❛ 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗘 ❜ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵖⁱᵉᶜᵉ

015 ▍the kingdom of sand, alabasta

— the king of the desert

REACHING AND visiting alabasta was never a problem, but due to the heat might as well bring a barrel full of water— make it two. the heat making making you wear lesser clothing than wanted but you didn't want to have a freaking sunburn so might as well cover your entire body.

your navigator announced that in less than half an hour the ship will reach alabasta. of course, everyone went to their respective room to change, dont want to smell like booze while visiting, they may be pirates but they still have honor in being presentable.

rummaging your own closet, finding something appropriate to wear. knitting your brows, you sighed, finally picking an outfit.

a gray bell-sleeved top paired with a gray skirt that reached your knees— the skirt having your jolly roger printid on the bottom, the purple sash still wrapped around your waist (as it is needed to carry your swords). changing the boots, and slipping into black block open toe heels.

lovely! now where is my cloak. regarding the sunburn issue earlier, yes, you will be needing a cloak as you all will be walking under the sun towards rainbase. where the damn crocodile is currently residing.

a knock made you pause looking for your cloak, but continued after asking who's at the door. theo answered saying he wanted to talk. giving him permission to enter, he opened the door. revealing you, who is currently grabbing a long off white cloak.

"what is it?" you asked, placing the cloak on your forearm. smiling softly, you spoke again, "is it about the strawhatted boy you sailed with?"

"you know?" he asked bewildered. "there were no newspaper that stated i was with them, well maybe tomorrow. . ."

"mihawk told me as he went to talk to shanks about the same boy. the will of d, huh." you explained, murmuring the last part.

he snickered, "we actually met in baratie, his strawhat reminded me of when you said shanks used to wear a strawhat in the early years."

you responded with a subtle nod as he asked you a specific question.

"i heard from kurose that you're interested in luffy, why didn't you come out to greet— see him, rather, earlier?"

you stared at him, straight in the eye and sighed, "it's way to early to meet some rookies, i'm not someone who just waltz in so suddenly but i do like taking people off guard and i'd rather do it when the audience least expect it." he nodded understanding your point.

"so, you went to the village?" he gave you a thumbs up as he sat down on your tidied bed (you internally hoped he wouldn't mess the bedsheets up).

"i'm still confused on why must i be the one who needs to go to the village when she can just go there by herself!" theo grumbled, scratching his head in irritation.

"well, she knew that if she went back there, she'll regret sailing with us. and will probably lose her mind and start rampaging back to her home country." with a deep breath, you tried to change the topic, "so how was he?"

"he's weaker than the last time we met him. nothing worse, he still have the fire in him." the cook answered with a low chuckle.

"that's good—" you cut yourself off when he handed you a blade, rather shoving it towards you.

"wha— is this his?!" he nodded, "then why did you gave it to me?! give it to her!" you exclaimed, you were tempted to unsheath the blade— and you did.

"it's a nice katana, but i can't use three blades at the same time. hand it to her."

"but she stopped using katana— but i do know someone who can use three blade at once—"

"i didn't asked."

twenty minutes have passed, you now sat at the railing right next to the figure head. your hair waved as it catches the air. thinking back on your conversation with theo.

he told you about the poor straw-hatted pirate that was almost executed by a clown, just thinking about it once again made your facepalm. to think that clown is a close friend from the past.

"[name]! he smiled and declared he'll become the pirate king at his own execution! i was caught off guard, almost popped my eyes out!"

smiled at his own execution, huh. scoffing to yourself. you wanted to meet the boy personally but it's too early to be meeting rookies. a lot of things are about to change.

the will of d. . .

here at last, alabasta— the kingdom of sand. and it's damn hot. the long cloak still resting on your forearm as you walked down the ladder, landing on the sandy surface.

"captain!! it's gonna take us at least a day to reach rainbase!" the journalist complained as she put on her cloak.

putting on your cloak before responding hearing a faint ohh the kung-fu dugongs! from the loud helmsman. you then pointed a finger at ume, knowing what you're thinking, she sighed.

"my devil fruit isn't use for transportation!!" the musician yelled.

"so you want to suffer walking under the cruel heat of the sun?" kurose asked nonchalantly with a hint of sarcasm.

she stared at him as if he snapped her instrument in half, "just imagining it l, is giving me heatstroke. darn it, alright." immediately activating her ability you all went flying towards rainbase.

rain dinners, a restaurant, casino, and resort owned by the suna suna no mi ability user and warlord, crocodile himself. entering the pyramid shaped building, you asked for the owner, immediately the female manager led the way towards the basement where crocodile is.

the scarred warlord took a long puff from his tobacco,"ah, what do i owe the pleasure? the lady of the night came to visit me in the middle of he morning."