Before I start this chapter, I would like to thank you all for supporting me. I really appreciate all your comments. You have no idea how excited I get when a notification pops up saying someone commented. I love every single one of you!!!
~*~
"Hey, Nyx? Are we nearly at Sabaody? Or Ace?" Saki mumbles, laying on her small sailboat like a starfish, entirely disregarding the fact that Law said not to do it.
Nyx sighs. 'You couldn't be farther.'
Saki grins. "So we're close?"
'No!'
Saki slumps in defeat and sighs disappointedly. "Dammit...."
'Saki. "You couldn't be farther" is an expression meaning that you are nowhere near your destination.' Phantom explains as if he's talking to a child. A very dumb child.
"Oh." Saki props her legs up onto the side of the boat, crosses them and lazily places her hands behind her head. She winces when the stitches on her shoulder rub against her clothing. "So...what's the next island then?"
'If you stay on course...which I highly doubt, the next island is Jaya which is about a day away. Somehow, we skipped Long Ring Long Land. Also, we're on a totally different course again. I think, we're back on the Alabasta path.'
Saki yawns. "Well, that sucks. We ran out of food yesterday and water is running low." She chuckles. "We might die."
'What are you laughing at?!'
"Dunno."
Any person sailing by would never in their right mind try to help this girl. All they'd hear is her talking to absolutely nothing and confirm the rumours that the Black Blade Assassin is indeed crazy. Like, really crazy.
Except...for these dumbasses sailing past. "OI!!!"
Saki drowsily raises her head and squints into the sunlight with both her eyes. (Her bruised eye was nearly healed. Just a bit of discolouration around it, but other than that, it was fine.) "Huh. I'm going crazy. I'm hearing things."
Oh, the irony.
Nyx and Phantom had to hold in their hysteric laughter.
"OI!!!"
"Huh, there it is again. Eh. Who cares. Someone just probably fell overboard or something." Saki rests her head on her hands once again, pulling her beanie over her eyes in the process.
"Is that Saki?!"
"Saki-chwan!!!!"
"Saki!!!!"
"Join my crew!!!"
"That sounds suspiciously like Nami, Sanji, Chopper, Usopp and Luffy...." Saki yawns. "Am I asleep or awake? I dunno..." Saki suddenly bolts upright at something.....rubbery wrapping around her waist. She blinks drowsily. And.....she's soaring across the air towards a familiar caravel with the adorable ram figurehead. "Huh.....it's the Going Merry...I'm flying, too...OH BLOODY HELL—"
"SAKI!!!!"
Saki ended up crashing into the sleeping Zoro, knocking the wind out of him.
Nyx and Phantom couldn't hold in their laughter any longer. 'AHAHAHAHA, YOU JUST WENT LIKE, oh look I'm flying, to, AHHHH BLOODY HELL!!! HAHAHAHAHA'
'BWAHAHAHA. THAT WAS AMAZING!!! MAN, YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN YOUR FACE!!"
Saki sits up grumpily, glaring at the talking sword on her waist. "Shut up...." she mutters. "You guys are awful...." Law would be scolding her too. The stitches on her shoulder have torn and the ones on her thigh are close to tearing, too.
"Saki!!!" Chopper squeals excitedly running into her arms.
"Holy—Eh? Chopper?" Saki blinks, confused. "I'm......" Saki stares into space for a bit and finally realises where exactly she is. "HOLY CRAP, I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU GUYS IN FOREVER!!!" She quickly returns Chopper's hug in happiness. "Luffy!" The Straw-Hat captain was grinning at her. "Zoro!" The poor swordsman was still recovering from Saki crashing into him. "Nami!" The pretty navigator sent her a little wave. "Usopp!" The long-nosed liar smiled at her return. "Sanji!" Poor guy was looking at her with hearts in his eye and blood streaming out his nose. "And...who's she?" Saki points towards the new Straw-Hat pirate.
