EPISODE 02 : THE MAN
IN THE STRAW HAT
( buggy 'nose' all )

WAVES ROCKED THE ship gently back and forth, the perfect movements to send anjali's eyes fluttering shut upon the long journey.

nami and luffy were busy on the deck trying to open the safe, while anjali tried to catch up on her sleep; which she had not gotten for a few fair days.

zoro was stubbornly leaned against the wooden support pillar on the ship, his face a few feet away from anjali's. the copper haired woman payed no attention to him, even though he constantly nagged her.

"pearl." he whispered softly through half-lidded eyes, sleepiness also consuming his senses like a warm blanket.

"hmm?" all she could do was hum in response, keeping her eyes shut. he was too close for comfort as it was already.

"am i forgiven yet?" zoro asked.

anjali let out a short breath through her nose, imitating laughter as best as she could without actually opening her mouth.

"no."

turning, anjali made herself comfortable facing the wall so her back was to him, not caring that the green haired man was glaring daggers at her.

fortunately, he'd taken the hint and also crossed his arms, snuggling into himself as much as he could. the man didn't even comment on the eggshell white sword that his old friend had tucked safely in her arms, never once letting go as if it would disappear before her very eyes.

just then, loud victorious noises sounded from outside. anjali groaned, squeezing her eyes shut in order to pretend like this had not thrown off her almost asleep self.

calloused hands gently scuffed her auburn hair, pushing her back down to the place she was previously curled up against.

"go back to sleep. i'll check it out." zoro murmured.

anjali swatted his hand away and yawned, heeding his words but only because she was too tired to get up anyway.

soon, her semi-conscious mind heard their voices grow louder as they entered the inside of the ship. her memory grew hazy with the strange talks about this grand line and king of the pirates.

anjali distinctly remembered reading something about them, though her recollection was too fuzzy at the moment.

then the boat rocked, like a crib lulling a baby to sleep, back and forth. though this one was rather violent, it worked all the same.

red filled anjali's fading vision before everything went black, the final echo of a yell being her name and hands wrapping around her.

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SLUGGISHLY, ANJALI AWOKE in a completely different place than where she fell asleep, strips of light the only thing she could see through the wooden cage they were currently in.

her head was leaned against something, which she soon realized to be zoro's shoulder. as if on instinct, the copper haired woman lifted her head at lightning speed and pretended that it never happened.

"good, you're finally awake." nami's voice interrupted, looking at anjali.

"what happened?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"we were ambushed by pirates." she explained, though her tone was quite passive aggressive.

well, anjali understood. she too would be angry if the people she was stuck with were good-for-nothings.

"they took my swords." zoro said through gritted teeth, and anjali's vision lowered to see that he didn't have a single blade on him.

that meant . . . frantically, anjali looked around the wooden box, only to find no trace of the white sword she had so carefully kept guarded.

"shit." she mumbled, running a hand through her slightly knotted hair.

"they took my rucksack with all my navigational gear too." nami clicked her tongue in annoyance.

luffy gasped and brought a hand to his head, only to sigh in relief when the straw hat he always wore was intact.

suddenly nami's eyes widened. "shit, we lost the map."

"no we didn't." luffy smiled slyly, patting his stomach. "it's in a safe place."

"ew, gross." anjali gagged, looking repulsed. how were they supposed to get it back now?

zoro broke the whispered tension as he began to pummel the wood with his fists, eyes set on the light outside.

"hey, cut that out!" anjali slapped his arm, though not with too much force.

"what? i'm trying to find a way out." he replied, ignoring her words.

"you idiot, we've been captured. we need a plan, not your freakish strength." she rolled her eyes, pulling the man away from the planks.

"i don't need a plan —" the green haired man began, but luffy shushed everyone.

"hey guys, relax. we're fine." he said gently.

"we're not fine! the marines will throw us in jail if we're lucky." nami said, feeling the roof of the cage in an attempt to find some sort of opening.

"they're not marines. before i got knocked out, i saw a jolly roger. we've been captured by pirates."

"oh yeah, like that's any better." anjali rolled her eyes, plopping back down on the floor.

"no, he's right." zoro added. "marines have training. pirates are easier to kill."

"if you're thinking of killing, leave me out of it." anjali butted in.

"shanks used to say not every situation can be solved by violence" luffy grinned.

"who the hell is shanks?" zoro and anjali said, their voices in sync. the woman shot the green haired man a nasty glare.

the straw hat pirate ignored them, only looking in between his not-really crew. "we don't need to fight."

"i can talk to them. y'know, pirate to pirate." he said smugly.

"yeah, go out there and get yourself killed, why don't you?" anjali barked out a laugh.

"how about we just do our best to not get killed? i think that's challenging enough." she added, crossing her arms.

just as she said those words, the top of the wooden box was lifted into the air, and bright flashing lights and circus music filled the large tent they had apparently been at the whole time.

"wow, this is just great." anjali said sarcastically. "i've always wanted to die by the hands of a freak pirate."

zoro took the spot next to her, scanning the packed stands. anjali nudged him slightly.

"they're all being held prisoners. look at the locks on their feet." she whispered, ignoring the way he leaned his head to fully catch her words. 

a man wearing a fluffy bear costume raised a cue board, and the audience clapped through their tears. luffy even raised a hand in greeting before nami thankfully slapped it down.

"no. no, no, no — stop clapping!" the shrill voice of a man wearing some type of coat shrouded in darkness filled the tent.

anjali bit back a laugh when the man's face was revealed in the light. he had a big red clown nose and a weird bloody smile. there was a pirate hat on his head, which hid two oddly shaped pigtails, and two crossbones painted in white on his forehead.

