Daughter Of The Sea || One Piece

Chapter Twenty-One: The City of Nothingness

Another day of the sun glaring down menacingly at my forehead. Had it not been for the denial, the fact that I told myself I could handle it, I would have just turned into a goldfish and asked Nami to carry me.

This was the first sign that this trip wasn't for Y/n. Of course, traveling a wide desert isn't a trip for anyone. The Straw hats had gotten off their ship to start the journey to Yuba. Nami handed Y/n a red cloak with white outlines at the hems and sleeves which the 17-year-old was grateful for since the dancer outfits that Sanji gave them wouldn't help in the arid regions of the desert. They should have really thought it through before asking the cook, but life goes on.

Y/n looked to Vivi, Chopper and Nami as they watched the commotion that their captain was causing, their bags on their backs as they disembarked, clear confusion on what the hold up was about. They had already worn their cloaks, each looking straight out of an Indiana Jones stage production or maybe Aladdin...

"What's going o-" she caught sight of what was happening. why do I even bother?  Luffy was training some...seals? turtles, that had sprung out of the water to block their path. They had flippers and looked like sea lions but smaller and with turtle shells. Y/n had read about them. These little guys guard the coast. If someone beat them in a fight they become said person's pupils.

Y/n's eyes twinkled at the cute looks they were giving Luffy, all thoughts of staying mysterious jumping out the window.

"...so cute!"

"Thank you Y/n" Ussop fluttered his eyelashes, taking the compliment she was giving the turtle/seal/sea lion cuties. 

She gave him a confused look," That not-." She got distracted over his face, faint bruises on them. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Kung Fu Dugongs." Ussop looked at her with a smirk, placing his hands on his hips for his signature stance "I fought 'em off. I was just going easy on 'em. Showing 'em how it's done."
...

"He lost to them within a second." Chopper said with an innocent smile, earning a dramatic cry from Ussop for his betrayal.

"That's not very ' Warrior of the sea of you Ussop'." Y/n chuckled as he looked away in mock shame, curling into a ball on the sand. Zoro tisked at the sight, shaking his head.

"I will fight back for my honour!"

"That won't be happening after Luffy's done training them." Y/n said, finding herself in the middle of Sensei Luffy's pupils, punching in the same way he instructed. 

"NOT YOU TOO?!" Ussop and Zoro exclaimed, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Do you need my help with that Y/n?' Vivi asked, pulling her out of the training regimen and immediately getting to work on adjusting her clothes.

"Please." Y/n handed her the cloak, allowing her to adjust it over her body and placing some clips to make sure it doesn't bother the girl. Her cold hands felt nice against Y/n's shoulders, almost soothing against the warmth around. The prospect of the journey was daunting but atleast everyone was well prepared. What could go wrong?

"Come on Luffy we have to get going." Nami called, trying to congregate the crew since they were spread out like little ducks. Nami looked at the dugongs, realising that there were too many of them to go along with.

"How do we tell them they can't come with?" Nami whispered to Vivi and Y/n. The trio all looked back to see the dugongs latching onto Luffy's leg cutely. The sight making their hearts melt.

"I've got a solution." Chopper suggested, turning to Y/n.

This led to her sitting cross-legged to be at the same height level as Chopper and the dugongs. "Listen, we can't let you come with us" I began, arms crossed as I kept my body language neutral.