"Saki-chwan!!!!" Sanji tornados towards the swordswoman and fails miserably as Zoro sticks out his leg, effectively tripping the cook.
"Moron."
Saki stands to her feet, all the while holding the blue-nosed reindeer. "Hello!" She waves at Robin. "I'm Yamamoto D. Saki!"
Robin smiles. "I'm Nico Robin. It's nice to meet you, Black Blade Assassin."
Saki gives her a closed eye grin.
'Nico Robin....the devil child from all those years ago? Wanted for 79,000,000 beri because at the age of 8, she sunk 7 navy ships...this woman is dangerous, Saki.'
Saki tilts her head at the woman in question. "Are you sure? She looks so nice..."
Robin raises an eyebrow. "What was that?"
Chopper looks at Saki, puzzled. He heard exactly what she said, seeing as he was still in her arms, and.... he was very...confused.
Saki blinks and laughs sheepishly. "Oh, nothing!"
'Saki, when you're around people, you really need to learn to not talk out loud to us!'
"Sorry..." Saki pouts.
"Eh?" Chopper looks at her cutely, a question mark above his head.
'Idiot, talk in your head!'
'Right.'
"Are you ok, Assassin-san? You seem...off."
'Dammit, she's already noticed.'
'Damn, she's good. Honestly thought the swordsman would've noticed first.'
"I'm fine, Robin-san! Hey, do you have a Devil Fruit??" Saki asks excitedly and gently places the cute reindeer on the wooden deck.
Robin tilts her head. "Why, yes, I do."
"Really?! What one?!"
Robin smiles at Saki's childish excitement. "The Hana Hana no mi."
"I wanna see!"
Robin crosses her arms into an 'x' formation. "Seis Fleur!" Six arms sprout from the deck of the Going Merry and immediately start to tickle the swordswoman.
Saki laughs at the feathery sensation. "Woah! Hahaha, this is so cool!! Can you sprout any body part?"
Robin nods and ceases the tickling. "Yes."
"Wow!" Saki's eyes sparkle. "You'd be a really good spy!"
Robin chuckles. "Thank you."
"Hmm....or an awesome assassin! Like me!"
Robin's eyes fill with curiosity and suspicion. This swordswoman was an unknown variable. Just who was she? Nico Robin wanted to know. "How did you become an assassin, Saki-san?"
Saki hums. "Well–"
'Saki. Don't tell her. We don't know enough about her, ok? She's trying to get info on us.'
Saki furrows her eyebrows. 'But–'
'No.'
A bead of sweat rolls down her temple. "Um..."
"Join my crew!" Luffy suddenly tackles Saki to the ground.
Saki squeezes her eyes shut, bracing for the impact and horrible outcome for her injuries. Law was not gonna be happy. Nonetheless, she can have fun, can't she? Her wounds don't hurt too much. A little fight wouldn't hurt...
Nami shakes her head. "I'm surprised he held it in for that long...."
Zoro nods his head in agreement and Usopp joins in the brawl between Luffy and Saki. Chopper, thinking it would be fun, joins in, too. Sanji walks off to the kitchen to make the 'lovely angels' some food and drink. Robin chuckles at the lively crew.
"What the hell, Luffy?!" Saki stretches his rubbery cheeks.
"Whatttt? Just join my crew already!" Luffy complains.
"Not now! I was just on my way to Sabaody! Or Ace! Whichever came first!" Saki argues.
Chopper jumps onto Saki's back happily, a rosy blush on his furry cheeks. "Pleaseeeee!"
Usopp hugs Saki's waist. "Yeah! Please!"
"Hey, Saki?" Nami calls out.
"Hm? Yeah?"
"Where's Sabaody?"
"Oh! It's at the end of this half of the Grand Line! The last stop of Paradise....then you go to Fishman Island and then into the New World!" Saki explains surprisingly well while continuing to stretch Luffy's poor cheeks.
