Stolen // One Piece

chapter twenty-nine

It was time. The Bluejam Pirates were busy with the distracting thunderstorm Nami had created, and were all trying to combat the waves and lightning, so they did not see her climbing up the side of the hull. They did not see her climb through the window to the kitchen, did not see her grab two bread rolls and shove one in her mouth, and they did not notice her as she opened the cellar door and snuck down the stairs into the storage area.

The ship, conveniently, was rocked violently to one side, and a guard Nami had not seen was thrown into the wall, and his loud grunt alerted her to his presence. While he was busy recovering from being thrown, Nami crouched and snuck up behind him, and stood ever so slowly. The guard straightened his bandanna, having still not noticed the intruder behind him. This gave her an advantage, and so Nami reached in front of him, pulled her fist back against his sternum, and with her other hand shoved the other bread roll into his mouth, preventing him from crying out. In one swift motion, she reached behind her, gripped her Climatact, brought it in front of the guard, and pressed it to the guard's throat, and pulled back.

He struggled against the cool pipe blocking his airways, but eventually succumbed to the darkness. The guard crumpled to the floor, and Nami unceremoniously stepped over his lifeless body, not too bothered by the fact she had knocked him unconscious. Another large wave knocked against the ship, throwing Nami to the side, and it was immediately followed by a crash that tossed her to the cold wooden floor. Upstairs, she heard sharp curses and angry yelling. The smell of smoke wafted into her nostrils, and a devilish little smirk crossed her features. Lightning could be a real bastard some times, Nami thought smugly. She stood, looked around in the darkness, and noticed a dark shape in the corner opposite of where she stood.

The navigator reached into her back pocket and retrieved the small box of matches she was "borrowing" from Sanji, (he needed to quit smoking anyway, smoke always got in Chopper's face because he's so short) pulled out one singular match and swiped it on the box. Fwwp, the little stick burst into flame, and dimly illuminated the storage area. Her eyes scanned the room, and stopped in the corner.

She almost dropped the match.

There was blood everywhere. The floor, the wall, even the ceiling. It was fresh some places, a deep crimson, appearing almost black. In others it was slightly older, lighter and more brown.

A nearly unrecognizable figure was chained to the wall, his arms bound above his head, amidst all of the fresher blood, with jet black, blood crusted hair, curled in places and slicked down straight in other areas. Thick droplets dripped down from his bowed head, staining his shorts. There was blood on his arms, dripping down to add to the pool of blood already spilling around him, and some slipped down his bare chest. An open wound on his side seemed to be a main contributor to the amount of blood surrounding the young man before her.

Nami knew in her heart who he was.

"Luffy," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes as she practically sprinted over to him, crouching so he could meet her eyes. Carefully, Nami cupped his jaw, and turned his face to see her. This close to him, she could hear Luffy's labored breathing, and each shaky breath he took made him sound as if he was being held underwater, and she noticed that blood bubbled over his lips and dribbled down his chin. "Oh god," she muttered, wiping blood from his eyes as it slipped down his forehead. Nami felt a tug of nausea in her throat. There was just so much blood.

Luffy made a sound too loud to be a whine, causing a distraction from the nausea in her stomach, and Nami looked at him in the diminishing light of the match.

He was ecstatic, though he couldn't show it. Nami was alive! Breathing! Unharmed!

His eyelids drooped, but opened again moment later. He could see the worry and anger in her eyes.

Though his mind and vision was fuzzy, Nami was as clear as day in front of him. He could hear her breathing, feel her hot breath in his face. He could feel her warm hands wiping the blood from his cold face. He could smell the tangerines she tended to every hour. She was real, and solid, and alive.

He couldn't form words, so he whined to get her attention.

"What?" she questioned, trying to keep her voice down as another loud chorus of shouts erupted on the deck. His unfocused eyes rolled in his head until they settled on Nami.

He rattled the chains above his head and tried his best to roll his head toward the unconscious guard near the stairs. Understanding, Nami stood and stepped lightly over to the guard, and patted his coat until she felt a bulge in the chest pocket. Returning to her captain, Nami lit another match and held it in her teeth as she unlocked the cuffs holding Luffy. His arms fell fast, and he sighed in relief as he felt a small amount of strength returning to him. He turned to his navigator, brushed hair from her tired eyes, and leaned his forehead against hers as she pulled the match from her mouth and blew it out.

"We need to get out of here," she mumbled, yanking the jacket off of her shoulders and tying it around Luffy's waist, putting pressure on his gushing wound. His labored breaths became slightly louder, and sounded stretched out, as if he was trying to hide the fact that he was in pain. "We need to get you to Chopper. He'll help." As she tried to stand, Luffy grabbed onto her arm, and pulled her down so that she was sitting beside him. "Luffy—," she started, but he cut her off with a shake of his head.

"I'm... not... gonna..." he paused to groan in pain, "...make it..."

"Don't say that! I'll get you out of here!" Again, Luffy shook his head.

"Too much... blood." Nami became irritated, standing and trying to pull Luffy up with her.

"I'm getting you out of here," she muttered, helping him stand. He swayed for a moment, and fell a little ways before Nami caught him in her arms. "I—," she paused to wrap one of his arms around her shoulders, "— am not about to let you die when I just created the thunderstorm of a century to save your, hnng —!" A loud grunt escaped her mouth, as she stumbled over the guard's body, but she quickly caught her balance and continued up the stairs, with Luffy hobbling beside her. "Ass," she finished breathlessly as the two crossed the kitchen to the window.

Nami opened it, poked her head out, and reaffirmed that the dingy was still tied outside. She nodded once, climbed on top of the counter, helped Luffy up, and stuck her feet out the window.

"You're going to have to climb. I'll help, but you have to do most of the heavy lifting, okay?" Luffy nodded, and Nami noticed that he was losing focus in his eyes again. She bit her lip, and slipped through the window before placing her feet on the rim around the ship and offering her hand to Luffy, who slipped out the window after her. Nami lost her footing on the slick rim for a split second and before she could fall, Luffy reached down and grabbed onto her shirt, catching her before she fell. He was stretching, and Nami could tell that it was causing him physical distress, so she redound her footing and the two climbed down faster and into the boat. As Nami helped Luffy step in, the two heard shouts from the deck, and Bluejam's angry face peered down at them.

"Get them!" he screamed, his face so red Nami secretly compared it to a tomato. Luffy huffed and slumped over, while at the same time another lightning bolt struck Bluejam mid-shout.

Nami grabbed the oars, and paddled in the direction of the Thousand Sunny, hoping to whoever was listening up above that there was still time for Chopper to save Luffy.