"What happened, Nami-swan?! Where did your dancer outfit go?!" Sanji's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he turned to see Vivi also covered up. "You too, Vivi!" He turned to me desperately, but he fell on the floor defeated as he saw I was covered up too.
"In the desert, any exposed skin will wind up terribly sunburned!"
I chuckled at the cook's behavior as he rolled around in a circle, tears coming from his eyes as Vivi told Luffy to put on a cloak as well.
"Let's get ready to disembark."
Usopp nodded and agreed with Zoro as they walked past the sulking Sanji like he wasn't even there. Just as Zoro was about to lower the anchor, multiple little creatures popped out of the water.
"Huh? Turtles?"
"Kung Fu Dugongs!"
Chopper began to translate for the Kung Fu Dugongs as he explained that we have to defeat them if we want to go on shore.
"Heh. I can't just sit back when someone calls me a coward."
My eyebrows raised in amusement as I was almost impressed with Usopp's resolve only for me to laugh as he got his ass beat.
"Kung Fu Dugongs are really strong!"
We all turn our attention to Luffy who defeated one, causing a big bump on the cute animal's head.
"Winning is bad too! It's a Kung Fu Dugong rule that if someone loses they become the winner's pupil!"
I smile at how adorable the scene looked with all the Kung Fu Dugong surrounding Luffy's feet. If I thought the captain was adorable on his own, then this made adorable an understatement.
"Alright! Everyone follow me!"
I chuckle at the captain's idiocy, loving every second of it. Sometimes it was okay for him to be childish, it was cute in a way. The boy had nothing else going on in his brain. I watched as he instructed them on the correct way to punch, not sure how I was able to meet such an innocent boy.
"Alright! Let's set out to Yuba!"
"Hold on a second..." Zoro's eyebrow twitched as he looked at the army of Kung Fu Dugongs behind Luffy. "Are you taking them with us?!"
Vivi and Nami went to lecture the captain on how he couldn't take them with us only to fold under the adorableness as the Kung Fu Dugongs cuddled up to Luffy's legs.
"I know!" Chopper sniffed the bags that were on the floor, looking for something before pulling out meat.
I grabbed Luffy's collar, who looked at me questionably, scared that he was also going to lunge at the meat. We ended up giving them a good portion of our food just to bribe them to stay back. Nami asked Luffy if he understood the current situation after seeing the boy mindlessly yelling bye to his subordinates.
This led to Nami scolding Luffy, trying to drill into the brainless captain why we couldn't let them come with us like a mom explaining to their kid why they couldn't eat candy before dinner. Chopper and Sanji jumped in talking about how small our food supply was now.
I notice the halt in Vivi's steps as I look over the sandhill to see an abandoned and wrecked city.
"Is this Yuba?"
Vivi denied Luffy's question, explaining that it used to be Erumalu, the City of Green. "The sight of this city explains everything. What the Baroque Works organization has done to this country. What the people of Alabasta are going through."
I look at the city ruins with a harsh look on my face. My heart aches at the sight as my brain thinks back to Sinthaya and how I would feel if this happened to my kingdom. "Vivi..." Out of everyone, I knew how hard this is on her. Not only have I been friends with her for a long time, but I knew what it meant to rule over a kingdom.
Vivi seemed to sense my empathy as she placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a comforting smile.
Seeing how strong the fellow princess was made me see her in a whole new light. She held so much determination and I knew that she was exactly what a princess should be. My chest begins to feel heavy at the thought of myself and my actions as a princess.
Was this really the right choice?
I bit my lip out of frustration as I tried to distract myself by listening in on Vivi's explanation. It seems that the king was framed for using Dance Powder, a rain-summoning powder, to make it rain in Alburna.
"Oh! I get it! You mean that mystery powder! I ate some a while back! It didn't taste good!" Luffy grinned as he hit his fist in his palm out of realization.
Nami walked up to him with a narrowed stare before walking past him. "That powder isn't food."
Zoro followed suit, denying the captain's claims. "It's for summoning rain."
"Huh?! Oh, I get it! You think Im lying! Huh?! Hey, you!"
I sigh, patting the boy's back in sympathy. "Come on Luffy."
He pouted, mumbling to me about how mean his crew is and how no one listens to him. I only gave him a pat on the shoulder with a weak smile, not really able to defend my captain considering he was talking about eating rain-summoning powder.
"What's this path, Vivi-chwan?"
"This used to be a canal that brought in water from Sandora River," Vivi explained that someone had destroyed it, cutting off all access to water that Erumalu had. "With more suspicion on Dance Powder, the distrust began to rise and the fighting had finally started."
"And that was all according to Crocodile's plan."
Upon Zoro completing Vivi's thoughts, I realized how cunning the Warlord was. To manipulate people, timing, and cities to think and act exactly how you want them to is incredible, as horrible as it is. The man must be a very calculating man if he was able to pull all of this off. I couldn't help but feel impressed, not only by his plan but also by the execution of it.
Suddenly a gust of wind picks up and we all start to hear voices. I close my eyes and drown out the rest of my crew's voices, trying to pick up a presence. I shake my head and deny Usopp's suspicions of the Barque Works assains following us this whole time. "There's no one here."
Ace narrowed his eyes before nodding, looking at me slightly impressed. "She's right."
Luffy looked over his shoulder to respond to me and his brother. "It has to be someone's voice."
"It's just the wind carrying voices from other places and bouncing off old buildings."
We all get hit with a big sand tornado, the rough grains of sand hitting our skin as we all struggle to see and stand. In the midst of it all, I see Luffy quickly turn around, seemingly spotting something. "Luffy?"