"You were on your way to the New World? Without your Captain?!" Luffy exclaims, an annoyed pout on his face.
"...Yeah. I was headed to see Oyaji, ok? I haven't seen him and the crew in....." Saki starts counting on her fingers. "One...two weeks!
'....Woah. Saki did math.'
'What the hell...?'
'She's sick, Phantom.'
"Oi!" Saki says (loudly) suddenly and glares at her sword.
A loud silence follows.
'...Ah, crap.' Nyx curses.
"Uh...Saki?" Nami questions hesitantly.
"Huh?"
Zoro narrows his eyes. "Who...who are you talking to?"
Saki blinks. "Ummm...." she chuckles nervously. "My.....self?"
Robin looks at her curiously.
Zoro stares suspiciously. (It looked that way. He's actually curious and not at all suspicious of his friend. He won't admit it).
Luffy picks his nose.
Chopper looks confused.
Usopp scratches his head.
Nami raises an eyebrow.
And Sanji...well. "Nami-swan!!! Robin-chwan!! Saki-chan!!!! Here are some delicious drinks for you!" He was Sanji.
"I'm not lying! I was talking to myself!" Saki reassures them. "And...my sword..." she mumbles quietly.
"Your what?"
'Welp, no way outta this one.'
'You're not gonna help?!'
'Nope. You're on your own.'
'Asshole.'
'Loudmouth.'
'Bitch.'
'Bastard.'
'Rat.'
'Pig.'
'Cow.'
'Directionally challenged airhead.'
'Bird.'
'Are you just naming animals now?!'
'Yeah.'
'Dumbass.'
"Uh, Saki?" The Straw-Hats sweatdrop at her pissed-off expression.
She blinks and suddenly she's grinning again. "Huh? What did you say?"
Silence.
"Were....you talking to someone?"
Saki looks anywhere but at them, sweat sliding down her face. "No..."
Zoro sighs. "It's so obvious that you're lying."
"Fine!" Saki huffs and crosses her arms. "I have another personality talking constantly in my head! Also, my sword talks!" She drops the bombshell.
"..."
Everyone looks at her shell shocked. (Luffy's too busy trying to do a handstand).
"You....sword....personality?"
Saki nods and waves her hand. "Something like that."
"We....need more of an explanation than that...."
Saki huffs. "I'm Saki. My other personality is Onyx. I call her Nyx. My sword ate the Voice Voice Devil Fruit and now has a consciousness. Since he's a sword with a Devil Fruit, he technically can't drown." She taps the black-bladed sword on her left hip. "His name is Phantom. He can hear the voices in people's heads and can make you hear him if he so desires. Basically, he could talk to me and Chopper at the same time and none of you guys would hear him. Unless he wanted you to."
"So....you have three voices in your head at all times?" Chopper questions.
"Yep!"
"Can we talk to them?!" Luffy surprisingly grasped the explanation quite well.
"You wanna talk to Nyx and Phantom?"
"Yeah!" He grins.
'No.'
Phantom sighs. 'I will....'
Saki hums. "Nyx straight up said no, but Phantom reluctantly and hesitantly said yes."
'Nyx said to tell you all this.'
Everyone lurches in surprise.
'She said, "fuck you."'
Saki grins. "See?" She then frowns. "Nyx! You rude little bit–"
"I can already tell Nyx is the absolute opposite of Saki..." Nami observes, sweatdropping.
Robin chuckles.
'Anyway. That's Nyx's greeting. She's a prick most of the time. Hi, Straw-Hats. I guess it's nice to officially meet you all. I'm Phantom, obviously.'
"Hi, Phantom!!" Luffy waves at him.
'Phantom, relay this message for me.'
Phantom cuts the Straw-Hats off the 'line' so to speak. 'Ok?'
"Phantom and Nyx are talking right now. Anyway, now you know I'm not crazy!" Saki laughs.
'You got it?'
