Chapter Text
(The sky is boringly blue. The only thing I can smell is salt. I haven’t gotten to see ANY of the cool animals from One Piece.)
“Are we thereeeee yet?”
A flying shoe pegs me in the face. I sit up rubbing my nose,
“What was that for?”
All it takes is the welcoming sight of Fizzie’s snarky grin for me to promptly launch myself at her, because what the hell. I get in a good gut punch and shin stomp before I’m getting yanked into the air. Probably by Jay.
(Yep definitely Jay)
I’m dangling from where the back of my shirt collar is scrunched in Jay’s fist (honestly, how my shirts can survive that, I’ll never know. Sometimes I think they hold up better than I do.), my face hanging at her level. Her steel blue eyes glare at me. I stare back at her and widen my eyes to look as innocent as possible.
“You’re choking me,” I tell her sweetly.
Her glare intensifies, and she raises one eyebrow in a diabolical arch.
“I know .” She replies flatly.
It’s a pretty scathing look honestly. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified of Jay sometimes, but just to be a shit, I try and show it as little as possible.
(And at the end of the day I know she’d never really hurt me. Dunk me in the ocean? Sure. In fact, that’s happened several times. But she’d also be the one to fish me back out.)
Right now going for a dip doesn’t sound so bad because I’m so bored. Seriously, we left the crew ages ago! It’s been days sailing around in the ocean on a tiny ship. And as much as I love my sisters, it’s getting taxing.
In One Piece, they always made it seem so fun. Now I realize it’s because the skip almost ALL THE FUCKING SAILING. The only things out here is water, sun, and our little floating piece of wood. NOTHING ELSE. I swear, I might commit murder just for fun. (But everyone on here is family. UGH.. Do you see the issue?)
At least on the Pria, there was the whole crew we could annoy. We had training with Rayleigh. Chores. (Now I know I’m going crazy if I’m missing chores of all things)
Also all the time out here is giving me way too much time to think….
Hence the current situation.
By this point Jay has seemed to realize I was insane (which is fair), and that a reprimand of any kind is useless (also fair), so instead she unceremoniously drops me to the deck (deserved).
From my place on the deck, I pout, “rude!”
Jay snorts and turns away, returning to her post at the steering wheel. Fizzie smirks at me again from her post at the railing. I stick my tongue out at her.
“To answer your question,”
“-for the millionth time-” Fizze interjects.
“We are almost there. We should be reaching Dawn island today actually.” Jay continues, unperturbed.
“Finally!” I throw my upper body over the edge, so my hair brushes the sea. “We’ll be leaving this godforsaken ocean!”
I can feel Fizzie giving me a dry look.
“For someone who claims they want to be a pirate and live freely on the high seas, you seem to be really hating this.”
I sigh at the ocean, leaning over the rim of our small boat, and am immediately greeted with a facefull of sea spray. I reel backwards, cursing the salt-licked air, and return my gaze to my oh-so-lovely sisters.
From her place at the wheel, Jay scrutinizingly peers over her shoulder at me “Now that you mention it, you never had this much trouble when we were back on the Pria.”
I look out at the sea.
“What pretty birds,” I marvel.
“Oooohhh. So now you find them interesting,” Fizzie huffs. “Why won’t you just own up to the fact-”
“Enough, Fiz,” Jay commands, which promptly shuts her up.
I’m glad for her intervention, but part of me also wants to scream at the implication that I’m that easy to read. (This is something I’d want to keep private). The rail of the boat digs into my shoulderblades.
“What’s the first thing you want to do when we arrive in Foosha Village?” Jay asks, delicately prying me away from my musings.
At that, Fizzie brightens up, and proclaims “Books! I want to see if I can trade any of my current collection for some new ones for cheap.”
A chuckle escapes me.
“I wanna eat! That crocodile meat always looked soooo good~”
Jay joins my laughter, a bright, cheerful, and barking laugh that seems to bounce off the water.
“What do you mean crocodile?!” Fizzie cries, hopelessly lost.
“Those boys always do make it look like a top tier feast. I wonder if we’re strong enough to hunt it now?” Jay mutters, completely bulldozing over Fizzie’s sputtering protests.
“Are you kidding? With Rayleigh’s training we'll definitely be able to give them a run for their money!”
“HOW STRONG ARE THESE THINGS?!?!!” Fizzie squawks.
