Isn't this giving you guys a very familiar vibe?" Faythe commented, raising a brow to her friends beside her.
Wyper scoffed, "Oh I'm sure." He glanced over to the Captain that tried to copy the creature's faces.
"STOP MESSING AROUND, YOU THREE!" Usopp shouted back at them.
"RUN AWAY!! ITS THE SEA MONKEYS!!"
"THEY'RE HERE AGAIN!!"
"THERES NO WIND!!"
"PULL UP THE SAIL!!"
"WE'LL USE THE PADDLES!!"
Wyper hung loosely from the climbing net that connected to the bird's nest, "Hey! 12 o'clock! Another Ship inbound!" He called down below.
Zoro and Faythe instantly perked up at that.
"A enemy?"
"Something to fight?"
Usopp twirled around and smacked the two, "Enough, you two battle maniacs!"
Sanji and Luffy were both on the rudder while Chopper was unfurling the sails to catch the wind.
Usopp climbed up the net to see as well and let out a gasp, "There's is no flag and not even a sail... What kind of ship is that?"
Luffy frowned dubiously, "Huh? They don't have anything? Why are they on the sea!?"
Faythe shook her head with a small laugh, "Damn, they must be stuuuuuuuupid~!"
Wyper narrowed his eyes, "I don't know but the sailors don't look all that well..."
Usopp frowned at the sorry sights, "They all just sit there and look dishearten... It's like they all got killed spiritually!!"
Faythe jutted her lip out confused, "Isn't that ship heading directly into the gigantic tidal monkey wave behind us?"
Sanji squinted his eyes, "What the heck? Can that ship make it?"
"It'll get swallowed by the wave if it just drifts like that!!"
Luffy leaned over the rails childishly, "Heeeeey~~~!! You guys, the wave and sea monkeys are coming!!!" He called out, just as the Going Merry sailed past, "Turn arouuuunndd~~!!"
The pirates on the drifting ship perked up at Luffy's call.
"...Ah..."
"It's a ship..."
"A PIRATE SHIP!!"
Faythe frowned at their sudden rise of energy, "Now I don't wanna fight them.."
"EVERYONE GET UP!! ITS AN ENEMY SHIP! LET'S ROB THEIR TREASURE!"
"ITS A GIANT WAVE!! WE HAVE TO DODGE IT!"
"WE CANT LET THE ENEMY GET AWAY!!"
"FIRE THE CANON!!"
"YOU CANT COMMAND ME!!!"
"HURRY UP!!"
"T... TURN THE SHIP AROUND!!"
"YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR PLACE!!"
The crew watched with confused looks.
Luffy was on the rudder letting out a pitiful sigh at the scene, "That ship's crew lack discipline."
Sanji helped beside him, "They said they want to rob us. Let's just ignore them."
Wyper felt someone fly up above him and land right on his shoulders. The sudden weight almost knocked him out of the crow's nest. He looked up once he caught his balance, to see Faythe looking at them with a childish grin, "My lady.. Please warn me next time you wish to use me as a cushion." He let out a sigh at her goofy look.
Faythe smiled at the title he gave her, "It's kinda strange hearing you call me that..." She started to pick at his long strands of dark scarlet hair.
He raised a brow, "Is it? Does it make you uncomfortable? Do you wish to be called something else??" He started to blabber on nonsense until Faythe shushed him with a finger on his lips.
"You can call me whatever. Just don't go overboard like Sanji down there who can go girl crazy at any moment." She jutted a finger down at the blonde.
Wyper nodded slowly, "If that is what you wish... But I'll have to keep an eye on that man named Sanji..." He narrowed his eyes down at the blonde.
Faythe whistled out as she kept her gaze on the chaotic ship, "But man... Those guys are gonna die if they can't agree on something."
Wyper looked in the same direction with his arms crossed over his chest, "Indeed."
"WHERE'S THE SAILS!!"
"HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW!?"
"WHERE'S THE NAVIGATOR~~~!!"
"I DONT KNOW!!"
"CAPTAIN—!!"
"HE'S NOT HERE!!?"
Faythe watched with a frown at the tidal wave that the mischievous Sea Monkeys created started to loom over the stranded enemy ship.
"WE'RE DOOMED!!!"
"W... WHO FIRED THE CANNON!!?"
"SHIT! YOU ARE ALL USELESS!!"
"SO ARE YOU!!"
"YOU CAN'T EVEN DODGE ONE FUCKING WAVE!!?"
And with that, the wave crashed down in one fell swoop, burying the ship underneath the calming seas.
/:/~***~/:/
Sitting on the stairs was Faythe braiding Wyper long strands of hair. She pulled it out of its little pumps design and was now trying to brush it out.