"Oi, Y/n," He spoke calmly, his eyes still facing behind all of us as the others tried to compose themselves. "Did you see that?"
Before I could ask him what he meant he walked over to a figure in the sand.
"Someone collapsed!"
Vivi perked up at Nami's claim as she looked and ran over to the figure, us following her action. "There's still people here?!"
Luffy and Vivi immediately stop at the figure, looking down at it.
Why aren't they helping them?
I finally understood why when I got to the two. It wasn't a person, it was their remains. A cloak with a skull where the head should've been lay in the sand in front of us.
Vivi kneels down, her voice shaking with either anger or sadness. "What did my father do...what did the people of the country do to deserve this?"
I see Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp shake in anger as they head over to a ruined building while Vivi expresses how unfair the situation is. The three destroy it out of anger before walking back
I couldn't take my eyes off the skull though. Faces of my people flash in my brain as I feel an overwhelming anxiety take over. Did my father take his anger out on them? Are they really okay? What if someone attacked my kingdom like Vivi's kingdom was being attacked?
Ace squatted down, digging a small hole for a makeshift grave. Vivi nodded thanks to the pirate as she gently placed the skull in the hole.
"Vivi! Let's do this now!" Our captain cracked his shoulder as he held his hand in a fist, a determined look stretching across his face. "Im itching to do this now."
"Let's go to Yuba!"
"That's where the rebel army is, right!"
Vivi nodded at Zoro's question. "Yes, I'm going to persuade the leader to stop all of this pointless bloodshed!"
Zoro raised a brow in doubt. "Persuade?"
I watched as Vivi spoke with determination. I could see why my mom liked her so much. She held a confident aura and even at first glance you could tell she was a princess. I could practically feel all the responsibilities that were weighing on her shoulders.
The other began to walk ahead as Vivi and I stayed back to look at the grave along with the city once more. Guilt and anxiety race through my veins as I turn to Vivi and put a hand on her shoulder. "You will stop this war. Only a princess like you has what it takes."
She smiles weakly at me, not seeing a point in putting up a brave act in front of me, and nodded. And with that said, we joined the others.
~•~
"So hot...even sweat won't come out." Luffy struggled to keep walking as his tongue hung out of his mouth, begging for moisture.
Nami fanned herself as she looked back at the boy. "Stop moaning Luffy you'll only make yourself more tired." Upon hearing a louder groan she narrowed her eyes, irritated. "Guess he's not listening."
Usopp was in the same condition as Luffy except he wasn't groaning as much and Chopper was worse than both as he lay on a plank of wood that Zoro was dragging.
"It's cause of all that fur..." Usopp's voice sounded more ragged than usual from the lack of water. "You should take off that fur suit."
I managed to chuckle, fanning myself as well as I watched Chopper instantly become irritated at the boy with a long nose.
Chopper turned big and immediately hovered over Usopp telling him not to make fun of reindeer to which Usopp yelled 'monster' after screaming like a girl, his legs shaking. Zoro yelled at Chopper to turn back before forcing the reindeer to turn back to his small form so he could continue pulling him.
"Vivi-chwan, you don't seem to be bothered as much."
Vivi smiled at Sanji as she told him that she was born and raised here so it's to be expected.
"Still why are there so many hills..."
"This is an old desert!" Vivi began to answer Usopp's question, which I thought was a rhetorical one, but go off princess, as she explained the sand dunes could be very deep or something along those lines.
Frankly, it was way too hot to be thinking or even listening very well, at least for me. I glance at Nami who told Luffy to take one mouthful forgetting that he was rubber and then hitting him when he took a huge mouthful. Nami, Usopp, and Sanji got in a tussle with Luffy and with each other as they fought over who would drink next.
I sweatdropped on the now-wet sand as Luffy spit out the water that was in his mouth after Nami and Usopp hit him making me sigh at the waste of water.
~*~
"It was so hot, what happened?"
Vivi and Nami hold themselves as they sit near the fire while Vivi explains to Nami that the desert becomes below zero at night.
"Look at the stars!" Chopper smiles as he looks up at the sky in awe before telling Usopp that on his island you were unable to see the stars.
"I don't have the luxury for stars right now." Usopp's teeth chattered before he snuggled up to Chopper claiming that his fur suit was nice and cozy. Chopper turned big once more and scolded him for making fun of reindeer before Luffy jumped on the doctor making him turn small and become suffocated between the liar and the captain.
I watch from the corner of my eye as Ace and Vivi talk about something I couldn't hear. The sight of the man smiling because of something she said and Vivi laughing made an uncomfortable feeling arise in my chest.
"You don't have to worry about Vivi." Nami sat down next to me and gave me a reassuring smile. "The only thing on her mind is saving her country."
I looked away from her and towards the fire, putting on a stoic facade. "What do you mean?"
She nudge my shoulder with hers as she got closer, the left side of her body touching my side, finding comfort in my warmth. "I see how you are with him. Us girls have a spot on intuition."
I roll my eyes and chuckle, leaning into her as well to provide as much warmth as I could. "I've just known him for a long time that's all."
Nami hummed at my answer, eyeing me suspiciously before gesturing toward the male and the other princess. "So, you don't feel anything when you look at them?"
My eyes shift to the two in question as I watch them interact. Ace catches my glance and I immediately look away, fixing my gaze back on the fire. "No."
Nami chuckled as she got up and dusted her clothes off. "Whatever you say." She continued to walk over to the girl's tents to go to sleep, not bothering to fall asleep outside like the rest of the boys.