Fandom {We Are!! One Piece 1x1}

[AwkwardSilence]

Julia winced at the sound of the gunshot. Yeah... she had thought it might end like that. After all, they were acting on fairly pleasant terms, but with the way they were talking.... well, let's just say Julia knew when there was something that wasn't being said, underlying pretty words. Not often could she pick up on it, but in that instance? She heard it loud and clear... the sound of a man who was ready to be done.

The brunette continued to walk through the desert as the sun had officially sunk behind them, Luffy panting and asking about water as the air got a little chillier. Nami shrugged her hooded cape around her more, and Vivi stared at the city that was on the horizon...

"Is this Yuba...? Have we made it?" Usopp panted, looking on with Zoro as he was out of breath from having run as far as they had. Sanji looked forward, pulling himself out of his sulking long enough in order to observe the town that stretched out before them. Something... wasn't exactly quite right, and it certainly didn't take a genius to figure it out. He lit a new cigarette, taking a long drag as he sighed, before shaking his head and continuing forward. Regardless of whatever had become of the Oasis in Yuba, they had to speak to the Rebel Army. It was the only way they were ever going to get this whole Civil War nonsense taken care of--and he hoped it was done with soon, for Vivi's sake.
"No, this can't be...!" Vivi gasped lightly, her hands coming up to her mouth in shock at the state of the city.

"It's been hit by a sandstorm..." Nami lamented, her eyebrows furrowing as her gaze swept across the ghost town.

"It looks kind of like Eramalu..." Chopper agreed, all mourning for the oasis that Vivi had said Yuba was supposed to be. It was a tragedy, that their country was put under so much stress and misfortune, and all because of one man--this was Crocodile's fault. The sandstorms and the signature dry, stale air was a result of his Sand Sand powers, no doubt.

"Does that mean there isn't any water??" Luffy asked, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted lightly.

"I'm sorry, folks... but there isn't a whole lot of water since the storms have been filling in the wells..!" A voice sounded from nearby, the distinct sound of shoveling echoing around them. As they all appeared at the lip of a hole, they found a single old man in the center, slowly shoveling a new well, as it seemed. "But this place... Yuba is still alive! It will not be defeated by something this petty. Even though the storms are constant... even though there is no rain, Yuba's dreams and its people will not disappear." Vivi hung her head. It was all too much. Sanji placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort as the old man continued to speak. "Some of the inns are full, inhabited by some traveling group, but you're more than welcome to use another one! Yuba has plenty of accommodations for her travelers."

"We're just looking for the rebel army," Usopp pointed out, somehow being the one to bring everyone back on track. "Do you know where they are?"

"DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE COME TO JOIN THOSE FOOLS!" The old man suddenly raged, throwing buckets and digging equipment at the group that they had to dodge before he let out a heavy sigh. "If you're looking to join that group of idiots, then you'll need to do so elsewhere. It's true that Yuba used to house their headquarters, but since the supply has been cut off they've moved their head quarters to Katorea."

"No!" Vivi visibly paled.

"Katorea... but that's... back by Eramalu... it's where Eyelash rescued me and brought me back to you guys!" Chopper gasped, and the whole group paled.

"Vivi... what are we going to do?" Nami asked, her eyebrows furrowing in concern as the princess tried to think. However, this utterance didn't go unheard of by the old man.

"Vivi..." he spoke softly, his voice hoarse and shaky as he approached them all slowly. "Could it... really be you...? You're alive?"

"Woah hold on, she's definitely not a princess or anything!!" Luffy tried to cover up, but Julia smacked him in annoyance, it was already far too late for that.

"I-I know you might not recognize me, I certainly have lost some weight since you last saw me...!" The old man spoke, and as he did, Vivi's eyes began to water. "It's me, Toto! Though the others may have lost faith in our King, I would never! The King is a generous, benevolent ruler. He would never betray his country, I can assure you of that!" He began to cry, sinking to his knees. "I have faith in this country, and its rulers...!"

Vivi smiled sweetly, and Julia raised an eyebrow. How was she not crying? Even the brunette felt her eyes mist slightly, but she bit her lip and turned away. This wasn't a conversation she felt like she should join in on. Instead, she sighed and turned out to step a little bit away from the group, crossing her arms under her chest as she looked over the seemingly-empty town as multiple thoughts ran through her head. One thing was certain however, and her gaze darkened at the thought. Crocodile truly was a monster.

 

[KayWyn]

"Looks like we came all this way only to end up back at square one." Nami muttered, scanning the area. She heaved a sigh, fingers raking through her hair as she shook her head. "Well, more like we moved further away from our goal -- yeah, that sounds more accurate."

"Not much else to do other than prepare for the trek back," Zoro shrugged. "What else is there to do?"

It was a figure in the distance that caught Zoro's attention -- it was a man, too far, as well as dark, to make out any details. It appeared that he had been making his way towards one of the only buildings with lights on before hearing their commotion and stopping to look on. His brow arched when the figure began to approach, and, when he drew closer, Zoro resisted the urge to groan. It was him.

The man in question grinned as he neared, a hand coming up to adjust the hat on his head. "Well!" He called, still a decent ways away. "Fancy meetin' you lot here!" He gave a bark of laughter as he stopped a few feet shy of them. "Take it you're just rollin' in? We've been here for more than a couple 'a hours now." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, and, quite a ways back, was the lone building with the lights still on. He glanced over his shoulder and back to said building before looking to them. "We're planning on settin' out in the mornin' to that fancy town -- the one with a...a casino or somethin'? Wasn't quite payin' attention, only caught that." Allen started to step back, hands pushed into his pockets. "Now, I'd love to stay an' chat, but I've still got work to do." He brought two fingers up in a mock salute and gave a wink directed towards one blue-eyed girl in particular before turning and walking back the way he came from.

"We can go over there once we've put our own things down." Nami was quick to catch Luffy by the collar, yanking him back towards them when he went to tail him. "I doubt they'll be disappearing tonight."

"You don't know that!" Luffy pointed a finger straight at Allen's back, now a decent ways away. "He's a magic-shen." He spoke the title with the wide eyed wonder of a child that caused Nami to sigh.

"I think you mean magician, Luffy." Usopp interjected.

"Yeah, that."

It took a few moments before Toto had directed them to another inn, and another few to get beyond their idle bickering among each other to get everything situated. A few pillows were thrown. It was all par for the course at this point.

"Alright, I'm going to go see what they're doing," Nami stated, already making her way to the door. Luffy was surprisingly absent, having wandered outside moments before. "I'm curious why they'd come here of all places. I doubt they'll be getting much out of this."

Vivi perked up as well, standing to follow after their navigator. "I'll come along -- I'd like to speak with Serogi again. Is anyone else coming?"

"C'mon, Zoro."

"Wha -- why the hell do I have to!?" Zoro sat up, eyebrows knit together in annoyance and shock. Nami hardly regarded him as she checked her nails with more interest.

"Because I said, now get moving."