"Phew... It's over..."
"That wave was probably caused by those sea monkeys."
"The temperature and humidity are stabilizing... are we near the next island."
"Hey, Robin, do you see anything?"
Robin stood in the Crow's Nest, holding a pair of binoculars, "Yes... A while ago..."
Usopp, Luffy and Faythe all shouted, "What!! Why didn't you say so earlier!!"
Usopp started clapping his hands to gain the Archeologist's attention, "You are on watch. So when you see a Island you're supposed to say..."
Luffy jumped forward to say it excitedly, "YOU GUYS—!! I SEE AN I-S-L-A-N-D!! LAND HO—!!"
"Now you do it." Faythe waved her hands with a cheeky smile.
Robin ignored them entirely and pointed out something, "There is a heavy fog..."
Faythe heard and cupped her mouth, "THERES A HEAVY FOG AHEAD!!" She called out.
Nami perked up at that, "A fog? There may be danger. Chopper, go watch the front." She pointed to the second deck.
Chopper saluted, "Yes, sir!!" He hopped off the back deck and into Faythe's arms to be thrown up to the front deck.
Luffy looked up at Robin, "Do you know how much we want to see an island!?"
Faythe leaned on Luffy's shoulder, "Yeah! New island means new adventure to write!"
Robin chuckled at the two childish crew mates, "I'm sorry. I'll announce next time."
Luffy smiled, "That's better."
Usopp spoke up, "Hey, you guys... don't you think that ship was kind of weird?"
Wyper crossed his arms with a firm frown, "From all the yelling, I can conclude that they had no Captain nor Navigator onboard."
Usopp nodded with a hand on his hip, "Also no flag and sail. Then all the crew looked disheartened and lacked discipline like Luffy mentioned. How could they have been pirates?"
Zoro shrugged with his arms crossed like Wyper, "Maybe they lost a fight. The Captain died and they lost all their stuff?"
Wyper nodded, "Very possibly another fight between a different crew of pirates."
Usopp shook his head with a confused frown, "Not likely... I checked out their ship and... Not only was there no sign of recent battle... There was nothing on it that suggested they were pirates!!" He looked down almost baffled.
Sanji took a drag from his cigarette, "So they were not pirates. No big deal..."
Faythe frowned at that answer.
Usopp glanced to the side, "Maybe... But my instinct tells me that they were pirates!" He closed his eyes in thought, "I have a bad feeling about this..."
Sanji shrugged and walked up the stairs to the front deck, "You always do."
Luffy glanced at Faythe to read her expression and kept silent about the conversation. He then turned to the front and slung shot himself up on the second deck's rails to see the island, "I wonder if there is a town or shipyard on the island." He said to change the subject.
Which thankfully gained Faythe's attention quickly, "Or maybe even a few shops for books!" She followed quickly up the stairs.
Nami placed her hands on her hips, "Luffy, don't go on the island before everyone is ready!"
Faythe situated behind Chopper with a big smile. Chopper turned and looked up at the red head, "I hope we meet a good repairmen."
Faythe patted his head with a smile, "I hope so too."
Luffy reared back and called out, "The shore is near! Get ready to anchor the ship!"
"Yeah!" Sanji waved him off.
Usopp was barely making it up the stairs, "OOO!! Everyone... Listen to me..." He weakly muttered out.
Sanji leaned on the rails taking another drag, "Chopper, Usopp is suffering from the 'Die-when-going-to-an-unknown-island syndrome.'"
Usopp nodded rapidly, "Y... YES...!"
Chopper turned around with a blank face, "I don't know how to cure that."
Wyper came up behind him on the stairs and picked up the sniper, tossing him on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "It can't be that bad." He let out a small chuckle.
Faythe felt the winds blow at her red hair, tossing it about in her face. Feeling her hair get gently tugged back out of her view, Faythe glanced back to see Luffy tying her hair up messily into a high ponytail.
"There!" He grinned at her cheekily, "Now you can see everything!"
Faythe grinned back just as cheerily, "Much appreciated Cap'!" Her eyes then landed through the fog with excitement, "WE'RE THERE!!!"
Standing on the ship with this view, some were very much disappointed.
"THERE'S NOTHING!!!"
Well not Faythe.
She leaned forward with a bright smile, "Grass that stretches far than one can see..." she glanced to the Captain beside her, "A sea of green!"
Luffy gazed outward, "So big! So empty! It's an endless plain...!!"
Sanji tilted his head with a bored expression, "It's plain alright. There's nothing to see."
Robin nodded, "I wonder if it's inhabited."
Faythe grinned, "One way to find out!" She spread her wings out and leaped over the rails.
