One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ Nest Egg ❯ Kohato the Water Lily ( Epilogue )

     A girl ran through the deep jungles of a tropical island. In her arms was a small bundle inside a burlap sack. She leapt over logs and pot holes in the dirt to keep her speed up. The small gang of men right behind here weren’t very happy with her at the moment. That burlap sack in her hands had, until about ten minutes ago, been in their possession. She heard several voices yelling behind her. When she saw a knife whiz by her head she started keeping it down.

     She cursed to herself when she saw a dead end coming up. It was a rock wall about five feet high. For most people, this would be a bad thing since climbing it with a large object in your arms was no easy task. However, the girl was not most people.

     With a little concentration she made arms appear out of the stone in front of her, aligned in a way to help her climb up with easy. She also made two other arms appear out of her sides and grab on tightly to her prize, freeing the two arms actually attached to her shoulders to grab onto the hands on the rock and pull herself up the short wall with ease. She managed to get some extra distance from her pursuers, who had to climb up the hard way.

     The head start did little good, though, as the girl’s path ended with a large rift in the earth she couldn’t possibly jump. Looking below, she saw a river about fifteen feet below her. Looking up, she saw several long fines, just out of reach. Well, out of reach for a normal person. She held her hand out high above her, her palm flat and facing up towards the sky. A new arm extended from her palm and grabbed a vine, pulling it down so her real hand could take it. With a running start she jumped the ridge and held on to the vine tight. She might have actually made the swing… if the vine hadn’t snapped.

     The girl hit the water below just as the men chasing her got to the rift.

     “Ah, dangit!” one man cursed, “Whatta we do now?!”

     “We go down there and get it back.” another man, the leader of the gang, replied.

     “But, if she survived the fall-”

     “She’ll just drown in the river. You saw what she did with her hands, she ate a Devil Fruit. She’s dead either way, and our treasure’s heavy enough that it won’t get swept out too far by currents before we can get it back.”

     “Oh yeah.” the first man said with a laugh, “Hey, maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll hang on to it as she drowns. Then all we gotta do is pry it out of her cold, dead hands!”

     As the gang took their sweet time getting down to the river, a young girl’s head came out from the waters. She swam her way to the northern shore, her bag still tightly in the grasp of two hands at her sides. She climbed out of the river, took her bag in her normal hands again, and left, laughing to herself. That trick never failed.

     Get the prize, make a show of my powers, then “accidentally” fall into some conveniently placed body of water. The other side’ll always think I died, giving me ample time to make a clean getaway. I’m gonna be sore this time though, stupid vine breaking before I could let go of it! So surprised I couldn’t dive in right.

     She followed the river west to where it poured out into the ocean. There she saw her ship, anchored at the beach just as planned. It was a good sized boat, larger than a Caravel. Enough for a crew of seven or so to reside in without having to share bedrooms. Along the sides and on the sail were painted pictures of white flowers in green ovals. In the boat, her crew waved and greeted her.

     “Another successful hunt, eh Captain?” asked a sandy blonde haired girl of nineteen.

     “Yep!” she said with a toothy smile, “I always wish I could stick around long enough to see their faces when they realize I got away! But that would defeat the whole purpose of getting out while their guard’s down.”

     “What’re you gonna do?” the blonde asked with a shrug. Her captain laughed as she opened the sack and took out the object inside. A stone bust of a stern looking man.

     “The Oltean hero Mamudin!” the young captain exclaimed as she held it up, “The Alabasta National museum should reward us nicely for retrieving it for them.”

     “That’s good to know.” said the girl’s crewmate as they boarded, “So, shall we be on our way, then.”

     “Let’s go!” the captain replied loudly while she stowed the bust in a well packed crate.

     As the anchor of the boat was hefted up by two of the men on the crew, the girl captain held out her arm, from the crow’s nest an odd bird perched on the outstretched limb. The girl stroked the bird’s head, which had an odd habit of being upside down, as if it were too heavy for its own neck.

     “Mizuliri’s a go, captain.” said a sullen looking boy.

     “Good.” the girl replied as she petted her bird.

     Looking at the passing ocean, the girl contemplated her life. Just a few months ago, she had set sail from the island of Secome, where she had lived for ten years, since she was seven years old. In that time, she’d gained quite a reputation as a first-rate treasure hunter and archaeologist. Able to retrieve stolen or lost artifacts anywhere and in any situation. She and her loyal crew had braved various dangerous places all in the name of treasure and adventure.

     Unlike many who only made the claim, she had many names. When she was born, she was named Nico. Growing up, she had been called Adoyoshi. Nowadays, because of her Devil Fruit powers and the ability to swim, people had come to call her the “Water Lily.” However, none of these were the names she called herself.

     She was the daughter of Nico Robin and Adoyoshi Shuban.

     Her name was Nicoshi Kohato. A young woman who sailed the seas seeking excitement, adventure, and, one day, a reunion with her long lost mother. She would keep the promise she made as a little girl and find Nico Robin.

     “But, ‘til then, this is good, too.” she said to her bird, Downey, as the boat sailed off to Alabasta.