Grumbling to himself, he already knew what a lost cause it was to refuse. While he could, and there'd be little she could do to move him, he was certain she'd get back at him for it. It'd be better to just go along for now and deal with it. Standing up, Zoro trudged after them, and made sure to make his mood apparent. This did nothing to deter Nami, but Vivi did give an apologetic smile. Didn't make up for the sleep he was missing out on, or the fact he was going to have to go deal with him again. He still wasn't sure what it was about Allen, but he just had trouble dealing with the guy; just something about him annoyed the ever loving hell out of him.

Nami, no longer waiting for anyone to tag along, pushed open the door. Vivi was quick to follow after while Zoro begrudgingly did the same. "Cynil should be there too, right?" Vivi asked, though it was more an attempt at making conversation. While the two inns were near, there still was a decent walk before they'd reach it.

"She should be -- unless they left her behind or something." Nami shrugged with a dismissive wave.

"Oh, I doubt they'd do that."

And this continued until they reached the inn that they were staying at. There was a large carriage to the side of the building; there, too, a light was on from the inside. Nami reached for the door handle of the building, but Vivi quickly grabbed her shoulder with a nervous look. "S-shouldn't we knock first?" She asked.

Nami arched a brow. "Why? It's an inn, I doubt they expect anyone to knock."

"I doubt they're really expecting anyone."

Nami rolled her eyes as she twisted the handle. "I'm sure he told them we'd probably show up." She said, pushing the door open.


Cynil's body jolted in panic. Her hands flew up, colliding with her face and palms covering her eyes. The slap sound that came from it was loud -- extremely loud, but it worked. She was awake. That was far more important than anything else. She allowed her head to drop, cheek pressing into the cold wood of the table as her arms extended over her head. Heidi rolled her eyes at the high pitched whine Cynil let out.

"Just go to sleep already!" She exclaimed, pointing a finger at her. "Your pride is killing the two of you!"

She managed to push herself onto her elbows, not even finding the energy to adopt her suave smile and confident tone. "But then he'll win." Her voice mirrored the tiredness so blatantly evident on her face. "And besides, I've already gone this long --" Cynil was cut off by a rather lengthy yawn, now fully leaning back into her chair. "-- what's a few more days?"

"You and Krenn are absolutely absurd."

 

[AwkwardSilence]

The wink. It completely sent her soul, her spirit, off of the physical plane. Julia waved at Allen as he walked off, unable to keep the grin from playing upon her lips. Of course they'd be here! She was so excited. In face, she was already out the door before Nami and Vivi enlisted Zoro to come with them. "I'm so glad they made it to Yuba safely," the female grinned, practically skipping.

"Oh yeah? You seemed to get real friendly with that Allen guy before we left," Nami couldn't help but grin--after all, girl talk and girl gossip on a pirate ship that was mostly guys wasn't something that happened often, and with Vivi in the mix? She would take any and all opportunities she got. Zoro was just unfortunate enough to be dragged along with them.

"So what...?" Julia grinned at Nami's teasing, Vivi offering a small giggle of her own before they appeared at the inn. As Nami and Vivi discussed whether or not they would knock, the brunette's eyes turned to their green haired companion, and she grinned widely, a mischievous smirk overtaking her features. She didn't know why he was so grumpy, but she, for one, was very excited to meet up with the traveling troupe once more. Looking past Zoro, her smile fell to a contemplative look, as she spotted a familiar blonde, smoking as he gazed out into the desert. They had walked past Sanji and he hadn't once called out to them or anything? Weird... she hoped he was doing alright.

Of course, once inside the inn, the first thing Julia did was look for Allen. He'd taken along a piece of her heart with him, after all. It might have been some silly school girl crush, but she bounded up to him with a grin, trying to contain her excitement as she smirked. "Well, howdy there, cowboy," her smile was rather contagious. "When I saw you walk up to us outside I just about thought I'd died and ascended."

------------

"Sanji..." Luffy called to him, but his brain was elsewhere. The Strawhatted pirate looked to their lying sniper for help. "Usopp, that's the third time I've called to him, do you think he's okay?"

Usopp, however, could only roll his eyes at the reaction. "I don't know what's wrong with him--I thought he'd be jumping at the chance to see Cynil again, considering how annoyingly mopey he was about her leaving in the first place." Sanji felt a vein pop on his clenched fist but he tried to continue to ignore them and enjoy the peace of the night. That wasn't meant to be, however, as they continued to speak.

"Wha... you..." Luffy gulped audibly. "You don't suppose he's dead, right...?! He could be a ghost!!"

"I'm not dead, you moron!" Sanji growled loudly, but Luffy only freaked out more, thinking Sanji's ghost was having trouble passing on. As if! He rolled his eyes, quite done with this whole thing. Putting out his cigarette, the male turned and shoved his hands under his arms underneath his cloak, the desert nights were cold and he was beginning to feel the wind seep through his layers as Chopper waddled up to him.

"Don't you want to see Cynil, Sanji?" Chopper tilted his head, confusion written on his face plain as day.

"Of course I do, but I don't want to bother her while she's with her friends," Sanji sighed. His heart tugged him towards the inn where the troupe was currently occupying, but it was also true that he didn't want to get in the way. It was rather circumstancial how they had met in the first place, and with her being gone from their crew, even for the shortest time, Sanji allowed himself to reflect on the girl's situation. She was so incredibly strong... he couldn't even begin to properly describe his admiration for her. And yet, he somehow felt like her joining their crew was just a means to an end. If Cynil enjoyed her troupe more than their crew, Sanji really didn't want to pressure her into coming back--that would have been wrong, even if it took every ounce of self-restraint that he had not to run and throw himself at her feet.

Chopper looked up at Sanji's face, tilting his head the opposite way before chuckling to himself. The way the cook was so seriously lost in thought... he must really care! "Well, I wanna go see her... but I'm scared to go alone. Will you go with me?"

His dark eyes turned down to the blue-nosed reindeer, and he sighed, a small smile appearing on his face as he nodded. "Sure, Tony. I'll go with you." And like that, he let the little reindeer lead the way over to the other inn.

"Cynil!!!" Chopper cried out loudly, running up to her and hopping excitedly (not unlike a child) once he found her. "I missed you! Sanji did too, he cried. A lot."

"I-I most certainly did not," the male coughed into his hand, attempting to remain calm and collected as he nodded to Cynil's companion before turning his gaze back to her. She looked the same as she had when they'd parted, if not... distinctly more tired. "Are... are you doing alright?"

 

[KayWyn]

Zoro cringed internally as he listened to them. Normally he could ignore most of what they talked about, but this just made him wonder what the hell went on in their heads. Well, on second thought, he was just fine not knowing -- yeah, that was probably for the best. Finding a place to sit, he decided he could at least nod off until someone woke him for their trip back.

Allen gave a laugh, wry grin etched onto his face. "Now let's not go dyin' -- that'd ruin the fun of it all." He chuckled. He walked back to a table where Teret and Krenn sat. "We were just playin' a game of cards," He sat back into his chair. "Want in? Just a simple game, though we're making bets. Ain't no fun unless somethin's on the line, after all."