~~~
The coast of Dawn Island pulls into view along the horizon ahead. I can almost feel the burning chaos emanating from the coast.
“Stop bouncing around,” Jay orders. “You’re rocking the whole ship.”
“It’s not their fault,” (which is surprisingly nice coming from Fizzie) “They can’t help themselves.”
“You’re right,” Jay chuckles. “I shouldn’t expect anything less at this point.”
“Hey!” I jab an accusatory finger in her direction. “You’re not both allowed to gang up on me!”
“Did you hear something Jay?” Fizzie questions, pointedly staring right at me.
“Nope. Nothing at all.” Jay replies, still grinning.
“Hey!”
By the time our ship pulls into harbor, Jay’s hair is a wild mess, Fizzie lost her glasses somewhere, and I’ve been exiled to the only cabin on the ship. The thud of the ship brushing against the peer is my only hint that we’ve landed.
“Hey, Keys-”
But I’m already bursting through the door. Or I try to. I hit something.
“Oouch!”
(Someone,) I correct.
“Sorry!” I yell over my shoulder as I jump over the ship railing and onto the pier.
I catch a glimpse of Jay tying our ship to the dock as I race into town.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jay calls after me, I can only imagine the confused look on her face right now.
“FREEEDOM!” I holler.
I’m almost tempted to turn around and admire the chaos I’ve left behind, before a shout has me racing away even faster.
“KEYS! When I catch you, I’m gonna-”
The rest of that vile threat is lost to the wind, but I know Fizzie will be hot on my tail.
I only have the vaguest sense of where I’m going. The whole town gives me this weird feeling of déjà vu. These are all buildings I’ve seen before, years ago, but never in person. The little things like actually seeing people living here. Feeling the ground under my feet. The sounds of the village. It makes it all feel real. But part of me can’t stop thinking of this place as fiction. As-
“No running young lady!” A short old man with a cane scolds me.
(Holy shit. Is the Mayor Woodslap?!)
“I’m not a girl!”
“Oh,” the old man looks slightly baffled but completely apologetic, “Huh?”
“I got you now!” Is the only warning I have before I’m tackled to the floor. Luckily, I’ve learned to take my falls, so I curl into the fall. Avoiding breaking my nose against the dirt and instead just getting an unwanted introduction to the crumbling texture of the sunbaked earth.
The dirt tickles my nose as Fizzie pushes my head into the floor, the dirt ground is warm, compacted under years of footsteps. I grab a handful of the stuff (which dissolves under my touch into a fine powdered mist) and throw it behind me.
“Urghsplhe- yuck!” she screeches, letting go of her hold.
I throw myself upwards, bucking her off my back.
“It was a mistake not to pin my arms!” I gloat.
But my triumph is short lived as I see Jay stalk around the corner and onto our street. (Uh oh) Her face is a murderous thunderstorm.
“Time to run.”
“What?” Fizzie turns, following my gaze, confused by my sudden retreat and unaware of our impending doom.“Oh no.”
The realization hits Fizzie a moment later as I abandon her and I book it farther down the road. But I only make it a few steps before a hand clamps around my shoulder, rooting me in place.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Bathroom?” I squeak, my voice high enough to shatter glass.
“I don’t think so.”
There’s no getting out of this one peacefully, time to play dirty. Jay hates it when we make a ruckus in a new town. Unfortunately, I had done so spectacularly.
Twisting out of her grip, I spin into a low crouch, and sweep my leg out in front of me, hoping to catch her off guard. I do not. Before I can get out of the way, Jay is upon me reaching down and- abruptly cries out. (What?) A rock the size of a paperweight drops to the ground by our feet.
“Temporary truce for the greater good?” Fizzie offers me, a new pebble already in her grasp.
“Absolutely.” I confirm, launching forward with a feral grin.
I extend my arms, hoping to grasp around Jay’s middle, holding her in place would be ideal but even just slowing her down enough for Fizzie to take another shot would be great. My arms lock tight around Jay’s waist, she’s too close to avoid it. But instead of pushing back like I expect, Jay’s weight gives out underneath me. I feel Jay tuck into a roll and next thing I know the wind is brushing against my face.
(Damn, my hold must’ve split.)
Thwack.
“Oww-”
Thud.
The wind gets knocked out of me with a solid thud as I hit the compact dirt of the road, a large pebble jammed painful against my shoulder blade, Jay’s palm holding me down.
