The desert stretched endlessly around them, vast dunes shimmering under the hot sun. Zoro smirked, a subtle gleam in his eye as he sat alongside his crewmates atop the majestic desert ducks, each draped in heavy, concealing cloaks that fluttered in the dry breeze.
The resilient birds moved steadily forward, their powerful legs kicking up faint clouds of sand as they carried the crew through the heart of the Alabastan desert. The weight of recent battles seemed to hang in the air, unspoken but deeply felt.
"So, this is it... time to say farewell to the country of sand." Usopp’s voice cut through the silence, reflective yet worn. He glanced over, eyeing Luffy with raised brows as the captain chomped eagerly on a large hunk of meat. "You really gonna keep on eating, Luffy? After everything this place put us through?"
Oblivious to the sentimental atmosphere, Luffy just grinned, talking through his mouthful. "Alabastan food is the best! Sanji, you gotta try making some next time!"
Sanji chuckled, his eyes sparking with the challenge. "Oh, I'm more than interested. Got the recipe from Terracotta herself, and a stash of spices to go with it."
As the mighty ducks plodded on, Y/N glanced over, noticing Nami’s troubled expression. Her lips were pressed into a frown, her brow furrowed as if something weighed heavily on her mind.
“Hey... Nami, what’s wrong?” Y/N asked gently, trying to break through her silence.
But Nami just gazed ahead, quiet and deep in thought, her fingers nervously gripping the reins.
“I’ll give you some meat if you want, Nami! Only one, though!” Luffy offered, his voice cheerful as he bit into his food, entirely unbothered.
Sanji shook his head, watching her with an understanding gaze. "You're thinking about Vivi, aren’t you... I get it. But it’s not something we can change. We had some amazing times with her. That’s just how life is. Cheer up, alright?”
Nami opened her mouth, her voice hesitant at first as the others leaned in, listening carefully to whatever she was going to say.
“I… I guess I should let it go, for Vivi’s sake at least…”
Her lips curved into a small, sly smile. “On the 1 billion belis.”
The calm was shattered by the Straw Hats' outburst as they all yelled, “YOU DAMN WELL BETTER!”
Y/N, exasperated, cried out, “IT WAS MONEY YOU WERE SAD ABOUT?!”
The startled quack of a desert duck cut through the noise as Usopp, flailing in shock, fell backward off his bird.
"AGH! USOPP FELL OFF!" Chopper yelled, panicking as he watched their crewmate tumble into the sand.
“STOP BEING SO DAMN MISLEADING, NAMI!” Zoro grumbled, irritation flaring up as they continued into the twilight hours, their shadows long on the cooling sand.
"What’re you all worked up about?" Nami asked nonchalantly, glancing back at the annoyed faces surrounding her. "Is this about Vivi? Some things just can’t be helped, you know."
As the tension simmered, Usopp’s muffled yell rang out again. “AGH! USOPP FELL OFF AGAIN!”
Nami rolled her eyes. “Oh, just leave him. He’ll catch up.”
“IT’S YOUR FAULT!” came the group’s collective protest.
----
Just hours earlier, Bon Clay had called the Straw Hats while they were still at the palace, his voice crackling through the snail phone with a taunting confidence. He announced his hostage: their ship. The Going Merry was now under his watchful eye, held somewhere along the upper reaches of the Sandora River.
YOU ARE READING
Wind Demon (One Piece x Male Reader)
Fanfic(Y/N) is a wind man, he ate the Kuki-Kuki no mi. He finds himself in a complicated situation but gets rescued by a rubber man with a straw hat in return he joins his pirate group, follow along on the strawhats adventures as they try to find the One...
