(first i wanna apologize. I would have released this a day ago, but i had some internet issues. But here it is)
"That lady is insane.." Buggy mumbled to himself, holding on for dear life.
"Let her have her fun." Aden said to him.
As they continued downwards at high speeds, the boat began creaking and cracking.
"Can't you do something!?" Buggy shouted at his captain, worried about sinking.
"I could...But you won't like it." Aden replied with a grin.
"Better than sinking!"
"Alright, here we go..." Aden said, holding out his hands. Making a pulling motion, the wind suddenly shifted. The boat began to slow down, and leave the water surface.
"What the hell!!" Buggy shouted in fear.
"Told you."
Aden kept up his hold of his power, and the boat began to fly in a more or less straight way. Still falling, but much slower, and it was more like it glided on an invisible current. Which it did. A current of high pressure air flowing under the boat, carried it safely towards now visible water surface.
"Wait a second..." Nojiko said, pointing downwards, to their five o'clock.
"Is that a freaking whale blocking the exit?" she asked wide-eyed.
"Yep..I remeber that one. It's been here a long time." Buggy chimed in.
"Can you get us down?" Nojiko asked Aden.
"I can get us down faster, but not drop us as it would kill us...Well, you. And i can't change direction, it is hard enough just floating us like this." Aden said calmly.
"So how do you know where to go?" Nojiko asked, confused.
"I don't. But you should by now." Aden replied, tapping his wrist.
"Ohhhh....You're right. I totally forgot... Let's see here.."
"I am worried about her sanity sometimes..." Buggy whispered to Aden.
"That makes two of us. But hey, makes it more fun to have her along, no?" Aden whispered back.
"That is what worries me."
"OH! We're actually going the right way. The needle is pointing just about five degrees left from where we are heading. We can just adjust once we hit water." Nojiko exclaimed excitedly.
.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Look at this, guys?" shouted a Red-Haired individual, somewhere on the seas.
"What is it, captain?" a large man dressed in green and white stripes shirt asked curiously.
"It's Aden and Luffy! They got a bounty." Shanks exclaimed happily.
"And a decent one at that." added Yasopp.
"Twenty nine million, and twenty million ain't bad at all." added Lucky Roux, munching on a piece of meat.
"Hahaha! I can't wait to see how they do. Apparently, they should be entering Grand Line pretty soon. If they didn't already." Shanky said.
"This calls for a celebration!" he continued.
"I thought you said you had enough, captain?" another membrrnof the crew mocked.
"Meh, i got over it. Let's drink!!"
"YEAHH!"
.
"Hey, guys! The food is ready!" Sanji shouted from the kitchen, as he finished setting the table.
As everyone sat down, they noticed the morose look on Luffy's face.
"Luffy, what's wrong?" asked Nami.
"I miss Aden." he admitted with a sniffle.
"Don't. He decided to leave." Zoro said plainly.
"Hey! That's not nice." Usopp defended.
"It's the truth, though. And i fully agree with his decision.. We were getting to reliant on the guy already. What would happen if he stayed?" Zoro spoke seriously.
"We'd end up using him as a safety net. " Sanji said, hitting the nail on the head.
"See? So get over it! Besides, he promised to visit, right?"
"True." Luffy admitted. And immediately began to stuff his face with food.
.
A couple days of sailing later and after Aden gently set the boat back in the water, the trio was looking forward to seeing their first island on the Grand Line.
For Buggy this was not exactly new, but he was just as excited to start a new adventure.
"What island do you thing we will hit?" Nojiko asked, restless.
"No idea. Judging by the direction so far, i have not seen this path." Buggy said scratching his head. He no longer wore the hat as he was not a captain anymore.
"Either way, we should be careful. We are not yet strong enough to tempt fate. So keep our noses clean... As much as possible anyway." Aden said seriously.
"You mean 'we' aren't strong enough." said Nojiko pointing between herself and Buggy.
"No. I meant what i said. I may seem strong to you, but compared to some of the monsters in the world, i am still way below them. Even the weather is dangerous here." Aden said seriously.
"Okay. We get it. So what's the plan?" asked Buggy.
"We get stronger. By any means nec....."
"Captain. Storm ahead. Looks bad." Nojiko warned.
"I should have kept quiet.." Aden said sadly.
Ahead of them was a huge storm happening. Lightning strikes kept hitting the sea and wild wind currents were causing giant waves.
"Ohhh, that ain't good. I can handle normal storms, but this is beyond me for now." Aden said in a worried tone.
"WHAT!?" shouted two voices.
"I'll try to keep the wind steady, but i make no promises. ... We really need a proper ship." Aden continued, already deciding on the best approach.
The storm was getting closer and closer, and Aden was doing all he could to steady the wind around them. It was helping a bit, but both Buggy and Nojiko could see he was struggling.
Seeing there was not much they could do to help, they focused on keeping the boat in one piece. Nojiko was steering the boat, succesfully holding course. While Buggy was doing his best bailing.
Aden was getting tired. Right now he was floating above the boat, doing all he could to keep an area of stable wind. But this was no normal storm, this was a Grand Line storm. Not only the winds were very strong, but he also had to dodge lightning strikes. He could sense, that even with his Logia nature, getting struck would be dangerous.
This went on for hours, and everyone was running on fumes. Nojiko was barely holding onto the wheel, Buggy was just so-so managing to hold the boat together, and Aden was so tired, he no longer floated above, but was standing on top of the mast.
Luckily, the storm began to break and rays of sunlight pierced the thick clouds.
They all saw the good weather beyond.
