YooHoo! (A One Piece Fan-Fiction)

5. Submarine?

YooHoo!

- An arbitrary adventure of the nautical variety -

5. Submarine?

"Submarine life most of the time is hours and hours of boredom with intermittent terror thrown in to keep you on your toes!"

-Paul "PEP" Perris

When I regained consciousness, I was potently afraid of all manner of things- such as kidnap! 

I was cursing Gary; thinking that perhaps the nail polish he'd used had turned out to be some kind of whacked up hallucinogenic nightmare, and that I'd been drugged, collapsing at the side of the road on my way back to the dorms; resulting in my own abduction and becoming a potential rape victim... 

It was the clanging noise that arose that last suspicion; when I slapped to the ground, or what I thought was the ground- I didn't dare open my eyes, I honestly thought I'd been bundled into the back of a shady van with torture equipment and other stolen personas.  

When I dared to open my eyes however, that idea was demolished: 

I'd landed on something- it stretched for a while, long boards of honeyed wood, smooth to the touch by the trembling skin of my palms, formed decking, and the clanging noise I'd heard was in truth, an upturned bucket. The contents of said vessel had upturned during my haphazard landing, and I could feel the formation of a handle shaped bruise forming on the back of my thigh.  

That's going to leave a mark... 

A huge soapy puddle began spreading about where I lay on the deck in shock, when a barely restrained stuttering drifted to my ears to my right. Pushing up into a sitting position, I scrubbed my hand over my face- though I have no idea why, they were as covered in soapy water as the rest of me and I was practically begging to get soap in my eyes. I spot a young man (wielding a mop) gaping beneath a bi-coloured hat and disproportionally unfashionable sunglasses, who flushes a little under my squinted scrutiny, calms himself down dramatically- flinging the mop aside, and proceeds to scuttle into an arched doorway. 

Dumbfounded, I blink at where he once stood, deliberating as to whether I should follow him and interrogate him on my whereabouts or whether I should make a break for it before he and the rest of the 'kidnappers' came back, but where would I run to? I have no idea where I am, the fact that it is now midday now I've awoken has completely thrown me- either I've been out of it for a good twelve hours or something fishy is up- and why can I smell the ocean?  

The mop which he had abandoned lays not far from my feet as does my holdall, but as I move to pick the latter up, the male wearing the atrocious hat re-appears, with more people in tow.  

Like the first male I had saw, the others similarly wore hats, one had the word 'Penguin' splayed across the front, the other, a white and variant spotted cap pulled low over a dark visage, who's lean and lengthy like the sheathed blade he cradles. Then something perverse appeared- a bi-pedal polar bear wearing an orange jumpsuit.  

The squeal I almost released at the cute creature before me died in my throat when I realised it could be either one of two things- someone in a suit, a very very convincing suit, or an actual man eater that they brought out when they had guests over for dinner. Me, the guest, being the main course for sure.  

"See! I wasn't pulling your leg!" the bi-coloured hat wearing male exclaims, pointing rudely at me, where I'm still seated on the deck, "She just came out of nowhere Captain, jumped out of the bucket!" 

"Calm, Shachi..." the one wearing the white hat with leopard print spots extends a hand to the man who 'discovered' me, who stills. "Miss? ... Miss? May I ask what you are doing on my submarine?"  

Miss? Me? Submarine? What the-wait? Submarine?! 

"W-w-what?" I stutter. 

"I asked... what you were doing on my submarine, Miss...?" his voice is low and extravagant to the ears, like crushed velvet, but sinuous and gravelly when he trails off his syntax structures, arms crossed smugly across his chest, a hooded top revealing extravagant formations inked onto the skin I can visibly see and possibly covering more I cannot.  

"A-A-A-Aiko... A-Aiko Smith..." I try and recollect myself in his presence. From the extra contextual information 'Shachi' has provided, I can deduce that this man before me is in fact the 'Captain'. I gulp. 

"Aiko-Ya, why are you on my submarine? Are you a stowaway?" he takes a step towards me, so in turn, I shuffle back not restraining a slight squeak and a hitch in my breath at the motion. 

"I... I don't k-k-know..." unconsciously my eyebrows knit together, mountainous ridges forming in my brow, "I w-w-was on m-my way h-h-home..." I can feel him waiting on my words, how he dares me to try and justify myself more. 

"So, you were trying to escape from somewhere? Are you a stowaway, Aiko-Ya?" 

"N-no! I was on m-m-my way b-back to t-the d-d-d-dorm rooms and then I- oh and t-t-the pain!" I roll up the sleeve of my hoodie to scrat at my arm, which in its blistering red state grins garishly up at me, more defined than ever. There is a sound of sucking in breath, and my head shoots from the blemished appendage to this strange gaggle of males... and a polar bear.  

"C-C-Captain!" Hey I thought I was the one with the stutter! "It can't be?!" the one wearing the 'Penguin' hat says incredulously.  

Can't be what...? What are they so worked up about? 

"There is no mistaking it... that is our Jolly Roger..." the man known as the 'Captain' says gravely. "Bepo?"  

"Aye!"  

Holy- the polar bear just talked! Thepolarbearjusttalked!- 

"Escort our guest into the sub, if you would?" 

-Thepolarbearjusttalked!Thepolarbearjusttalked!Thepolarbearjusttalked!- 

"Hi! My name is Bepo, can you stand up or do you need carrying?" the bear waddles over to me, bright orange jumpsuit and sheer fur blinding my eyes in the bright midday sun. 

-Thepolarbearjusttalked- oh my- THEPOLARBEARJUSTTALKED! 

"Um... Miss...?"  

He doesn't get an answer, because I'm already passed out on the deck. 

"I'm sorry..."