"the spotlight was late! you completely missed my entrance." the man gestured to himself violently.

the bright light moved from the group to the clown pirate.

"and where, oh where was the dancing lion?" that question was directed to the man in the white costume.

"hey, i know you." luffy said suddenly, pointing at the man. "i saw your wanted poster in shellstown. you're that clown guy! um, binky, right?"

anjali snorted. she also recognized him because his bounty was so high. also because he looked very strange, especially with that red nose.

"buggy." the pirate corrected. "buggy the clown. buggy, the flashy fool. buggy, the genius jester."

"how many names does this guy have?" anjali muttered under her breath.

"wow." luffy looked impressed. "you have a lot of names. i bet everyone in the east blue knows who you are."

the audience gasped.

buggy giggled. "what did you just say?"

luffy looked confused. "just that everyone knows who you are."

the pirate strided over to luffy, grabbing his chin forcefully in his gloved hand.

"nose?!" he yelled. "are you making fun of my nose?!"

anjali had to duck behind zoro to hide her silent fit of laughter as a few of the circus folk approached them menacingly.

"well, i wasn't." luffy said through squished cheeks. "but now that you mention it, is that thing for real?"

anjali couldn't take it anymore. she was a sucker for jokes. harshly gripping zoro's arm in order to stop herself from exploding in laughter, anjali closed her eyes and sealed her lips with her teeth.

"that hurts." zoro hissed under his breath, prying her grip off his now red arm.

"what's real is i've been scheming for months to steal that map from old axe-hand moron, only to find out that i was upstaged by four little nobodies, who stole it from right out under my no—"

"no! it's in my head now!" he yelled, angrily stomping his boots on the floor.

anjali stifled another laugh before erupting into full-blown laughter, the sounds of which were muffled by zoro's shirt, which was what anjali was using to keep herself from laughing too loudly.

during her fit of silent laughter, anjali overheard buggy's boasting monologue over how he's the most wanted pirate in the east blue, blah, blah, blah.

suddenly zoro stepped up and anjali had to release the fabric from his back, finally collecting herself from her laugher.

"alright, listen up." he announced, and anjali had to hold back a cringe from his little introduction. "i'm roronoa zoro. drop your weapons now and i may let you live."

the copper haired girl whistled lowly, a smirk painting her face. "yeah, that'll really make 'em piss their pants."

her words were infused with sarcasm, and zoro sent her a glare to make her zip her lips.

buggy laughed, though it sounded more like a dehydrated wheeze. "ladies and gentlemen, we have a celebrity in our midst!"

"too bad i hate sharing the spotlight." he added in an after tone, his grin slacking into a snarl. "now, maybe we should skip right to the finale."

he raised his hand, and four glittering knives peeked out from in between each finger. "my freaks put quite a bit of rehearsal time into this little abduction. and if i can't reward them with that map . . ."

he grinned manically. "i suppose ill have to offer them a pound of flesh instead."

nami stepped up. "wait — wait. what if i have something else to offer you?" the corners of her lips twitched upwards. "something more valuable than the map?"

"what if, i give you a new freak for your crew?" she proposed.

anjali didn't like her tone of voice, and a flash of remembrance from shellstown passed her mind. axe$-hand morgan had called her a thief. there was no telling what she was up to.

"a rare talent. the most spectacular act in all of the east blue." she continued. "besides you, of course."

zoro took a step backwards, his arm slightly raised to stop anjali from stepping forwards. she was too distracted to push it out of the way, her eyes trained on nami.

buggy raised an eyebrow. "go on."

the orange haired girl swiftly snatched luffy's straw hat, tossing it up in the air. the man yelped and reached out for it, only for the wind to carry the hat a few meters up in the air.

he outstretched his hand to pluck the hat from the air, and nami bolted out of the tent, leaving their group a trio.

anjali watched her go and return shortly, being dragged by two of buggy's pirates. her bright blue eyes were filled with tears.

"what did you do to their town? you destroyed everything!" she screamed.

the blue haired pirate shrugged, leaning against a barrel. "not everything."

he took a bite out of something anjali couldn't see. "i let 'em keep their hands."

the man in the white costume lifted the cue board once more and the crowd erupted in scattered applause.

buggy scoffed, beginning his walk closer to the group. "okay, here end the theatrics."

every spotlight moved to the center, illuminating the not-really crew.

"i know one of you has my map, and i'm gonna get it back." he directed his gaze to luffy. "what was it you said, rubber boy? that it was in a safe place?"

luffy looked around, gulping.

"don't look so surprised. i've got eyes and ears everywhere."

"i guess you could say buggy 'nose' all." anjali snickered under her breath. zoro elbowed her in response.

buggy's eyes narrowed in her direction. his lips twisted into a snarl, nose comically large against his scrunched up face.

"make our guests uncomfortable in the green room." his pirates pulled zoro and anjali apart.

"especially miss blabbermouth." he pointed a gloved hand at anjali.

all she could do was offer her most devilish grin and tap her nose playfully before she was dragged out of the circus tent.

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‎ ⚔︎ AUTHOR'S NOTE !

starting off the second episode with a semi-long chapter yesss!!

i love my little bickering duo <33 anjali's personality is finally beginning to shine thruu!!!

for now their dynamic is going to be mostly insults from anjali's end and obedient puppy from zoro's end bc he's still trying to get on his good side and she's still debating whether of not she wants him to stay in her life 😣

other than that pls lmk if there are any mistakes in the spelling or anything so i can fix it !

also don't b afraid to vote or comment, i will probably (very likely) reply!!!!

happy reads!

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─── ANNIE