However, the storm decided on one last 'fuck you' goodbye present.
The clouds above churned and released a rumbling sound. The clouds began to glow and before anyone could react...
Aden's hair stood on end. He felt the static in the air. Knowing what it meant, he tried to jump away, but stopped. If he tried to dodge, the bolt would hit the boat, sinking it.
But if he didn't, he could die.
"Ah to hell with it!" Aden shouted in his mind.
Pulling on all the energy he had left, he jumped high in the air, just as the lightning struck. Hitting him head on.
A blinding explosion of light brightened up the sky.
"ADEN!!" "CAPTAIN!!" Nojiko and Buggy shouted.
.
Two days after the storm, Nojiko and Aden were walking down a street in the town of Agorath, on the island simply named Pleatau. Nojiko had her staff strapped to her back, as she decided to always have it with her, seeing as it helps with her illusions.
After asking the locals about their location, and after being given the name of the island, the name began to make sense. As the island was an elevated rocky platform, with docks being dotted around the island, with stairs leading up and over the edge.
Asking about the town they were in, the name was apparently just an amalgamation of words Agony and Wrath. It was named such because hundreds of years ago, the lord of the island was a 'ruthless cunt', to quote the inhabitants. The people of the town lived in agony, and filled with wrath.
Simple name but it fit at the time, so it stuck.
As Nojiko and Aden continued to look for supplies, and hopefully a doctor to recruit, which is a possibility seeing as this place is not exactly the most lawfull, they were being observed from the shadows.
"The Four Winds Aden and Kleptomaniac Nojiko are on Agorath. Orders?" a cloaked individual said into a small Transponder Snail.
"Unless they cause trouble, do not engage! From the reports i got, they are stronger than the let on. Leave them be for now. If they stay and leave without any trouble, we can just forget they were ever here." the voice on the other end said.
"Understood." the observer said, slinking away into the shadows.
The sun began to set, when Nojiko and Aden finally found what appeared to be a clinic. The building was not in the best shape, but the lights were on.
Stepping inside, the first thing they saw was the operating table with a huge light above. A table with surgical tools was nearby, filled with everything from scalpels to a bonesaw.
Contrary to the look of the building, everything in here was kept clean and neat. Even though it all seemed to be not in the best condition.
Sitting in a spinning chair behind a table was the doctor, filling out some paperwork.
A beautiful lady, with shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes and lightly tanned skin.
She was dressed in a purple shirt, black knee-length skirt, grey boots with white buckles and a white doctor coat over it all. She also had a pair of reading glasses on.
"Hello. My name is Miko Tsuki. How may i help you?" the doctor asked in a mature silky smooth voice.
"Hello, doctor." Aden began to speak "We are in a dire need of help."
"What is it? You do not appear sick or injured." doctor said, confused.
"It's our friend. He is hurt. We left him back on the ship. He was given basic first aid, but i'm afraid we need an actual doctor. We need to find a doctor willing to join us, but that's besides the point." Nojiko spoke with a slight tremble to her voice.
"You require a ship doctor?? ...Nevermind, take me to your friend. I will see what i can do." the doctor spoke with urgency, packing a bag full of medical supplies and rushed out.
As they rushed back to the docks, Nojiko and Aden asked a few questions to the doctor.
She told them that not many people visited her clinic, as they simply looked at the building and decided to go to the bigger clinic on the other side of town. Even though they needed urgent care. This resulted in the clinic not having enough income, forcing the doctor to barely get by.
Finally reaching the docks and finding their boat, which was barely holding together, they went inside. In there they saw Buggy sitting next to Aden, changing his bandages.
Aden was currently laying there unconcious, with visible lightning shaped burns over most of his body.
"Wait.. what? He is..But he is " the doctor was confused, looking between Aden ln the bed and Aden next to Nojiko. Only for the concious Aden to flicker and melt into thin air.
Nojiko breathed out a sigh of relief, as she could finally relax.
"That is my ability. I can make images appear around me. But nevermind that. Can you help him?" Nojiko asked impatiently.
"I can. I just need to make sure his organs are okay." the doctor said, setting down her bag and getting to work.
.
Hours later, the doctor assured them, that Aden would be fine. She decided to stick around to make sure, because she had nothing to do in her clinic anyway.
They all got to talking, and Nojiko explained how they needed a doctor in their crew, confirming they were pirates. The doctor did not care about them being pirates, as she had a level of hatred towards the World Government and the navy. This actually meant that Nojiko and her started to get along rather well.
It was the next morning, that a groan sounded on the ship. Stumbling his way to the deck, or what was left of it, Aden held his head. His uppe clothes were off, and he was covered in bandages.
"Oh hey. You're finally awake. Not as umtouchable as you like people to believe, huh?" mocked Buggy with humour, but really he was happy his friend was okay.
"Never claimed i was invincible?" Aden said with a tired smirk "How long..?" He asked tiredly.
"About two days. We were worried. Luckily we found a doctor on the island. She helped a lot.
And we got to talking all day yesterday, and she might be willing to join us." Nojiko stated happily.
"Ohh? And where is this doctor?" Aden asked with honest interest.
"Right here, mister lightning-rod. Heh. Miko Tsuki, pleasure to meet you. While you are awake i mean." the doctor said jokingly, as she climbed back on board.
Aden immediately froze in place the moment he saw her. He had a flash of memory, and he knew that face well. Causing one thing to go through his mind.
"What is she doing here?... Nico Robin?"
(Dun dun duuuun! What a twist eh?
But really im just making it up as a go. Mostly. Hope you enjoyed and i will see you next time.)