(Fuck, Jay used me as a shield against Fizzie’s shot)
My left shoulder throbs from the earlier impact. But before I know it, Jay’s weight vanishes from on top of me. I momentarily relish in the release before I realize what that means.
“Shit!”
I struggle to my feet to see Jay is indeed rushing at Fizzie, who scrambles into a defensive stance. Jay is on her before I can close the distance, and while I know Fizzie is a better fighter than most, close quarters combat isn’t her speciality. And against Jay…
Jay pummels Fizzie with a flurry of rapid strikes, even though Jay’s only using half power, Fizzie’s guard trembles under each impact. But with Jay’s back towards me, I seize the opportunity to throw Jay off guard. Instead of flying at her open back, I slow my approach, planting a palm against the earth and sliding into a turning kick. I target Jay’s strong stance, hoping to get her off balance and create an opening for Fizzie.
However, Jay seems to sense my intentions, because she leaps up. Using my shoulder as a springboard to flip over me, planting a kick in Fizzie’s chin as she does. I immediately roll out of the way before Jay even has the chance to land, avoiding the kick that crashes down against the road where I was moments before.
Jay's foot lands heavy against the dirt leaving her slightly vulnerable. I pounce.
This time, I take to the air. Lunging forward to bring my punch down with bruising force. But instead of dodging like usual, Jay accepts the blow. My punch hits solidly against her sternum, but she twists to the side just enough that the force of my strike carries me forward. She grasps my arm, one hand coiled tightly around my wrist the other curls around my bicep.
“Game, set, match,” Jay coos.
And with that, I’m slammed into the road for the third time that day. Before I get the chance to recover, a second body crashes on top of me.
“This was a terrible idea.” I mutter glumly from my spot flush against the earth.
“It wasn’t my fault.” Fizzie huffs into my ear.
The breath rushes out of me once more as the weight on top of me increases. Jay’s dangling feet smacks my forearm. The bugger is sitting on us! (the indignity! My ancestors must be screaming in shame.)
“This is what you numbskulls get for causing trouble in town. I’ve told you multiple times not to do this. While we’re on the ship, it’s one thing, but down here we have a responsibility to other people…”
Jay launches into a giant lecture, I allow myself to tune it out for the most part. But I caught something about leaving her to pay the docking fee by herself. I chuckle to myself softly.
(She never did grow out of this habit from our childhood.)
“And if you two were listening,” Jay's exasperated voice is punctuated by two playful prodding the blunt edge of her sword sheath against the back of our heads. “This wouldn’t have been a problem in the first place. You both-”
Jay pauses mid lecture, something that never happens. I twist my head to the left, where I feel a new presence.
From the porch of the establishment, a young boy, who looks about six peers out at us in a mix of shock and awe. I would know that mug anywhere. It’s much younger than the one that will cover the world in a few years and is missing his trademark scar, but there’s no mistaking it.
“No way.” I gasp in awe.
“What are the odds you two idiots would lead us right to Party’s Bar.” Jay mutters.
“Who are you?!” Little Luffy questions, he puffs out his chest and crosses his arms in an attempt to look intimidating, but the quiver in his voice gives him away.
I snicker.
A forced cough pulls us in the other direction.
“I’ve been meaning to ask the same thing.” Mayor Woodslap scolds. “I don’t take kindly to strangers making a mess of my town.”
Somehow the old man is waaayyyy scarier.
“I apologize on behalf of my sisters. I’ve been trying to get them to understand how rude this sort of thing is.” Jay gets off a very professional bow considering she’s still perched on top of her two prone sisters.
(The asshole.) But I know better than to protest about it when the lecture has already ended. She’ll be getting up soon enough.
“So I can see.” Woodslap mutters dryly.
(From the twinkle in his eye, I can tell he secretly finds our antics amusing.)
“So where are your parents?”
At his question, a part of me shuts off. I look away and I hear Jay’s tone of voice get darker.
“We’re traveling by ourselves. And we are fully capable of taking care of ourselves.”
“So I can tell.” A new voice drawls, approaching us from the direction of the docks. “I didn’t expect to be greeted with such a lovely show at my first stop at this island. But I like it already.”
“Of course you would.” The man next to him grumbles.
I smile wickedly at the discovery.
“Sup bitches.” I greet meerily.
“You’re shorter than I expected.” Jay muses, still posed languidly on our pile.