"Still not playing." Krenn said, rolling his eyes.

"You two should really crash already." Teret shook his head. "The two of you haven't slept since she came back."

Krenn merely gave a dismissive wave, which Teret shrugged off. He pushed the deck of cards within Allen's reach, who took to shuffling them in his special, exaggerated way. "No cheating, Allen." Teret warned, eyeing the magician critically. Allen smiled, flicking his hat back before he continued to shuffle the cards.

"Now I have no earthly idea why you'd think of me in such a way," Allen laughed. "Besides, if I wanted to cheat, none of you would catch me."

Krenn raised a finger. "Cynil could."

"That's 'cause that girl's inhuman."

"Yep." He agreed. "It's unbelievable how one girl can be so annoying."


*~*~*~*~*~*

"Cynil." Heidi said when she didn't seem to process that two people had not only approached, but that they were speaking directly to her. Except not even her words seemed to reach through. Heidi gave a huff, jabbing her index finger harshly into Cynil's shoulder. "Cynil!"

Said girl's head slowly pivoted to regard the red head with a questioning look. All she did was point the offending finger to her side, and, when she followed it, found two familiar faces standing there. Cynil blinked, looking between the two. "Hi." Was all the words she could muster. She opened her mouth to continue speaking, but found nothing else -- normally she was able to come up with something on the spot, but that talent evaded her in this moment. She looked back to Heidi. "I can't think of anything to say."

"You're an idiot." She said before regarding the two herself. "She's not been to sleep in awhile so she's kinda out of it."

"Oh," Chopper smiled. "How long?" It was a question more out of curiosity; everyone had their moments of staying up!

"When she was with you guys."

Except that wasn't something most people did. Chopper's expression shifted to horror immediately. He looked up at the dark haired woman who looked ready to crash at any moment. "You should go to sleep."

"That's what we keep telling them!" Heidi jabbed Cynil's shoulder again, only earning a whiny "oooww" from it. "But they don't listen!"

"Too busy winning."

Noting the curious look the small...boy...thing gave her, she rolled her eyes even harder. "Her and that idiot over there --" She pointed towards Krenn on the other side of the room, leaned back in his chair in a similar state of misery as Cynil. "-- made a bet who could stay awake the longest." She crossed her arms. "At this point I should just get Shri to knock your dumb ass out cold." Before the words were fully spoken, Krenn interjected.

"Don't you dare!" His voice hollered without looking over at them.

"We'd have to start over." Cynil added.

Heidi gave an undignified groan. "You know, I expected this from Cynil, but you too?!" She snapped back at Krenn. He only gave a disgruntled noise and a half-hearted hand gesture in reply. "Whatever, I guess you two are finishing up where we left off? Cause I'm going to sleep, and I'm pretty sure Millicent already is." Heidi stared walking off, leaving Cynil standing there. She looked back to the red head before to the two again.

"...So..." Was all Cynil was able to muster. Any other time, she'd be practically breathing charm and witty one-liners, but now? Now it was hard to even find out whether or not she was supposed to have walked off with Heidi or not. She might have, just to torment the girl some more, but completely forgot to follow. Perhaps she did need to sleep.

Not that she was going.

 

[AwkwardSilence]

Jules loved his laugh, and it had her beaming from ear to ear. Nami, however, nearly smacked her out of the way at the idea of cards and bets. "Are you betting... MONEY?" She asked, giggling as innocently as she could with that money grubbing face of hers. Now, Julia could read money, and numbers, and cards, but that didn't mean she really had the brain capacity for them.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to turn you down on this one--I know when I'd get my ass kicked," Julia grinned, pointing towards Nami as she buzzed eagerly. Looking back at Zoro, a mischievous grin appeared on her features. "Cards against Zoro? I'd probably win, but not Nami." Why did she love teasing him so much? Maybe it was the way that he got mad--his ears would tint and he'd growl enough to intimidate a lion, but she just found it... fun.
"Looks like you guys got here without too much trouble--that's good," she nodded, seeing as to how they had moved in well to the oasis' inn. She was curious, though, as to how they had gotten there before them. Although, on second thought they were allowed to travel the frequently-crossed paths of Alabasta, and weren't fugitives trying to be hidden from sight. The thought made her sigh. Imagine how much they could get done if they weren't constantly being chased around all the time? She shook her head with a sigh. It was a thought too good to be true, considering it would never have happened. Not in a world where Luffy was their captain.
"I don't wanna play, but that doesn't mean I won't cheer you on," she grinned, her gaze turning back to Allen as she winked at the male. "Are you guys going to Rainbase to perform?"
"I feel as though it is my duty to warn you," Vivi was speaking to the person who looked the most in charge of the group, with Serogi not currently around. "We're going to Rainbase to take down Crocodile. I doubt it will be easy, but we might be causing quite a ruckus. I'd hate it if you were all dragged into this mess as well." She, of course, hadn't forgotten about her promise to allow them special access to perform in Alabasta, and the pay that she had promised them. Of course, once everything with the Rebels and Crocodile was settled.
Julia had the look of 'press f to doubt' when Allen spoke of how annoying Cynil was, before her gaze turned over towards the rest of the troupe. "Speaking of the devil, is she around? I miss traveling with her." It was true, they'd formed a bond on Little Garden, and Julia had been starting to miss her partner in crime. If Nami and Vivi were close, then Julia and Cynil had a similar bond. Plus, Cyn had promised to teach her how to read, and she had... actually been looking forward to that.

-----------

Sanji watched in mild concern as Cynil admitted to not having slept for a very long time. "A woman needs her beauty rest--of course that doesn't mean it detracts from your beauty--" he'd never backpedaled so fast in his entire life. "But! You should listen to the doctor, Chopper's right, you need to sleep."
When Heidi clarified the conditions of Cynil and Krenn, Sanji rose an inquisitive eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, is the winner of this bet awarded?" the cook asked, his fingers twitching slightly. He needed a smoke.
"It doesn't matter," Chopper was arguing, shaking his head fervently. "No bet is worth losing so much sleep over! I don't care if you're human, animal, or some sort of monster, everyone needs their proper amount of sleep! For a woman roughly your age and height that means at least 7 hours of rest, 5 of that being REM sleep." As he prattled off about the benefits of sleeping well, Sanji crossed his arms and nodded behind him, like his silent hype man.
Of course he was concerned for Cynil--he was concerned for all of the women, correct? Vivi was in so much distress over her country, Nami was worried enough for the both of them though she tried to hide it, and Julia was... well, Julia, but that was something to be admired. With Cynil, he hadn't seen her in so long, and to find out that she hadn't slept? Well, it might not have seemed like a big deal to anyone else, but Sanji was slightly worried. Especially considering how tired she both looked/sounded. She was missing that oozing charm that dripped from her voice like honey.
"So..." Sanji's fingers found his pack of smokes in his pocket, but he ignored them as he gave Cynil a pointed look. "You're going to sleep, right?"
Chopper had since scurried to grab his med pack, and he uncorked a small vile with some crushed flowers in it. "Lavendar and Chamomile!" he called out as he reached up to wave it in front of Cyn's face. "Go to beeeeeed! Go to bEEED!" The young doctor danced around her, and Sanji couldn't help but chuckle at the display.
"He's right, you know. I don't know what you bet on, but you should really get some rest. Especially if we're all going to Rainbase in the morning."

