บท 343: Stowaway
The Thousand Sunny set out to sea in short order. Nami was still getting a hold on herself, but she was well enough to read the weather and the currents to navigate for Jinbe, who was manning the helm.
"Hey! Put some spirit into it or we're gonna sink!" Luffy complained.
"Have faith in your navigator, captain. She's doing better than most I've met even now." Jinbe defended.
"Yeah! I'm totally sure Nami has it covered! Though I've never seen a navigator in action before! This is SO cool!" Carrot cheered, appearing from the kitchen door.
"Oh, you really think so~?" Nami blushed in appreciation. "Wait…"
"Carrot?! Why are you here?!" Pedro shouted in alarm.
"I decided to come along too!" Carrot said, tackling Luffy to nibble his ear.
Carrot went from person to person with her own unique brand of Garchuu, that being chomping down on ears. She got to Cherry who just casually caught her out of the air and held her aloft by the waist.
"We've got to turn around and take you back! Thankfully, we aren't too far away from Zunesha." Pedro said, already decided on the best course of action.
"Nooo, please! Wanda is going to be FURIOUS with me!" Carrot cried, squirming in Cherry's clutches to no avail.
"You'll be a bother to our saviors! Not to mention that we're heading straight into a hostile emperor's territory!" Pedro stood firm.
"But I've always wanted to go on an adventure! Look, I've got my own supplies and everything! I've got lunch, a snack, a drink, and a change of clothes!" Carrot said.
"How long is that going to last you?" Pekoms asked, incredulous and amused. The fact that all her foodstuffs were carrots or carrot based was adorable.
"Half a day, easily!" Carrot rubbed her nose triumphantly, clearly proud of her foresight. "The sea is a big place, after all, right?"
"It sure is a big place, but it's a bit bigger than you think, Carrot." Nami said, trying not to laugh at the poor girl.
"Oh, should I have packed for a full day?" Carrot seemed concerned now.
"It'll take anywhere from one to two weeks just to arrive at our destination, depending on what the sea throws at us." Pekoms corrected.
"T-two weeks…?" Carrot's jaw dropped. "The ocean is an even more wondrous land than I ever imagined~!"
"It's not land, it's a sea." Pekoms corrected.
"It's no big deal, she can come with us. Can you handle yourself in a fight?" Luffy asked, munching on one of her carrots.
"I sure can-'' Carrot's eyes widened at the sight of him, then lunged with uncanny speed. Her teeth bore down on Luffy's jugular. "Who said you could eat my carrot?!"
"Ahhh?! I'm gonna die!" Luffy panicked.
"Just rub her head, Luffy!" Nami called out casually.
Luffy hastily complied and Carrot went from rabid beast to adorable pet in seconds. She said, "Hehe~ It's okay, you can have the carrot."
"I guess you are pretty tough…" Luffy calmed himself down.
"Why are you even snatching vegetables from people, Luffy?" Cherry asked.
"Vegetable? Carrots are fruit aren't they?" Luffy tilted his head.
"Carrot is a rabbit!" Carrot answered cutely.
"Carrots are vegetables, except this one." Cherry rubbed Carrot's head.
"Hmm, well it tastes okay." Luffy said, chomping down another bite.
Pedro stood to the side, looking a bit worried. "Carrot IS pretty strong, but…"
Cherry wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Don't you worry, Pedro my man! I'll put Carrot through some extra special time crunch training while we're at sea~!"
Chopper and Luffy shuddered and made themselves scarce.
"Special training? I don't need to learn blacksmithing, though?" Carrot tilted her head adorably.
"Oh, you sweet summer child…" Nami sighed in pity. "Good luck, Carrot."
"???" Carrot didn't understand.
"What does this special training of yours entail?" Pedro asked, though he was forming a vague impression based on how Cherry's friends were reacting.
"I can't tell you that, Pedro." Cherry shook her head. "Not knowing when it will end is part of it."
"I won't tell Carrot even if you tell me." Pedro assured.
Cherry's face twisted into a creepy smile.
"Oh," Pedro realized. His voice dropped an octave with a gulp, "Oh… I don't really need training, though. A-and I need to preserve my strength…"
"Fatigue won't be an issue, and you can always use more training. Hehehe~" Cherry chuckled like she had a brand new toy to play with.
"Ah, is that a news coo? I'll go get it!" Pedro escaped, clambering up the mast like his tail was on fire.
He paid the bird for a paper and climbed back down, with some hesitance.
"Seems something big happened." Pedro commented, showing the front page off.
Cherry went from smiling like a devil to a dark frown. "The Revolutionary Army's headquarters at Baltigo was found and destroyed…"
"What?! Is Sabo okay?" Luffy charged over as he overheard.
"Your dad too." Chopper added.
The others gathered around as well to hear the news, either out of curiosity or personal interest in certain individuals.
"Black Beard? Those guys were the cause?" Luffy said.
"Yes, the government caught wind of them too, but only arrived after the base had been destroyed." Nami affirmed. "Ugh, but they apparently found Wapol in the rubble, gross."
"Wapol?! Why was HE there?!" Chopper exclaimed.
"I king-napped him and brainwashed him to be a human factory for the Revolutionary Army." Cherry casually explained, frown still marring her face as she read ahead.
"Doesn't mention any casualties. Cipher Pol had a small skirmish with Black Beard before he retreated. So your father and Sabo should be fine." Pedro deduced.
"Yes, the government would have proclaimed any deaths among the leadership as some grand victory. That doesn't mean no one died though." Cherry spoke, clearly disturbed.
"You and Robin spent some time with them, didn't you? I hope they're all okay." Nami said consolingly.
"Mm. Those lot are all survivors above all else, and if not then they knew what they were signing up for." Cherry sighed.
"You gotta admire the revolutionaries. Being a pirate is one thing, but actively fighting the government? That takes balls of steel. It's even more impressive that it took this long for the government to score a major victory against them, and it wasn't even the government's win." Pekoms complimented.
"Shishishi! That's right, Sabo has HUGE balls!" Luffy accepted the praise in his sworn brother's place.
"Really? He should probably see a doctor about that." Chopper commented.
"Pfft~!" Cherry and Brook covered their mouths to stop the barks of laughter from escaping.
"Oh, grow up you two!" Nami chastised, though her heart clearly wasn't in it judging by her smile.
A sudden gust took Nami's attention and she started ordering people about to alter their course. Luffy stole away into the kitchens for painfully obvious reasons, so Cherry made a mental note to ask Takako to get some food for them later. Subsisting off of fish and/or sea king meat alone wasn't great nutritionally speaking, but they'd be fine like that for a couple weeks anyways.
"Now then, my little kitten and bunny~!" Cherry announced, drawing a shudder from both Pedro and Carrot, though the latter wasn't sure why just yet. "Let's get started with your training, shall we?"
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