'Yeah.' Phantom speaks up again. 'Nyx told me to tell you guys some stuff. She said, "If you bitches hurt Saki, I'll kill you. If you make her cry, I'll kill you. If you do something suspicious, I'll find out and if I deem you untrustworthy, I'll make Saki leave." So the basic gist is, she'll kill you if you do anything bad to Saki, but she will be your awesome friend if she likes you. You got that?'
Usopp shakes in his boots. "S-Scary..."
Luffy laughs. "Saki is our friend! As if we'd hurt her."
Chopper takes this moment to finally notice the bandages covering Saki's arms, leg, and torso. "Saki? Why are you wrapped up like a mummy?" He asks, eyes wide.
"Huh?" Saki tilts her head. "I helped Tra-chan and nearly died. Nothing major." She waves off his concern.
"YOU NEARLY DIED?!!"
"Hey, can we not leave my boat to drift into the ocean? I kinda have stuff on there..." Saki ignores the panic on the ship that she caused. The only two who weren't freaking out were none other than Zoro, Nami, and the new crew member, Nico Robin.
Robin wordlessly crosses her arms into an 'x' and forms many arms to create a long line to bring Saki's boat closer to the Going Merry.
"Thanks, Robin-san!" Saki grins at her, grateful, and jumps (not without pain) onto her sailboat, grabbing the tether rope and skillfully throws it much like a lasso onto the Going Merry. She leaps back onto the Straw-Hats ship and ties the rope to the back of the Going Merry.
She rejoins the crew on the main deck and the chaos still hadn't died down. Saki sweatdrops as Chopper runs around, tears cascading down his furry cheeks "SAKI IS GONNA DIE!!!! WAHHHHHHHH!!!!"
"Woah, woah, calm down! I'm fine, Chopper!" Saki tries to reassure the reindeer with little success.
Chopper just cries louder while Usopp was screaming, Luffy running around in circles, and Sanji was scream crying. "YOU'RE BLEEDING, AHHHHH!!!!"
Saki looks down at her shoulder. "The stitches just tore, that's all." She starts to feel warm liquid seep out on her thigh. "Oh, shit."
The crew whip their heads towards Saki at her use of a swear word. Robin raises an eyebrow as she doesn't know Saki never swears unless there's a spider or shes in deep shit.
"What?!!!"
"The stitches on my thigh also re-opened. Oopsie?" Saki chuckles awkwardly.
"WE NEED A DOCTOR!!!"
"YOU ARE A DOCTOR!!"
"Oh. Right!" Chopper calms down enough to waddle up to the swordswoman and examine her wounds. "I'll stitch you back up! Come with me!"
Saki nods, smiling at the little, determined reindeer. "Ok!" She looks back towards the crew, waving.
Zoro waves back lazily while the others were already entertaining themselves.
Chopper leads her to his room, otherwise used for the infirmary. "Sit down, please." He gestures towards the bed.
Saki happily hops onto it.
"Where are the stitches?" Chopper struggles up onto the bed for a better angle.
Saki points toward her shoulder and her thigh.
Chopper peels away Saki's sleeve from her shoulder and he gasps.
"What is it?" Saki asks, oblivious.
"That cut is awful! What happened?!" Chopper couldn't tear his gaze from the bloody flesh.
"Oh, that was me. I did that. Awesome, right?"
"No! No, it isn't awesome! How did you do that to yourself?!"
"An old acquaintance has a Devil Fruit and whatever I did to him, happened to me as well. To win the fight I had to push him to the limit and almost kill myself," Saki reminisces.
"That's not good!! You cut far too deep!" Chopper scolds.
Saki frowns, feeling bad. "I'm sorry, Chopper..."
The two stay silent as Chopper disinfects her shoulder and stitches her back up. Gosh, how many times has her shoulder been disinfected and stitched up? Three times? Four times? Saki couldn't remember.
