Chapter 8: Prison Bonding
Luffy's POV
"We don't need to do that, I have a plan to get out of this without bounties on our heads" I assured her of our safety from the authorities.
"THIS IS THE GRAKKAN IMPERIAL ARMY, DROP YOUR WEAPONS, TURN OFF ALL AUGMENTATIONS, AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP, IF YOU FAIL TO CORPORATE YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON." a small hovership (Ships designed for on world travel, as the engines of Stella ships can disrupt and poison an atmosphere) lit a search light on us and loudly announced.
"I hope you are right about this, if you're not then the small amount of trust I have in you will die out" as she said that Zoran let go of the swords she had 'borrowed' and let them drop to the ground and raised her hands.
We now find ourselves in different holding cells situated, opposite to each other, deep in Army HQ at this Outposts.
"Ugh!"
Seeming to have had me groan, Zoran inquired what seemed to be troubling me, as I had been groaning like this since we had been locked up in here.
"Whats got your pennies in a twist over there, the sounds your making there aren't exactly soothing"
"Oh sorry, it seems that the walls here are lined with Oriculcum so my body has been a little bit out of whack since we got here."
"Oriculcum?" she ask what I meant by it,
'it seems that she had no idea about the Lacrima-bound, and on that note, I thought Oriculcum was a rare mineral so I didn't worry too much about people using it against me, but now that I know that the Army has enough to line even the cells of frontier colonies I should be careful'
Pushing through my discomfort and weaknesses I sit up straight and now face to face with Zoran.
"I know that I already gave you my name but, I'm Monkey D Luffy, and I'm 17 years old right now"
She looks at me for a while but then relents "My name is Zoran, no last name, and I'm 19 years old" thinking she was done. I was preparing to ask my follow up question, when her hair turned white.
"And, I'm Raina, I'm 17 years old, I like puppies, yummy food and what else...." then seeming to be lost in thought for a while she then looks crestfallen
"OK sis I'll give you back control but I still want to talk with him more, OK Captain I'm going to go for a while, but it was nice talking to you, I'm so glad we could make a new friend" her hair then goes back to being green.
"I'm sorry she's just excited"
"Well, it's nice to meet you Zoran, you too Raina, I look forward to getting to know you better, the both of you"
Zoran looked at me with suspicion written all over her face, "Sorry she's just excited to talk to you, she's been nagging me since we met you, You're not going to ask?" she didn't need to clarify, for me to know what she meant by her question.
"Your life and past are none of my business, but just know this, from the moment you agreed to join my crew, I now have the responsibility of ensuring your safety, so if ever your troubles grow to be too much for you, don't hesitate to rely on me, I will put my own life in stake for your safety" my words seemed to have an effect on her as her hair seemed to Chaotically shifted between white and green.
"Why would you go so far for us, no offense but you hardly know us" she asked with doubt in her voice.
"Well since you as my crew are helping me fulfill my dream of finding the one piece, I see it as my job as the captain to help you fulfill yours and make sure you all survive the journey, a man I have great respect for, he's the captain if his own pirate crew, yes you heard it right pirate crew once said a captain should be one who embodies the principle 'With a great station comes great responsibility' meaning with my station as captain I am now responsible for you both."
Her hair turns white, so I'm guessing Raina is in control.
"He sounds like a good man"
"Ye... Ugh... Yes Raina he is a good man he's been something of an idol to me for as long as I can remember, he even gave me my scarf, Raina right?" to that she nods with a smile.
"So why did you never become a pirate like him?" I laugh at her question.
"hahhaha, funny you should ask that, I actually wanted to become one but he talked out of it, he said pirates weren't what they used to be after Gol D Roger's death"
"who's that?" she asks with a finger to her temple
'Cute!, But!'
"How can you not know, who that is, where have you been living, under a rock?, but wait, you know what the one piece is but not who Gol D Roger is?" again she just nodes with a cute look on her face.
"When we get out of here I'm going to give you a thorough education, about the history of the greatest man to have ever roamed the cosmos"
It seems my enthusiasm weirded her out she just gave me a small "OK"
"So where did Zoran go"
"She's just talking a small nap, she said this conversation is getting too emotionally invested for her taste, but I think she just running away, it's been a long time since she allowed someone to get to get close, both physically and emotionally" taking a deep bow she continued "Thank you for all you have done for us"
Shyly scratching my cheek " I don't think I did that much"
"No, you've done more than you know, and I thank you for that".
'OK now she's just Repeating herself, let's change the subject'
"You said you and your sister have a dream, what is it"
"ugh, I don't know?" Was it something I said? Why is she acting all shy now?
"Come on just tell me, I told you mine, which most is nothing but a fantasy, it can't be more embarrassing than mine."I try to get her to tell me.
Now seeming to be down about something she responded " It's not that I'm embarrassed about it, I stand by our dream no matter what I'll even shout it to the whole universe if I have to." she takes a self-depreciating sigh "Our dream is to be the best Swordsman in the universe, It's just lately it feels like Zoran has been pulling all the weight and I'm just along for the ride"
"Is it that you can't fight then?" though my question sounded odd, 'I mean a Swordsman who can't fight' I had to know.
"No, I can fight, Back when we're kids I was an even match for her, it's just she SaaS she doesn't want anything bad to happen to me and since she failed me once in the past so she won't let it happen again"
"But you're not happy with agreement right, so just tell her and look for a solution, but wait kids?, match?" something was wrong with that sentence, how were they a match when they share the same body.
"Hpmh!"
"Hey why are you laughing at me?"
"Your face right now, it was just too funny, Me and Zoran we weren't always the same person"
"Hah, Haaaaaaaah, wha_wha_what happened" now I had to know.
"Hehe, no that's going to be a story for another time, a girl is allowed to have her secrets?, right?"
"Ok!, Like I said, I won't pry, just know if you ever need someone who will just listen, I'll be there for you and your sister"
We then left the heavy topics and talked about trivial things well into the late hours of the night, with Zoran sometimes, letting her will be known through Raina, but she never took control through all this, so much so that we could forget that this was a prison.