 

[KayWyn]

Allen felt a burst of laughter at the "new" arrival. "Yeah, money's bein' bet," He nodded. "Though, not just it -- if we decide it matches the value, anythin' applies." He motioned to the other side of the table, to which the orange haired woman quickly sat. Her eyes gleamed, and Allen couldn't help but smile back in his own, mischief filled way.

"I don't know how good your friend is, but Allen -- " Teret jabbed a thumb at the hat-wearing magician. "-- made a living by clearing out tables at card games. Doesn't help his damn devil fruit lets him mess with what you see, so it's almost impossible to know if he's up to something."

Zoro, having only been vaguely listening in, caught Julia's comment. An idle jab at him, but one that caused his head to whip around and frown at her, eyebrows narrowing. His arms crossed over his chest as he gave a snort. "I doubt it." He replied. He doubted he was all that great, but that was due to a lack of actually playing the game. If it was about hiding your expression and reading your opponent, as he had heard it described many times, he imagined he'd get the hang of it quickly. How different could it be from what he did in battle? Though, with that thought process, why weren't other warriors savants of the game?

It wasn't worth overthinking.

"No need to worry about us and getting into any trouble," Teret gave a friendly smile to the blue haired princess. "We've dealt with our fair share of risky trouble, and Serogi's forte is dealing with governments and shady organizations." He gave a hum, eyeing his cards and glancing to the other two seated at the table. "I don't really know much about what he did, other than it's got him a hell of a lot of contacts and he has a bunch of favors he can call in."

"Cynil?" Allen asked, scratching his cheek. He twisted in his chair, motioning to a wide open door. "Think I saw her through there? Heidi was with her, and she just came through. Also think I saw two of yours go to her."

*~*~*~*

What was the winner rewarded? Cynil paused, only able to muster up a half-hearted shrug. They hadn't gotten that far; in fact, there wasn't an award to name...

...Bragging rights? Yeah, that sounded about right.

She had hardly been able to keep up with much of the conversation after that; Chopper had gone into great and passionate depth over her sleep time, and she had lost him roughly five words in. She heard his voice, but managed to process none of what he was saying. Definitely looked convicted enough that, if she had been listening, she may have actually...well, actually listened. Alas, no such luck. Finally, it was the cut in of another voice that forced her mind to catch on.

Cynil only blinked, staring up at the blond for a long pause.

"Nah." She shrugged.

Chopper returned at her feet, some sort of...concoction of his own making in hand. Her head jerked back, frowning down at him. She stepped back, giving a wave as if shooing away a child. "No." Was all she said. "Stop that. I'm beating him."

Frankly, she never truly felt like a competitive person. She wasn't, not really -- she didn't care about winning, far from it. No, all she wanted was to make sure that Krenn lost. Since none of the others were involved, that meant that she'd bite the bullet and suffer through just to make sure he didn't win.

She'd be damned if she just let them throw all of her work out the window.

Spinning on her heel, Cynil started to trail off. To where? She wasn't sure, she'd find out along the way. "Wait!" She heard Chopper call out, the sound of him following behind her apparent. "You can't keep this up! It's ridiculous!" Cynil's response was a low hum, the only acknowledgment that she'd even heard him. To her, their worries were unfounded. It wasn't like Krenn could go on much longer anyway, so she was bound to sleep sometime soon.

Hopefully.

She knew Krenn could be just as stubborn as she could when it came to their little "bets".

 

[AwkwardSilence]

Nami was, of course, anywhere where berries were, so it was only a matter of time before had joined their table in her eager, money-grubbing ways. Julia could only sigh and shake her head at the female, their navigator’s greed never ceasing to amaze her. A part of her wanted to go look for Cynil but knowing that others were with her deterred her. After all, there was no need to crowd the poor girl. They hadn’t known her for very long, but Julia was observant enough to recognize that the dark-haired beauty appreciated her space and did not desire to be coddled. She’d see her later, probably. Right? After all, Cynil had promised the brunette to help teach her how to read.
Julia could only read numbers. She had absolutely no desire to tell anyone else on the crew, lest they never let her live it down, and she be teased for the rest of her existence. Granted, were the rest of the Strawhats really ones to make fun of her like that? Not really, but that didn’t stop her from having such an irrational fear.
After her teasing, Zoro’s grumbling had Julia turning her head to the swordsman, a wide and devilish smirk playing upon her lips. “Oh really? You think you could beat me? I’m sure you’d just love to owe me more favors~” she teased, raising an eyebrow at the male.
”Just shut up and play already!!” a very happy Nami grinned, her words failing to be hostile as she happily rearranged her cards to her advantage, before she observed Serogi’s people as they sat around the table. She was determined to leave here at least with more berries than when she arrived.
”Are you sure…?” Despite Teret’s smile, and all of the carnival-goers’ easy-going/laid-back attitudes, Vivi didn’t seem very convinced. The last thing she wanted was to drag anyone else into her mess. It was already hard enough to let Luffy and the other Strawhats throw their lives on the line for both her and her people. The less involved, the better, in the princesses’ eyes. Still, it didn’t seem that they were going to back down from their word and the princess could only sigh, and nod. “Alright, well, I wish you all the best and I’ll pray for your safety.”
”That’s more than enough, Vivi,” Julia grinned.
”Jules, move, you’re blocking my light,” Nami growled, pushing the brunette away from her, and Julia rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue at the tangerine-loving-woman, before walking back over to stand by Zoro.
A yawn left her lips as she blinked a sudden wave of sleep from her eyes. “Man… I forget we’ve been traveling the desert basically all day…” she mumbled through another yawn. She didn’t want to go to bed already—she usually had boundless energy. Maybe the desert heat was catching up to her in a different way?

