East Blue (During Arlong Park)

Akaba held a hand against his chest, tears starting to fall down his cheeks.

Nakaba, he waded through the grievous muck, his brother's grinning face framed in the saccharine light of his mind. Nakaba!

Suddenly, the door opened, and Akaba, startled, quickly dried away his tears. It wasn't, er, good form, to show vulnerability to potential, equal opponents. He coughed, as even more blinding light engulfed him, compelling his eyes into another rusty wince.

"Hm?"

The voice came from a silhouette at the door, one of a thin, but curvy young woman, probably around his own age, and trimly short hair that ended a breath over her shoulders. Akaba suddenly felt himself grow deathly still. There was something just a bit scary about her, particularly as she stepped forward for a closer look.

Sniff. Tangerines, he thought pleasantly.

"You..!" The young woman took a surprised step back, which Akaba would've apologized for, if he was not as unsure of what was going on as he currently was, or who this random minx was, if he was in danger or not, or who was keeping who prisoner. His eyes were still adjusting, which it made it hard to make out all the details on her. "You're.... you're... you're still here..!?"

"I..." Akaba realized he didn't quite know what to say. He was supposed to be the surprised one. Why was she just as lost as him?!

"Those idiots..." The girl brought a finger to her forehead as she lightly fumed. "Of course they forgot about you..."

"I'm sorry, but," Akaba finally managed, "who are you people? What day is it? Where am I, and... my brother... my brother, is he here?"

As a sigh departed his possible captor's lips, his eyes finally adjusted, and the light revealed the young woman's features -- not providing much help to his composure. A gulp echoed from his throat. She was gripping; a tight hourglass figure, with both a mischievous yet self-assured twinkle in her eyes, wearing a plain green tanktop shirt with dark patches scattered across it and a blue, knee-length pair of trousers, capped by a pair of open, heeled sandals. And up top, of course, was a distinctly cute, orange head of hair, which also somehow reflected a certain boyish edge that, at the moment, was in full ****. As were those boobs. Akaba, however, quickly looked away, before he got caught.

"You were shipwrecked," the orange-haired lady began, arms folded as she leaned against a nearby barrel. "We found you stranded at sea, floating in a little boat. We were planing to drop you off on a sea restaurant we stumbled on, and get you some professional aid, or," she swiped the air, "have them house you 'til a real doctor came along. You were out for a long time, you know; we didn't know if you'd wake up." A brief, genuine curl of concern appeared, before quickly fading. "But, well... I guess things got a little hectic..."

Akaba didn't notice the even more somber look on her face as his own gradually swiveled around, looking the room over once again, spotting bags of gunpowder, barrels of fruit, a shiny thing or two. "I see..." His voice was neutral as he suddenly asked, "Are you pirates?"

The girl's eyes suddenly flashed with anger, and Akaba regretted asking the question, even if he didn't know why. "Do I look like a pirate to you? Huh?" She stepped forward again, having pushed away from the barrel. "Well? Buster?" She grabbed the collar of his used button-up shirt. "Do I?"

Now that her face was up close to his own, Akaba could tell just how pretty she really was, and couldn't help a slight blush. Even despite the malicious shadows that colored her eyes.

Akaba was about to stammer out a meek "No," when his hand brushed the surface by the bed and a small clink! followed. The two both looked down, and Akaba instantly sobered.

"Nakaba," he murmured. The two 'N'-shaped earrings lay sprawled below, released from their flimsy bag containment, now just beside the lady's feet.

The orange-haired woman softened her grip on Akaba, remembering his question about another survivor.

Then, standing up, she walked over to the doorway, Akaba trying not to watch too carefully.

"We're going to be landing on an island, soon," she finally clarified, with less eruptive simmer but a still hard-edged tone as she turned to him curtly over a shoulder, "there's people there that that could help you and take care of you. Good people." She paused. "Could you stand?"

"I, er, think..."

"Good," she continued breezily, "then once I dock this ship, I set foot first. There will be a trio of mermen waiting for us."

Akaba froze. "Mermen..? Aren't they like twice as strong as a normal human? And don't they hate us?!"

"Just shut up and listen, alright?" the girl snapped, though not too harshly. "I'm trying to save you here!"

Akaba nodded robotically. The young woman continued, looking somewhat stressed out.

"Once I'm outside, I'll tell 'em that I have somebody who wants to work for Arlong. That someone will be you, and you'll step out and show yourself."

Arlong?! THE Arlong? Akaba was promptly consumed with dread, looking upon his now possible (albeit ****) benefactor in a different light. Just who is this girl?

"You're a famous swordsman who hunts for bounties but now wants to work for the best. But you were injured, and after hearing your love for Arlong with my own ears, I decided to take you in." The girl looked at Akaba cautiously, as if to make sure he wasn't dozing off.

"In addition to that," she continued craftily, "you've found one of the most valuable, beli-asking items on the, ahem, 'black market': a pair of unquestioningly legitimate, mystically cursed earrings, shaped like the letter 'N', after the goddess of mischief herself! And, and that grants you impossible powers, to do whatever you want, give people wedgies, grope women's boobs anytime, anywhere, steal things straight out of people's pockets, things like that!" Her voice grew excited enough that it was almost believable.

Akaba blinked. Was she really making all this up on the fly?

"And you," she went on, "are going to hand over those earrings to them as payment. And trust me, they'll believe you, and that bullshit story. No, not you. Me, they'll believe me, and that bullshit story." She corrected herself with a sigh.

"I--I can't!" Akaba protested, about to explain his sentimental attachment to those placid, ugly earrings, probably, until the girl ignored him.

"And then you'll explain how you need to be treated. They'll take you to a nearby village, where an old grey-haired man will make sure you get looked at. Just," she suddenly had that somber look again, "tell them one thing."

"What?"

"That Nami was the one that attacked you. That you actually wanted to take out Arlong, and I assaulted you before you had the chance. And now Nami -- now I just want you alive, to bring to Arlong for leverage, and maybe even a bonus." Nami, as that was her name, turned back coldly. "I'm sure that'll get them to warm up to you."

"Just--wait a minute," Akaba stammered, swinging his legs over the bed and trying to stand, not feeling all that ill aside from some wooziness, particularly at the current state of affairs, "I have absolutely no clue what's going on here but, let's say I do give the earrings to the mermen, let's say I do get properly checked up at the village... this doesn't exactly sound like the kind of thing I just walk out from!" He drilled his stare into Nami's back. "There's something fishy going on here, isn't there? Er... no pun intended."

Nami just glanced at him one more time. "It's either that, or you staying here on this boat and being turned into fish food. I'll leave it up to you, buster." She was about to close the door, before pausing. "Except, I can't just call you buster all day. What's your name?"

"A...Akaba -- "

"We'll reach land in a couple minutes, Akaba, so get prepared, okay?" And with that, she did close the door this time, leaving him alone with the dust and the wooden panels and miscellaneous supplies.

Akaba, flabbergasted, took another look at the earrings and picked them up from the floor.

Nakaba, he thought, a wrinkle of concern over his brow, what do I do?

His grip tightened. He couldn't just give them away. Sure they looked like cheap knockoffs and would probably be worn by no one reasonable. But they were all he had of his brother's memory, at least for now. His thoughts then turned to the orange-haired lady, and her pretty curves, the one named Nami, and he swallowed. Would it work, though? It was crazy, but for a last minute plan, it was commendable. Even if he didn't know whether he really should trust her.

Akaba looked back at the earrings, as the ship began to slacken.