Chapter Twenty-Four
"Hit harder," Zoro demanded.
Taylor didn't glare at him for his demand. She knew how training worked. She had received her fair share and has spent plenty of time training others. Being a little tough was just part of the game.
"She's hitting plenty hard!" Nami yelled back.
Having the two girls face off in close quarters on the deck of Nami's little ship was probably some sort of weird game for Zoro and Luffy. The two boys were sitting at the bow, Luffy acting as the ship's figurehead while Zoro rested under him with one leg drawn up.
Taylor didn't pay them too much attention, she was busy circling around Nami who was holding her staff in a defensive stance. The little thief was faster than Taylor, and stronger, but not on the level that Zoro or Luffy were.
Technically, she was as good or better than the boys in a scrap. She knew how to fight, where to land a blow, how to deflect one. But they outclassed her in speed and strength and the ability to take a hit. Enough so that fighting them was rather futile.
There was definitely some power-related bullshit going on if Zoro could bench press three times his own weight without breaking a sweat. His lies about training hard to be able to become a Brute were obviously some sort of distraction.
Still, the fact that slim little Nami could hit like a truck was also galling.
Taylor noticed Nami's foot shift, the first motion that would flow into one of her staff katas. Before she had time to resettle her weight, Taylor was moving in. Her arm was still healing, and her other arm was just plain missing. When it came to fighting in close quarters having literally no hands to use was a nightmare.
So she had to make up for it in other ways.
She sidestepped Nami's first strike, then ducked into a roll when Nami swung her staff horizontally. The displaced wind from the blow passed through her hair as she came out of her roll, used her momentum to jump, then delivered a quick kick at Nami's chest.
Nami managed to block the blow with her staff, but that only meant that Taylor had time to find her balance. She was well within Nami's bubble now.
He next step forwards came with a knee strike that Nami avoided with a step to the side. She was letting go of her staff, fist cocked by her side to hit Taylor in the jaw.
It was a good idea. Abandon the now useless weapon in favour of delivering a potentially crippling blow. But Taylor was one step ahead, literally. She rammed her forehead down as hard and fast as she could.
Nami crashed to the ground, both hands cradling the side of her head. "Ouch! Damn it Taylor, that hurts!"
[Idiot Host! Connection to Queen Administrator within Cranium! Destruction of Head would mean loss of Communications!]
Taylor panted for a moment and carefully brought her hand up to rub the spot on her head where she'd hit Nami. "You were open," she said to Nami, her voice as soft as it could be.
Nami wobbled a bit on the ground, then glared up at her. "I don't get why you're practicing so hard if you can just talk people into unconsciousness."
"Because eventually I'll meet someone who won't faint, like Zoro and Luffy here."
"She's not wrong," Zoro said. "You need to shore up your weaknesses if you want to live on this ocean."
"Yeah, but she doesn't need to break my head to do it."
Taylor chuckled and extended her hand down to Nami. "Sorry. Did you want to take a break?"
Nami took the offered hand and got to her feet. "Yeah, sure. The water's shifting a bit, I think we're reaching a more shallow part of the ocean."
"We are," Taylor confirmed.
Nami blinked at her. "How do you know?"
"I can control the crabs and lobsters beneath us. Usually they're too deep, but they've been slipping in and out of my range for a few minutes." Taylor looked around, taking in the area they were in from the hundreds of eyes above them. "There's a small island on the horizon. Other than that it's just our two boats and a whole lot of water."
"You're handy to have around," Nami said. She started moving towards the cabin at the back. "I'll check the maps, give me a minute."
"Just a little handy," Taylor said as she gestured with her only hand.
"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as he rocked from side to side on his perch. "That's funny," he said.
"Thanks. Got to laugh about it. Anyway, I'm not done training."
"You're not," Zoro agreed. "We need to get your strength up. You're weaker than a puppy."
"Call me puppy again and you're waking up with bugs in your nose," Taylor warned.
The swordsman rolled his eyes and gestured to the middle of the deck. "Complain less and do more pushups," he said before closing his eyes and going back to his nap.
She huffed, but did as he said. She was going to have to rely on only one arm. Having it be weak just wouldn't do. She was grunting her way into the low twenties when Nami moved back onto the deck, a map held in both hands.
"It's a small jungle island. Nothing much of note. We can sail right past it," she said.
"No!" Luffy said. "Jungles have meat! Zoro start rowing!"
"Yes, captain!"
In moments, the two idiots were aboard their much smaller boat and rowing towards the island on the horizon.
"We could just leave them behind," Nami said. "We have all that treasure aboard this ship."
Taylor sighed and returned to doing her push-ups. "Nah. They'll probably kill themselves if I'm not there to keep them out of trouble. Can't have that hanging over out heads."
Nami sighed. "Darn," she said.
A moment later their ship shifted and started to follow after their idiots.
***
Strength: H>G
Close Quarters Combat: D>C
A small island approaches!
[] Explore!
[] Find the idiots and get them back on the ocean!
[] Go hunting for lunch and supplies!
[] Stay with Nami and the ships!
[] Write in...