_________________________


This tiny woman was so stubborn—to an infuriating degree, but Sanji couldn’t help but feel a swell of admiration course through his being. “Chopper…” the sincere way he said his name cause the little reindeer to look up at him in surprise, tilting his head at their cook. “Can’t you see the amount of sincerity and integrity Cynil-swan has?” When he lifted his head from the floor dramatically, large crocodile tears were pooling in his eyes, pointing to the woman as he grinned. “She’s so brave, taking every menial challenge seriously! She fights for her own honor, no matter the cost, no matter how trivial it seems!”
Chopper, of course, was a doctor, so first and foremost he was concerned about Cynil’s health. That being said, he was also still just a kid, and the more Sanji hyped up the female’s efforts, the more enamoured with the story he became. “R…really? If it’s like that then I guess it makes sense…!” his eyes started to shine as he looked to Cynil, a blush of admiration on his cheeks. “I believe in you, Cynil-chan! You can do it, beat him! For your honor!” Chopper cheered alongside Sanji, neither having noticed that Cynil herself had started to leave them.
”And that is why she is the deadliest, most intense woman that I—” the blonde blinked a few times, now Cynil’s absence starting to take effect as he looked about. “Wait… where did she go?” Chopper was still cheering her on, as Sanji was seemingly pulled out of his “fantasy” mode, a serious, and contemplative look on his face. He was concerned for her, after all. From what the other members were saying, they were also heading to Rainbase. If that was where Crocodile was, the last thing Sanji wanted was to know that Cynil was nearby and be unable to protect her out of fear of further implicating Serogi and his people (Cynil included) as Strawhat accomplices in this revolutionary war.
Sighing, the cook slowly lit his cigarette, debating whether or not he should go after her. That being said, she clearly wasn’t that interested in seeing them if she wasn’t keen on sticking around them. Sanji was aware he was a lot. He didn’t often show that he knew, but that’s just because he couldn’t help his character. It was a natural response for him to be “gentlemanly” and “doting” so he couldn’t exactly stop on a dime (no matter how many times Zoro seemed to try to get him to do so, which usually lead into a fight so Sanji was distracted, but his nature was never changed).
”Chopper, you should go to bed,” Sanji sighed, interrupting the reindeer, who looked up at him with wide eyes. He offered a small smile, nodding in encouragement. “You must be tired. Besides, we’ve got a busy day planned for tomorrow. You’re going to want to be well rested when we arrive at Rainbase tomorrow.”
”Okay!” Chopper was quick to acquiesce with a smile. It fell as he looked around for Cynil, already missing the female, but he waddled back over to the other building where the Strawhats were setting up their beds for the evening. Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette before wandering off after Cynil.
Thankfully she hadn’t gotten too far, but Sanji tried to remain calm, fearing he might scare her off if he lost his composure like he did with her earlier. It was hard, though. The way the moonlight shown through the window, her deep purple eyes nearly glowing in the light. She looked… ethereal, to say the least. “Promise me you’ll be careful? I know you can’t get hurt the same way the rest of us do, but ah… I can’t help but worry,” he chuckled, a bit of the nerves of talking to her getting to him. “You might not need someone to protect you but I’d appreciate it if you’d… y’know, let me?” He grinned sheepishly, focusing on smoking his cigarette to hide his embarrassment as he looked away from her.

 

[KayWyn]

It took a moment for the words to fully process in his head, but, when they did, Zoro's head whipped around to glare at Julia. His arms crossed over his chest, a frown tugging at his face as his eyes narrowed. "As if! If anything, you'd wind up being the one who would owe me!" He exclaimed, though, in reality, he would likely end up even more indebted to the oni than before. Still, there was no way in hell he'd admit that he'd lose to her.

Before their argument could go any further, Nami had ordered their silence as she enthralled by her match against the magician. To be honest, Zoro had absolutely no clue how to play the game; he never had bothered to learn the rules of all that many card games to begin with. Though, he had a feeling that Julia wasn't all that savvy on the rules and intricacies of it either.

"Better than nothing, I suppose." Teret chuckled, leaning back in his chair. Krenn forced himself up after being too close to nodding off and took to wandering off. "Hey! While everyone else is sleeping, you and Cynil make sure we're set to leave by morning." He called after him. The only response he received that Krenn even heard him was a lazy, half hearted wave of his hand as he disappeared behind a distant door. Teret rolled his eyes, looking over to Allen. "Who do you think will win?" He asked.

Allen gave a snort of laughter, glancing over his shoulder briefly at where Krenn disappeared off to. "My money's on Krenn," He said. "Bastard's too dumb to know when to quit."

"I think she'll beat him. Cynil's spite can outlast just about anyone, any day." Teret laughed. After a moment of idly watching the match between navigator and magician play out, he stood. "Whelp, I'm off to sleep. See you in the morning."

"Later." Allen called after him. He grinned over at Nami as their game continued. Eventually, their match concluded and Nami was left face down on the table, whining. Allen looked on, a moment of sympathy as he stood, taking the money from the center of the table. "Can't win em' all, eh?" He said, lifting a hand to wave them off. "Suppose I'll see all of you later if you're travelling with us." Before leaving, he gave a quick wink Julia's way.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Cynil was left partially surprised after the cook had followed after her. "Uh...s-sure." She said, glancing away. It was sweet, really, but damn did she feel awkward in the moment. She wasn't in the right head space to fully think of how to reply while maintaining her smooth disposition.

She pushed her hands into her pockets, suddenly finding something oh so interested about the toes of her shoes, finding herself unable to even potentially meet his eyes. Before she could say anything else, she heard movement from behind them. She glanced over her shoulder to see Krenn making his way down the hall to them. He stopped roughly fifteen feet away, tired eyes meeting hers and jabbing a thumb behind him.

"C'mon, quit wasting time, let's get back to it." He said, arms crossed over his chest. He looked like he had, at most, a few more days -- eventually, he'd crash. He had to because she didn't know how much longer she had before she did the same.

Cynil made a noise of disapproval. "If I'm wasting time, then what the hell were you doing, hypocritical asshole." She may have responded with a touch more decorum had she been in her normal head space, but, after days without sleep and her mind blaming Krenn for every miserable moment of it, she couldn't be bothered to maintain appearances in front of the cook.

Krenn glared over at her. "No need to name call like a child, dumbass!" He snapped back, though, despite his biting tone, it meant nothing. The two had found themselves into a cycle of insults whenever around each other, though Cynil opted to take the "high road" and only torment him with taunts rather than devolve to mindless yelling and insults like he would. Except, much like before, she really, really couldn't be bothered.

Besides, he often came up with some crafty comebacks that made her laugh.

Cynil looked over her shoulder at Sanji. "Guess I'm heading back to it, I'll catch you later." She said, stifling a yawn.

 

[AwkwardSilence]

