Ameliorate ✦ One Piece

7

By the time Akira started to raise from the fog induced stupor and her eyes opened, she noticed the now found themselves in an entirely new place. Not on their own ship but in what seemed to be a simple four walled wooden box keeping them inside with no obvious way out.

Looking around, she spotted Luffy, already crawling toward the still unconscious Zoro while beside her Nami began to stir in her spot. Sitting upright, she looked over to the girl with orange hair as she spoke. "You okay?" Nami nodded her head, rubbing the side of it as she tried to dispel the still remaining sleepiness from her mind.

Sounds from the other side, if it could even be called that, of the wooden box had Akira's eyes looking over to Zoro as he snapped upright, his eyes glancing down to the belt at his hips only to come to an obvious realization. "They took my swords."

"And my rucksack." Nami groaned out. "With all my navigation gear."

Unlike them, Akira was happy she had no possessions she'd be worried about losing. But Luffy, to his relief, found his own still in place. "They didn't take my hat." He breathed out a sigh of relief as his hands lay on the straw material on his head.

"Yeah, small blessings." Nami quipped sarcastically in the moments before realization dawned on her about one more missing item. "Damn it, we've lost the map." She pointed out as they all began rising to their feet.

"No!" Luffy exclaimed as he jumped to his own, his head hitting against the surface of the box as both he and Zoro were too tall for the tight space. "No, we didn't. It's in a safe place." He said with a proud smile on his face and soon after tapped his hand against his own stomach making both women quickly realize what he'd done.

"Ew." Beside Nami's initial disgust over the fact, they didn't have much time to comment on it as a sudden banging had them all turning to Zoro as his fists started to slam against the wood. "Stop it. Stop that." Nami whispered out a warning to him only to be met with a dismissive look.

"What? I'm trying to find a way out."

"We've been captured." Nami pointed out.

"And we have no idea of what's on the other side of this box." Akira added. Without any weapons or even tools, just slamming their way out might be the stupidest thing they could do.

Nami nodded her head along with Akira's words, adding more of her own for good measure. "We need a plan."

"I don't need a plan." Zoro's statement had Akira rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I just need to beat the hell out of every Marine I see." He proclaimed in an angry tone.

"Hey, everyone, relax. We're fine." Luffy tried to reassure them only to be met with disbelieving looks and nothing else.

"We're not fine." Nami pointed out as she walked over to stand in front of him. "The Marines will throw us in jail if we're lucky."

"Why haven't they?" Akira couldn't help but put her own question out as her eyes scanned over the wood surrounding them.

"Execute us if they don't."

"Marines have cells on their ships. Cells much more secure than a wooden box." Akira pointed out, the questioning tone never leaving her voice as she walked over to one of the sides, trying to glance out between the gaps in the wood. "So why not put us in one?"

"Because... They are not Marines." Luffy's statement had everyone looking back over to him, even Zoro turned away from the wall to send him a questioning look. "Before I got knocked out, I saw a Jolly Roger. We've been captured by pirates."

"That's much better news." The sarcasm was clear in Nami's voice as she glared over at him.

"No, he's right." Zoro, however, seemed to share Luffy's opinion. Although, for different reasons. "Marines have training. Pirates are easier to kill."