Our last sail

21. Enter the First mate

"Luffy": talk

"Sabo": whisper

"ACE": shout

"Gomu Gomu no": the skill's name

'idiot': thinking

<Joyboy>: voice of all things

-Into the story-

On their small strip, Nami had always stayed silent for her own safety. Even though she really wanted to scream at them for their stupidity, especially the one with the straw hat. How could they go out to the sea without the ability to navigate? She didn't even know if they had a sense of direction or not. When the other boy asked him, Luffy just answered back with

"I'll just let the wind decide for me, maybe I will make it to the island without dying of hunger or thirst and washing up on shore like a corpse", Luffy said jokingly.

This time Nami couldn't stay silent anymore. While Koby was just sweating at his friend in exasperation, Nami abruptly turned to Luffy with a scowl on her face and started to scream at him.

"THAT'S NOT A THING TO LAUGH ABOUT, YOU DUMBASS. HOW CAN YOU BE A PIRATE WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO SWIM OR NAVIGATE?"

That got Luffy to stop laughing and look at her seriously. Nami quickly realized her mistake, so she covered her mouth with both her hands and stayed silent again. The atmosphere was so tense that even Koby felt hard to breathe. He knew Luffy was strong, so that even the pink-hairded boy didn't dare to make a wrong move or else they would anger the young captain. And they didn't know what could happen if they did.

'Shit, I shouldn't have said that', Nami thought while staring into Luffy's eyes.

But then Nami was shocked. A fond smile was visible on his face, which she thought was the strangest thing in her whole life. Since he was a pirate, and usually pirates would likely harm others who dare to insult them. But this guy, what made him different? A pirate was a pirate. In the end, he would just be like them, a bunch of selfish men, right? Luffy gave out a chuckle

"No, I guess it's not. And that's also the reason I need my nakamas"

This got her confused. Had she really misjudged him? Nami then realized that since the beginning of their journey, Luffy hadn't made any move that was considered a threat to her. He was just chatting happily with his friend, who she learnt his name was Koby, this entire time. Luffy and Nami didn't even interacted until now. Slowly, Nami thought she could somehow trust this guy, but she still wouldn't tell him any of her information. Nami didn't want him to be involved in her problem.

Now that she had felt more comfortable around him, Nami decided to ask him some simple questions.

"Uhm, mugiwara? Why are you-?"

"Luffy" he interrupted her.

"What?" Nami asked

"Call me, Luffy"

"OK, so Luffy. Why are you heading to Shells Town?"

Koby was also curious about that, so he decided to listen closely. Meanwhile, Nami was worried that she and Luffy might have the same purpose, which she hoped not. Nami knew she had zero chance against a monster like him. Well, maybe they could co-operate, and it was only for the worst scenario. Luffy then smiled brightly at them.

"Oh, I'm going to pick up a friend. You guys sure have heard of him since he's famous."

"So what's that guy's name?" Koby asked.

"Zoro" Luffy announced proudly.

Just hearing that name, both Koby and Nami's eyes were wide open.

"Y-You mean....." Koby stuttered.