The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 58: Sea Monsters!

I stood at the railing of the Going Merry, gripping the wood hard enough to make my hands ache. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji still had not surfaced and the salvaging pirate, Masira, had dove into the water to attack them. My jaw clenched tightly as I felt useless to help them, "Shit! Nami, have you come up with a plan yet?! We don't have any more time!"

"I told you, I'm thinking! Keep a cool head, Kaori!" She answered me, her voice strained with frustration and panic. Before I could respond, I felt a tremor under my feet. The ship was shaking. Nami's voice was full of dread, "There's something else down there."

"It's huge!" Usopp cried out. His voice dropped to a low whimper, "Anybody just wanna run?"

"We can't!" I said sternly, "The guys are still down there! Try calling them with the air hoses!"

The shaking of the ship grew more violent and I had to hold on to the railing to keep my balance. There was a tremendous crashing sound as something broke the surface of the water. I felt sea spray pelt my skin as my crewmates all gasped in horror. Nami had to scream to be heard over the sound of rushing water, "Does anyone else see the monster the size of an island in front of us?!"

"Damnit, we've got enough to deal with already," I cursed under my breath. I could hear the men on the other ship screaming for their captain.

Nami seemed scared out of her wits, "One tooth is the size of our boat! That's it! We're dead!"

Usopp was similarly freaking out, "There's no monster. This is just one big, stupid dream that we're all having together for some reason!"

"A dream! Right!" Chopper desperately agreed as they all took a deep breath to calm themselves in their denial.

A scowl curled my lips, "Now is not the time to be screwing around, you guys!"

"You know..." Robin started, her voice sounding oddly calm, "Our boys just got eaten," I felt my heart leap into my throat at her words as she callously continued, "So did that ship we were trying to salvage."

"How can you be so calm?!" Usopp snapped at her.

I turned to her, my voice low and venomous, "Are you sure?"

"Yep. Most definitely eaten," She answered me casually, "I can see the air hoses dangling from its jaws."

My blood ran cold as Chopper began wailing and running around in panic, "A sea monster ate my friends! What am I gonna do?!"

I turned and reached out to Chopper's voice, "It's alright," He startled me and ran up to hug my leg, burying his face into my side. I knelt down to hug him and try to calm him down, "Those three are fine. I'm sure of it. No way they're gone."

"This is all your fault!" Usopp shouted, "You're the one who said it would be safe at the bottom of the Grand Line," I realised he was yelling at Nami as he continued to berate her, "I don't know what qualifies as safe in your book, but in mine, it's not man-eating turtles!"

The navigator responded in a solemn tone, "You're right," There was a pause before she spoke loud and clear with a firm voice, "Sorry!"

I felt rage flare up in my chest so quickly it almost hurt. Usopp was appalled, "That's as good as it's gonna get, I guess."

I moved to stand up and take a step toward Nami, ready to hit her, but the ship suddenly lurched to the side. I yelped along with my crewmates as we all fell over and tumbled across the deck. Robin called out, sounding slightly shaken, "If we don't cut the air hoses, that beast will drag us down to the bottom of the ocean."

"We are not doing that!" I snarled in rage, "Half our crew is on the other side of those lines, including our captain!"

"I don't care what you do, just do something!" Usopp screamed, "You're the tough and smart ladies!"