Julia… didn’t know what to make of Robin. The woman had been in the pocket of one of the most notorious men in the world, and their enemy, and yet… here she was on their ship, thanks to something their captain did. Luffy said all he did was save her when she wanted to die. As far as the brunette was concerned, having someone with that mindset was never good to keep around. That being said… if Luffy trusted her, then she would not doubt the word of her captain. She would merely keep an eye on the woman, for everyone else’s sake.
Since leaving the desert island (as well as, tearfully, Vivi and Carue) behind, the heat had become less oppressive. Not that it had ever really bothered Julia. The fire oni was certainly acclimated to the hotter temperatures, but it was nice to feel a cool breeze once more. now that the Going Merry was back on the high seas. They hadn’t seen a marine ship since Mr. 2’s diversion upon leaving the Alabastan shores, so smooth sailing and clear skies thankfully meant they were all a little stir crazy and bored. This usually lead to some strange antics occurring between the ship’s troublemakers (their captain, Usopp, and sometimes poor Chopper being dragged into their shenanigans). Julia usually chose to observe rather than participate, lazing about, as the Rigger, on the foreboom of the main sail. From this perch the others would have to be hard-pressed to drag her into their mischief, but if they were successful, Julia’s brute strength was sure to end whatever stupid plan was going on.
There was enough of a current that Nami had them hoist the sails, and so there Julia lay on her back, lazily cluthing the foreboom with her thighs as she thought about nothing in particular, the faint sounds of Luffy and Usopp questioning Robin about her past travels somewhere in the background as Zoro trained nearby, large weights shifting slightly. Nami was inside with her maps, and Julia knew Cynil was somewhere.
Out of the corner of her eye, the brunette saw Chopper, lazing out on the main deck, a content and comfortable smile on his face as he closed his eyes. She couldn’t help but chuckle—he was indeed their cutest crew member. At the sound of her laugh, he opened his eyes, watching as she rolled onto her stomach on the foreboom without falling off. “Enjoying the heat of the sun now that we’re away from the desert? It was a drastically different climate to go to after leaving your home.”
”Yeah!” he readily agreed, nodding. “This weather is nice. I liked Vivi’s home island, but it got way too hot for me with all this… fluff.” Chopper vaguely pointed to all of him with a cloven hoof. Julia merely smiled and nodded, but the reindeer tilted his head slightly, sitting up with his eyebrows furrowing. “You know, Doctorene said that your home island was a really strange place. Is that true? What’s it like?”
Her grin only widened at his line of questions. “You want to know about Oni Island?” She couldn’t help but chuckle at his eager nod, and she let her arms hang lazily as she grinned. “Well, let’s see… a long time ago, it was said that Oni Island was a part of the mysterious closed land of Wano—the tip of a peninsula. But the Oni tribe warred with the samurai constantly, and many bloody battles were fought because the Oni were deemed demons—monsters of an ancient world.” She could tell she had Chopper, hook-line-and-sinker with her story. She did not know, however, if she had other listeners. “So, fed up with the prejudice and the blood of their people being spilt, a great Chieftan stepped forward, and made a prayer to the heart of the volcano that their villages sat around, to take their people and move them somewhere where they would be protected, and they could live in peace. It was that night that the tip of the peninsula disappeared, and Oni Island was realized. Now it wanders the sea, protecting my people from outside invaders, never staying in the same location for longer than a week before reappearing somewhere else.”
”Your island moves?!” Chopper nearly shouted, his eyes wide. “Then… then how do you get home? How would you even know where to go?!”
Putting an elbow on the beam she leaned her head into her hands, a small chuckle rising as she used her free hand to expose her earrings. “These,” she pointed to them. “Are the answer, my fluffy friend. Not unlike your eternal pose. When I think of Oni Island’s location, they act like dousing rods.” As if to prove a point she closed her eyes, and the earrings visible moved toward the east, a smirk on her lips as Chopper gasped in surprise. “Pretty cool, huh? These earrings are one of the last things I have of my mothers… they’re made from the heart of the great volcano, and they will always bring me home, should I choose to return.”

__________________​

Like most of the Strawhats, Sanji had breathed a sigh of relief when Cynil had arrived to rejoin their crew (it was more like coincidence that her traveling troupe had left without her, for which Sanji felt bad). Whether she had intended to or not, she was a part of their ragtag family now, so having her gone, even if they’d had a strange hooded figure in her place for a moment, was like missing a family member. Now that she was back, however, the dynamics were like nothing had changed. “Nami-swan, Cynil-swan, how are you doing? I have brewed some tea for my lovely ladies,” the cook grinned, all but spinning as he brought them glasses with a pot of the refreshing hot beverage. “It should be good for focus, since you two are so hard at work.”
Nami, who had been working hard on her map of Alabasta, took a deep sigh and looked up, pushing her reading glasses to the top of her head. “Thanks Sanji,” her lips pulled back into a smile, and the blonde haired flirt couldn’t help but swoon, pouring a glass for her before turning to Cynil. He knew about Nami’s dream, and her maps were incredibly important to get down while their last destination was still fresh in her mind, but he was a little uncertain with what she was reading. “And what is this, my lovely Cynil?”
Before he could even see what it was that she was reading, it was closed, and he blinked, before shrugging it of. There was no problem with being secretive if it was none of his business. “Here is some tea to make your study time go a little smoother!” He had already expressed his joy that she was rejoining their crew, even in her unfortunate circumstances, but he couldn’t help but cry a little bit when she came on board the Going Merry. He was just so happy she was back. “Now! If you could have any tea-time snack to go with this, what would it be? I’d be more than happy to make whatever your heart desires!”
”Mille-feuille please—with tangerines instead of strawberries,” Nami piped up, drawing a straight line using her set square. He nodded eagerly before looking back to Cynil. He had to do a double take, nearly, because with the way the light was shining on her, he could have sworn he had mistaken the dark haired beauty for a goddess, purple eyes narrowed and concentrated. “You don’t have to answer him,” Nami grinned, rolling her eyes at Sanji’s antics. Leaning in toward Cynil, she used a hand to shield her words. “He’s very eager but he means well. Plus, it’s kind of nice to get the royal treatment every now and again.”
”I’m just doing what I know best,” Sanji still heard, shaking his head as he smiled, washing some dishes from lunch that had been left out. “A wise old geezer once told me that every meal or bit of food is precious, so our craft needs to retain that quality always.” His grin was genuine when he turned around as he dried the dishes. “I’m just glad that each journey brings me one step closer to the All Blue! And getting to refine my meals for the palates of such beautiful ladies is already a dream come true.”
”Yeah yeah,” Nami waved him off, rolling her eyes but she was smiling.

 

[KayWyn]

She really hadn't expected to be back on this ship. Despite even saying that she would be, she frankly thought to find another way entirely once this whole kingdom intrigue was over; not back with Serogi and his, but certainly not here with the cluster of energetic individuals. Still, they sought her out almost immediately when things settled down, just as she was thinking about where to go. Dragged her back to the castle itself with them, and with them she's been since. Well, she had been asleep for most of the entire time after her and Krenn's bet had left the two borderline comatose in their sleep. Then, once all was said and done, and everyone gave their tearful farewell with the island and the princess they had carried around as well and moped around a bit afterwards, they were back up and at their usual antics. Except with an unexpected addition.

Their escape from the marines (what Cynil had to learn secondhand as she was still unresponsive to any and all attempts to wake her), she rose to see the dark-haired woman from before sitting about on the deck, reading. The one that she had thought killed several people, but apparently didn't? She wasn't sure on the details, but brushed it aside. Wasn't her place to say anything. Ready to leave it at that, it was the curious look the woman -- Robin -- gave that tipped her off she was far more astute than Cynil would probably care for. She made it a goal to not quite avoid her, but to find her company sparse.

That led her here, sitting close by the navigator who was busy with her own stuff to take too much interest in what she was doing. Mulling over the book given to her by Serogi had worn away any use it had, having already gone over and over it. She knew where she needed to go, just needed to find a way to get there. For the time, she'd sit around with this lot and wait for a moment to present itself. Currently, she was going between various other books of various different topics and ones that would fit Julia well enough to learn the beginnings of reading. The only issue with this whole deal was that, even after days filled of sleep, she was still tired from before. She guessed she wasn't able to stay up as well as she could before; though, perhaps no sleep for roughly a week or two was pushing it beyond the usual "staying awake" bit.