"Be careful!" Chopper reprimands. "No more serious fights! I'll make sure to tell Luffy to not tackle you anymore, too."
He moves onto her thigh and gasps, horrified.
Saki sighs. "What is it?"
"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN, HUH?!!"
"Stabbed," she answers simply.
"Have you seen a doctor, yet?!"
"Yeah. Tra-chan is one of the best."
"I can see his stitching skills are amazing, but what the hell did you do to tear them so easily?! And how the hell did you get it infected?!! Huh?!!" Chopper screams.
"Oh, that was probably because I went for a swim."
"IN THE OCEAN?!!!"
"Yeah."
"DON'T DO THAT!!! THE BACTERIA IN NATURAL WATER SOURCES WILL INFECT YOUR WOUNDS AND TURN OUT TO LOOK LIKE THIS!!!" Chopper points exaggeratedly towards her thigh. Around the torn stitches was swelling, blood, and more pus. Chopper gingerly touches the wound and Saki hisses in pain. "Just as I thought. There's and increase in pain at the site of the wound. It's swelling, bleeding, and there's foul-smelling pus leaking out of it." Chopper puts a hoof to Saki's forehead. "You have a fever, too. Definitely infected."
Chopper busies himself with treating the infected stab wound, applying antibiotic cream, disinfectant, and finally stitching it back up.
"So..." Saki starts. "When can I fight again?"
"In 2 weeks I can remove the stitches. But." Chopper emphasises the but. "You cannot fight immediately after that. The stitches may be able to come out, but that doesn't mean you're all better, ok?"
Saki nods. "Ok."
"I'll set some guidelines for you," Chopper offers. "No lifting any swords with your injured shoulder. No scratching stitches. No re-dressing your wounds without my help. No fights. Nothing that can't strain your body. Ok?"
Saki frowns. "That all sounds so boring. It's exactly what Law said."
Chopper blinks, processing this. "You didn't listen to him, did you?"
"No."
Chopper sweatdrops.
He had his work cut out for him.
~*~
Saki walks back out onto onto the deck with a faint limp, Chopper not far behind her.
"Saki-chan~!!!!" Sanji coos as he tornadoes towards her.
Chopper shifts into his heavy point and stops Sanji in his tracks. "No! Saki is heavily injured! No one is allowed to tackle, fight, or even hug her!!! Ok?!"
Sanji slumps to the ground, depressed while the rest of the crew yells or hums in acknowledgment.
Saki walks slowly towards the Going Merry's railing and gazes toward their destination. The faint outline of an island on the horizon makes Saki tense. There was an ominous aura emitting from that island and Saki didn't like it. No, not one bit.
~*~
Saki had fallen asleep against the railing of the Going Merry. It was dark out, so she must've been asleep for a few hours at most. No one on the crew was in sight.
A shiver rolls down her spine. That dark aura she was feeling before had reared up its ugly head in full force and Saki glares fiercely toward the inky mass of trees before the Going Merry.
Something bad was going to happen.
Or maybe, someone with bad intentions was on this island.
It felt familiar.
And that scared her.
~*~
https://www.quotev.com/RyanDoesChaos had a theory that Saki would be helping Law during the Skypiea arc. Chaos, you owe everyone $20. Luffy was unconscious for 3 days and Saki was gone a day or two before that. So, she had 4-5 days with Law. I was gonna skip Skypiea because Saki is stronger than the crew right now, but I thought if I heavily injured her...she would be handicapped. How fun.
Saki was originally going to meet the Straw-Hats the cliche way. In a bar after some pirate gets annoyed with her and she beats them up, then Luffy wants her to join because she's cool. I went with the uninhabited island instead mostly because my sister said she preferred the island instead of the bar. I realised later that the bar scene was much too cliche and I was glad I went with the island.
https://www.quotev.com/peachyramune writes fucking amazing fanfics. Please please please go read them!! (peachy is my fav author. ily bestie!!)
Both are on quotev :))