"Ah-! My lady!" Wyper called out worriedly.
Luffy smiled at her flying form, "WAIT UP!" He barreled over the rails with Usopp and Chopper hanging on, "YAHOO!! A GIANT PLAIN!!"
"Hold it!!" Nami called after them but trailed off knowing they wouldn't listen now that they landed on the island, "We still don't know anything about this place and they..."
Zoro watched them run off by the rails, "This place is so empty, there shouldn't be any danger."
Sanji glanced over at Wyper, "Your not gonna chase after 'your lady'?"
Wyper sighed and gave a firm stare at the blonde chef, "My lady can take care of herself. It's the Captain that I'm worried about..." He sighed.
"Luffy?" Nami perked up.
Robin chuckled, "Those two do indeed have an interesting relationship."
Zoro laughed at that, "Those two share a brain cell when it comes to exploring an island."
Robin, "She's a lot more smarter than one would expect when one wishes to harm one of her crew mates."
Zoro snorted, "No, that I understand. It's her childishness that resurfaces when she's with Luffy."
Nami smiled at that, "I don't think anything is wrong with that."
Wyper frowned at this, "But doesn't that mean that she has different faces, she uses for each of us?"
Zoro shrugged.
Nami frowned at that thought, "It is a bit concerning but I understand a bit why."
Wyper glanced at the ginger, "Why is that?"
Nami placed a finger on her lips and winked, "It's a secret between us girls."
/:/~***~/:/
Racing across the plains, the quartet was goofing off until Chopper stopped in his tracks looking up at something, "WOOOWW!!"
Luffy looked over at Chopper, "What's wrong, Cho—!" He stopped in his sentence.
Faythe gawked at the sight in front of her. A massive bear shaped animal that stood on its hind legs perfectly. Though what really caught her off guard was how tall it was. It's long torso and legs were strutted past them like it was super modeling it's white fur.
"Well that's kinda freaky..." Faythe let out a nervous laugh.
"Eh...?" Usopp looked at the others baffled.
Chopper tilted his head confused, "A human?"
"You stupid!! How can a human be so furry!!? It's a bear! A bear!" Luffy shouted at Chopper with his finger pointed at the strange creature.
Faythe quickly picked the reindeer up and coddled him to her chest, "Don't shout at him like that, he's a little slow, but he'll get there eventually!" She jutted her lip at Luffy who leaned back from her stern look.
He looked away from the red head and rubbed his neck nervously, "Sorry 'bout that Chopper..."
Usopp leaned back still distracted by the white bear, "T..TALL!! THIS BEAR IS TALL!!" He then glanced around at their terrain, "The trees around us are tall, too..."
Luffy looked up as well and shot his arm up to the top to grab whatever pepper was growing at the top.
He bit down on one and brightened, "Look at this! It's an apple!" He handed one over to the curious red head.
She chowed down and smiled into the taste, "So these are apple trees?" She looked up at the massive trees.
Chopper panicked, looking at the two, "Don't eat it! It may be poisonous!"
Luffy took another bite, "Yum!"
Usopp was still looking around the island plains with his goggles on, "Oh?" He flipped the goggles up on his head, "Look! Is that a house!?"
"Yeah!!" Luffy finished off his long ass apples, "Is there someone in it?"
Chopper waddled up to his side, "Is a repairman in it?"
Faythe narrowed her eyes to sharpen her vision, "Is that a teepee?"
/:/~***~/:/
As they made their way to the housing, they met all sorts of strange creatures of all shapes and sizes.
It reminded Faythe of those Dr. Seuss books she was read to by Dr. Hui.
Deers stretched out from its snout and supposed short tails. Birds with the wingspan of yards. It's neck stretched out longer than a flamingo's.
A crème colored dog that seemed to never have a end crossed their path. And it took a whole 15 minutes for them to see its short nubby tail.
"So... Long... Everything is so elongated here..."
"How did they get so elongated?"
Faythe shrugged, "It's probably how they adapted to this type of terrain. They had to stretch to reach specific foods or hunt for prey faster." She summed up.
Chopper and Usopp were both wobbling around feeling super dizzy from the sights.
"After looking at all of this, I think I'll elongate, too..."
"What kind of island is this..."
Luffy opened the door to the wide ass teepee, letting Faythe in first as she called out, "HELLLOOOO—!! WE'RE COMING IN—!"
Luffy then followed with a smile, "EXCUSE ME—!!"
Usopp immediately snapped out of it as he noticed the two, yet again, intrude into someone's house. Having enough of the flashbacks at Cricket's place, "WAIT! WE DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S DANGER!!!"