"Hm?" Cynil raised her head, looking over at the orange-haired woman as she was brought out of her thoughts. With a glance over to the subject in question -- being the residing cook that had been circling about them -- shrugged. "Oh, it's fine. I don't want anything."

It was the oddest thing. Having returned to her old little cast of misfits and returning, the way they treated her had so many parallels but stark contracts. For one, the doting behavior was absolutely foreign to her, even from back home. While they -- her parents when she was younger and then the troupe recently -- would do nice things for her, they'd never do things for her. Not unless she spent her time manipulating the situation and then working things in place would that happen. Here? She wasn't able to lift a finger, even if she wanted to. Though she wasn't the best when it came to sailing, her talents lay more in the art of persuasion and critical thinking alone. Still, felt odd to stand by while they busied themselves with everything. Awfully boring too.

As she was about to get back to her book, the new addition emerged. Her eyes scanned over the room before stopping at her, a calm smile ever present on her face. In some way, she found her a kindred spirit of sorts compared to the loud and boisterous personalities littered across the ship. It was only ruined by one little detail, and she knew it was near time it reared its head. This was roughly the same progression as all the other times, though she almost expected her to jump to it a little quicker. Oh, well, it couldn't be helped.

"Could I speak with you?" Robin asked, though Cynil was already standing. She knew the routine, though was thankful she at least seemed like she'd make it a private exchange rather than the public spectacle people normally went with. With a small nod, Cynil trailed out after the taller woman as they made their way to what became Chopper's little room for whatever doctors got up to in their free time. It was empty for the moment, considering she saw him with Julia on the deck a few moments ago before they walked in.

Cynil stood at the doorway as Robin walked further in, stopping to organize an assortment of books. Silence filled the air as she waited for her to be done, and, after another minute or so, she finally straightened and turned to face her. She stared for a handful of seconds, small smile still present on her face before finally opening her mouth to speak. "Your name. It's Cynil Tisiphone, correct?"

Ah, quick and to the point. She liked her.

The corner of her mouth twitched up as she gave a half-hearted shrug. "And?" She already knew the game was up, but still. She neared the woman as she pulled a book and opened it. It was one she knew well by the title alone and gave a small chuckle. "This is one of the older ones. Where'd you even find it?" Cynil looked over the pages and occasional picture drawn for emphasis. It was a book about the Tisiphone family and its rather bloody history; in fact, it was a book about her father and all the wars he waged before vanishing. She flipped through them before her eyes flicked back up to Robin.

While it was amusing and all, she knew this would inevitably get out. Especially when she saw Robin reach onto a shelf to grab a shiny, clear blue, and equally familiar crystal. She held it up to Cynil, eyes locked on her face. Her eyebrows rose after a second, giving an amused noise. Though, maybe there was a chance that, since she had been some sort of assassin for a secret organization and all, she'd be able to keep things under wraps.

"Ah, so you really are," She said, giving a hum. "This would make you princess to the kingdom of Vistizar, correct? I've read the name a number of times, but there's so little actually known about other than the stuff like what's in this book --"

It was the creak of a board that caused both women's heads to whip around, seeing the familiar, small reindeer standing there with eyes blown wide. He was frozen mid-step as the three were locked in some bout of silence before he broke it. Covering his ears, he wheeled around and bolted out, but not before shouting at the top of his lungs, "I DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING!"

---

With a loud yawn, Zoro had laid back, ready to ignore everyone and go back to his nap from before. After a quick bout of annoyance caused by the ever unpredictable nature of the Grand Line's weather, everything fell back on track, and he was no longer needed for... well, anything. He took time to make sure his three blades were maintained, but, once he saw to that and then went over his usual training, there was nothing left for him to do in the day but sleep. He had looked forward to it, too, after all the yelling from earlier that was all because some cook wouldn't shut up.

Leaning against the wall, he was just about to doze off when the light altered behind his eyelids. Peaking an eye open, he saw the head of his captain extended down from above, one hand with it to keep the straw hat in place on his head, with the wide, toothy grin he always had. "Hey!" He said, though opted to add nothing else to it. Waiting for a few more moments to see if Luffy would go on lead to nothing, and he rolled his eyes.

"What, Luffy?" He asked, arms crossed over his chest. Luffy's body dropped a few feet in front of him as the young captain righted himself.

Giving a shrug, Luffy flopped into a sitting position in front of him. "Nothin'," He answered honestly, hands gripping his ankles. "I'm booored."

So that was how this was going to be? Giving a groan and a shooing motion, Zoro settled back against the wall and closed his eyes. "Go bother Usopp or Chopper with that, I'm trying to sleep here." He said, hands coming to rest behind his head. When he didn't hear Luffy walk off or even move, he cracked an eye open once more. It was timed perfectly as his hand was extended out to reach for the bandana wrapped around his bicep. Huffing in annoyance, Zoro opened his mouth to ask what he was planning to do when Luffy's hand shot out the rest of the way with as much speed as he could muster, and launched himself from his sitting position to the air.

Jolting upright, a scowl etched its way across Zoro's face. "Hey!" He snapped, yelling at Luffy as he laughed loudly. He would've went after him immediately, but it was the cackle from a familiar sniper and an astonished "You actually got it?!" from Chopper that had him pausing in his place. His head slowly turned to look at the two who realized their mistake almost immediately. His eye twitched in annoyance, a clenched hand raising to point a single finger up at Luffy. Chopper had already ran off, saying something about being "busy", but Usopp, for once, hadn't been fast enough. He jabbed his finger again with emphasis as he loomed over the sniper.

"Go get it." He ordered, before turning and trudging back to the spot he had been planning on sleeping, but he guessed the others decided against that. Before he was even able to so much as sit down, he heard Chopper yelling about hearing something, and paused. Did he really want to bother with what this was about? His shoulders sagged as he heaved a drawn out sigh. He guessed sleep could wait a little bit longer just to find out what happened. Then he'd crash immediately.

"What happened?" Zoro asked, only for the small reindeer to collide with his leg. He looked to the half-open door and back down at Chopper. He raised a brow in question as he sat up and rubbed his nose with a groan of pain. Not long after, Nami stepped into view.

"Chopper, what in the world happened?" She asked as she came closer. "Zoro, did you do something?!" Her eyes narrowed when her gaze lifted up to him so fast that he was surprised by the mood shift.

He stared back at her with an incredulous look, "What? Me -- I just got here, how the hell could I have done anything?!" He snapped back. Really, he comes to see what's happening and he immediately gets blamed; who did she think he was, Luffy? He had a far worse record for getting into trouble than he did!

"Nothing!" Chopped exclaimed, hurrying off. "Nothing happened! I didn't hear anything! I'm going back to Julia now, and she can tell me more about her cool island!"

Forgetting each other, Nami and Zoro watched as the reindeer ran off before both looked back to the open door. Brushing past their potential argument build up, the navigator took the lead as she peeked her head into the door. "Uh..." She started, giving a sheepish smile. "Is everything alright in here?"

With Nami having taken control of finding out the "what happened?" bit from one of its sources, her hand came and gave a point that he knew immediately without her needing to speak. She wanted him to go ask Chopper again. He doubted it'd work, but getting a headache from Nami's yelling was far worse. Turning, he followed after the way he went. It took only a second to see him, already tugging at Julia.

"Hey!" He said, forcing a big grin on his face. "Hey, hey, could you tell me more about your island?"

 

[AwkwardSilence]

Chopper had gotten bored and had wandered off again, and the female had been content to stare back at the sky once more. It was a powdery shade of blue, with a few whisps of clouds in the higher atmospheres. Julia didn't really have an eye for weather, but she was more than keen to enjoy it. In fact, she was nearly dozing by the time Chopper came back. Holding her hand over her mouth as she yawned, a lazy smirk appeared on the brunette's lips. "Oh yeah? And what more could you possibly wanna know, lil' man?" she hummed, looking to the reindeer from the foreboom.
"Well, you said that you split from Wano, right...? A-And this Oni Island moves?" Chopper asked excitedly. "Did this happen when you were alive?"
"Wha--? No, not the actual splitting from the main land part," Julia couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. "The island continued to move when I was growing up on it, but you really don't feel it." Chopper's eyes sparkled in awe at the description. "Alright... well, you know how your island is a Winter Island, right?" He nodded. "Well, Oni Island's temperatures are moderated by the heart--hidden in the volcano like I said before. And it splits our biomes evenly. North is Winter, East is Spring, South is Summer, and West is Autumn. The weather at the base of the mountain on the south side remains pretty neutral all year 'round, however. That's where the main village is, but there are pockets of oni villages all over the place!"
It was nice to have a captive audience for once, and Chopper was an excited listener, his eyes sparkling as he paid attention intently. "Wow... that's so cool! I really wanna go someday."
Julia nodded at his declaration, a smile playing upon her lips at his earnest declaration. "I'll take you all there, if I can. I'm sure it would interest Luffy, too." Julia thought back on their current rivals--Oni tended to take a neutral stance on almost every matter, except the Celestial Dragons, and one Yonko in particular. "The only annoying thing is that damned Yonko running around calling him and his followers Oni. He uses our horns and our legends without having a lick of their history and it pisses me off," as she spoke, the brunette couldn't help but grit her teeth in annoyance.
"Yonko... what's a Yonko?" Chopper tilted his head innocently to the side. Julia shook her head.
"Don't worry about it--I'm sure we've got quite a ways to go before we even reach a controlled territory," Julia didn't want to have to scare the poor dear. After all, he had relatively just left his home island. He belonged on the crew, but she knew he might be intimidated by the prospects of the Emperors.
Considering she was concerned with explaining things to Chopper, Julia's head was turned, her stomach lying on the foreboom of the Merry's main sail like a cat, she failed to notice her approaching captain until it was too late. "Tag, you're it!" a voice called out behind her, and she wheezed as Luffy landed on her back with a wide grin. "Or... I guess we're playing keep away, so...! Keep it away!" The rubber captain didn't even give the oni any time to respond as he hurriedly tied the bandana over Julia's head.
"See, Zoro's right there, keep it from him!" Luffy grinned widely, jumping off and reaching for the crow's nest while Julia coughed.
"Yeah, Luffy, I can't see, because you tied the damn thing over my eyes." Julia fumbled, sitting up. For someone so graceful on the beams of the ship, the minute her eyesight was robbed from her so suddenly like that, she lost her grip and fell toward the deck with a yelp that was... well, decidedly more like a girly squeak, and definitely not a sound that they'd heard come from the Oni female before.

---

Robin looked over at where Chopper had been, a small smile on her face. There were times where Robin seemed to truly fit in with the rest of the crew, even after being so fresh off of everything that had transpired in Alabasta, but... Then she seemed to close herself off again. "Our ships' doctor is quite cute, wouldn't you agree?" Turning her closed-off smile back to Cynil, the woman hummed and shifted her weight back on one hip, taking a look through the book with practiced hand movements. She'd clearly spent her lifetime reading. "Well... I suppose I have a lot of questions for you--ones you're more than welcome to answer or not... Just call me curious." The Tisiphone family and the country they ruled over... everything was so secretive, Robin couldn't help but jump at the chance to talk to someone like their princess. "I merely wanted to confirm an educated guess today, so perhaps I'll formulate my questions carefully, and we can discuss this at another time? After all, I do believe we're about to have visitors."
It was at that time, then, that Nami peaked her head through the door, and Robin turned to the navigator with a smile, though sometimes the gesture didn't quite reach her eyes. "Oh, we're just having a friendly chat, Miss Navigator. I was just about to ask you where our Log Pose seems to be pointing. I'll be out in a moment, I need one last word with our dancing friend here." Once Nami was back outside, Robin hummed a note, before her teal gaze slid back over to Cynil. Robin smiled politely at her, before moving to step out of the doctor's room. Before she fully passed the threshold, however, she paused to look back at Cynil over her shoulder. "I won't say anything to the others. We all have our secrets, I'm sure." Before she disappeared, off to read some more or perhaps read more about the Tisiphone family in order to better formulate her questions.
Nami was more than happy to answer Robin's question about where they were headed, but her gaze kept sliding back over to Cynil, trying to discreetly point between the dark haired women, as if trying to ask Cynil without words if she was alright, and what happened between them. Robin, for all intents and purposes, still made some of the crew a little jumpy. She had been their enemy after all, hadn't she? But now she was one of them? How had that made any sense?
Although, in defense of the archeologist, she didn't actually kill Igaram, just significantly delayed him. And without Igaram's late arrival, he might have never found that little boy, and the civil war might have continued in Alabasta. Although... that was a lot of 'what-ifs'.
By this point, Sanji had finished Nami's dessert in record time, presenting Robin with a coffee, and turning to Cynil with a cup of the bitter caffeinated drink. "Cynil-san~! I know you said you didn't want anything, but I thought maybe some caffeine to help you focus while you read might be a good idea." He could still remember the 'staying awake' contest she'd had back in Alabasta with her troop... Sanji wasn't jealous. They had known Cynil for far longer than the Strawhats! But still... something about the idea of the dark haired beauty wanting to spend more time with them rubbed the cook the wrong way. He wasn't jealous! Well... maybe a little. The blonde sighed at his hypocritical thoughts, but managed to maintain somewhat of a suave expression as he set down a cup of coffee where Cynil had been seated at the table before getting up with Robin. Taking a seat nearby, Sanji took a deep breath, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it casually. He'd not had much of a chance to rest like the rest of the crew got to do on peaceful days like today, considering all the meal and food prep he did for everyone. He loved doing it, too! It was his passion, and he wanted to do it... That just meant that he took his down time rather seriously (unless some mischief Luffy started dragged him into a mess).