"HOLD ON, FAE!! LUFFY!! THIS MUST BE WHERE THE BOSS OF THIS ISLAND LIVES!!!" He hurried after the two and grabbed them by the shoulders, trying to pull them out of the room, but he knew full well that he couldn't measure up to their individual strength, "ITS PROBABLY A MONSTER WITH A SNAKE LIKE BODY AND..."
"Nobody's here..." Luffy peered around with a raised brow.
Usopp peered over Faythe's shoulder curiously, "Eh?"
"Hey, Luffy! Faythe! Usopp!"
Luffy looked around to outside with a smile, "It's Chopper!"
Running around back, they met up with Chopper to see him attending a giant equestrian horse? It had a beautiful sheen of white coating.
Luffy first response, "IT'S A GIRAFFE!!!"
"Neah..."
Faythe shook her head with a chuckle, "I'm not sure about answer, Luffy."
Luffy frowned and glanced over at her, "Why? You don't think that's a giraffe?"
"Do you even think a giraffe makes that sound?" Faythe made a goofy face.
"No? Do you?" Luffy grinned at her with his tongue out.
Faythe broke out in a cheeky grin, "Nope!"
Usopp finally got a good look from the side, "No. Wait. This is just a white horse with a long neck! A long white horse!"
Faythe and Luffy clicked their tongue and snapped their fingers with a sigh.
Chopper rubbed the snout of the white stallion, "You are a horse?"
The horse nudged the reindeer's cheek gently, "Neah..."
"What a beautiful horse!"
Chopper giggled and started to stroke the horse softly on its jaw, "It's name is Sherry... It's a she!"
Usopp glanced to Sherry's back, "She has a saddle on her, so there must be someone really living here."
Faythe frowned, "But there's been dust over multiple objects in the house. So it's been more than a few months since the owner had been here."
Usopp whipped around with a frown, "YOU STARTED SNOOPING!?
"I didn't find any treasure or Beli inside..." Faythe clicked her tongue again.
"You were gonna steal!?" Usopp slapped her head.
Faythe frowned in dissatisfaction, "Such a shame too, Nami's gonna be angry..."
Usopp was almost done with the red head so he turned to his other friend and saw him staring off into the distance, "What is it, Luffy?"
Faythe perked up to see Luffy point out at a tall plant, "Usopp, Fae... Is that a bamboo?"
Faythe tilted her head, "Here?"
Usopp nodded slowly, "...Yup." He followed it up to see no top to the almost sky reaching plant, "Wow... I can't see the top of this thing... How did it get so tall..."
"Look carefully. This bamboo..." Luffy stated with narrowed eyes just as the bamboo stack scooted over a dozen feet over.
The trio jumped back, "WAAAHHH!! IT MOVED!!!"
"AH!!"
"HOLY SHIT!!"
Luffy gasped at the strange phenomenon, "THIS MUST BE SOME KIMD OF ANIMAL TOO!!"
Faythe tilted her head confused, "What?"
Luffy then in retaliation was smacked harshly in the face, "UWAH!!"
"AAAH! THE BAMBOO ATTACKED LUFFY!!!" Usopp shrieked in bafflement, holding his head in fear.
Faythe whistled, "Damn...! Throwing hands with bamboo can be checked off your bucket list, Luffy—!" She called out.
"Oh!!!"
"HEY~~! ARE YOU OKAY—!?"
Faythe snapped her gaze upward confused to where that voice was coming from. It sounded close but at the same time distant.
Usopp gasped as he saw Luffy get back up with an annoyed look. Mostly from Faythe's jab, "BE CAREFUL, LUFFY!!"
Luffy shot his leg back, "I WON'T LOSE YO A STUPID BAMBOO SHOOT!!" He threw his leg forward with a snap, striking the bamboo in half, successfully breaking it, "GOMU GOMU NO... WHIP!"
The bamboo snapped and fell to the ground.
The trio erupted in cheers.
"HURRAY—!! WE WON~~!!"
"YEAH!! IT BROKE!!"
"ADD WINNING AGAINST BAMBOO TO THE BUCKET LIST—!!"
Luffy snapped around with an annoyed jute of his lip, "ENOUGH ABOUT THAT—!!"
Faythe let out a chuckle and ran off with Luffy chasing after her.
Just as Luffy was about to grab Faythe by the strap of her shorts, an eruption of dust flew up around them.
The three stood around an old man laid on their back.
"What happened!?" Chopper's worried call was heard rushing over.
Luffy stood next to Faythe as he looked down confused, "Is this... The Genie that appears when you break the bamboo?"
Faythe gave her Captain a blank look, "You just made that up, just now, didn't you?"
/:/~***~/:/
Word Count:(3185)