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Nami's POV

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"Nah, we're not here to join your crew. We're here to ask you for a favor." Luffy says while slowly getting up and placing his hat back on his head.

Crack

"A favor, from me?" Kaya asked quietly, sounding quite confused.

Slash

Slash

"Yeah! We-"

Slash

Screech

Crack

"Will you two quit it already?!" My voice booms as I hit the two idiots behind me that have been fighting ever since we landed in Kaya's yard. I swear.... I don't know how much longer I can take this.

"Oww!~ Elk, why must you be so violent!~" Sky whines while rubbing her head with fake tears in her eyes. Maybe I would be more inclined to feel sorry for you if you weren't smirking!

"Now, Kaya. As our captain was saying before he got rudely interrupted by *someone*-" I tried to calmly explain the situation, but of course, I just had to be interrupted.

"Not it!~" Sky hastily raises her hand with a somewhat serious look on her face. I don't care who started it, just that it stops!

"We would like it if you could get us a large ship by any chance!" I was soon met with a response, but not from Kaya.

"You there!" A loud voice booms next to us. I turn to see a tall man with black hair slicked back. "What do you think you're doing?" Well, he sure is polite, isn't he?

"Hey, Blondie, what's with Bigfoot?" Sky inquired, her eyes starting towards the ground before the man. Okay, I get Blondie, but big foot?

I looked down to where Sky was staring, to see where she got the idea for the guy's nickname. His feet were massive! I didn't know they had shoes for his size... My thoughts were cut off when 'big foot' suddenly yelled at us in a less than friendly manner. Thanks to Sky I bet...

"Get out! I'll have you know this is criminal trespassing." The air grew to be extremely tense, and when I looked over I could see that Usopp had started to sweat. Everyone was dead silent, for once, and no one said a thing. With every passing second I hoped someone would say something, but while I was trying to figure out what to say to calm things down, Luffy shattered the lingering silence.

"Hey, guys, who's he?" Luffy's question was only greeted with the same silence. Okay, when I asked for people to shut up, this is not what I meant.

Before the man could answer, Kaya started to speak. Her voice was very quiet, as to be expected from someone like her. "Ah, actually Klahadore, these people are-" But Kaya didn't get the chance to finish her answer before this 'Klahadore' spoke up again.

"Not now Kaya." He boomed while slowly striding towards us. "You can tell me all about this riff-raff after they've left. Now get out! All of you! Leave now unless you have some business with me!" Klahadore's voice was strong and forceful, leaving little room for an argument. Well, little room for an argument from almost anyone but our idiotic captain.

None of us had time to interject before Luffy decided to speak up, which only made things worse. "Alright! Do you think you could help us get a ship?" Luffy asked in his usual cheerful tone. Ah Luffy, ever gracing us with his misplaced optimism.

Klahadore responded almost instantly, only pausing for a brief moment to push up his glasses. "Certainly not!" Luffy let out a disappointed sigh while Zoro patted him on the shoulder. Sky looked like she was planning to put her own two cents in, but thankfully Klahadore continued to speak. "Usopp!" He shouted seemingly out of nowhere. I heard a strange noise come from behind me, where I thought Usopp was going to be, but only saw the tree he was sitting on moments before. I wanted to look for Usopp, but Klahadore continued to speak. Again. Can he stop pausing randomly and just say what he plans to say?!

"You have quite the reputation. You are very well known in the village." Klahadore continued, pausing from time to time to push up his glasses. Usopp was slowly attempting to climb back onto the tree branch he was sitting on before Klahadore showed up.

"Hehe, sure am!" Usopp's response was, let's just, less than energetic.

"I've heard you've been on many an adventure. Quite impressive for someone as young as you." Klahadore states, but his tone made it seem not at all genuine.

"Usually, people who admire me so much call me captain. So it's captain Usopp to you!" Usopp's response was full of confidence, making it pretty evident that he didn't understand Klahadore's tone. I let out a faint sigh and looked to see how my crewmates were reacting to this exchange. Luffy still looked depressed from the rejection of Klahadore refusing to help get us a ship, Zoro had a more or less passive expression on his face, while Sky... Well, Sky looked like she was watching the most boring play on Earth. Her eyes were slowly closing, and Hayzues was poking her cheek with the bottom of his paw. Can't any of them even pretend to care for a second? Despite what I thought, I wasn't much better. They were just having this back and forth conversation that was just a segway for Klahadore to insult Usopp. Klahadore doesn't seem to be a big people person and Usopp's, well, Usopp.

When I finally started to pay attention to Usopp and Klahadore again the atmosphere had completely changed. Usopp looked extremely angry as he jumped off of the tree, using a grappling hook to slow his fall.

"Don't you dare talk about my father that way!" Usopp yelled with such ferocity that I was taken aback a little. He looked to be one Sky comment away from going berserk. Klahadore didn't stop. He actually seemed quite pleased with how Usopp was reacting.

It was clear that my guess was right when Klahadore started to speak again. "But I'm only speaking the truth. Your father is simply a barbaric pirate that abandoned his own wife and son to die simply so he could go destroying the lives of others. Judging by how you're acting now, it seems the apple doesn't fall far from-!" Klahadore never got the chance to finish his sentence. He was interrupted by a surprisingly strong punch from Usopp. The three followers of Usopp all yelled out to him after witnessing him punch Klahadore.

"Case and point! He resorts to violence! I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree now does it?!" Klahadore shots, pushing up his glasses while staring straight at Usopp with a look of pure disdain. Kaya was covering her mouth, utterly shocked at Usopp's actions. Klahadore looked like he planned to say more, but Usopp cut him off once more.

"Shut up!" Usopp's voice no longer held the same cheery tone. No, it was now the sound of pure contempt. This drastic change in tone case Klahadore flinch back and hold his tongue.

Usopp wasn't done yet, though. He continued to yell at the butler about how his father is brave, and how he'll never feel ashamed of his heritage. His shouting must have snapped Klahadore out of his temporary silence because once Usopp stopped yelling, he decided to add even more fuel to Usopp's already raging fire.

The long-nosed liar was getting prepared to sock the big footed butler again, but he paused when he heard Kaya shriek.

"Stop it Usopp! Please! No more violence! I can't take it!" The blonde truly did not want to see this side of Usopp or hear her butler insult him. It does feel like we're intruders to this whole situation, doesn't it? But Usopp didn't lower his fist, which led Kaya to continue to plead with him. "Klahadore isn't a bad person! He's just... He's just trying to do what he thinks is best for me, and sometimes he goes too far!" This time, she seemed to reach him because his grip on Klahadore's suit weakened enough for the butler to swat his hand away.

Not long after commanding us to leave again, Usopp ran off, with Luffy not far behind him. It seemed pointless for the four of us to hang around the mansion, so we left in search of our captain and Usopp. None of us had any idea where they went, so we searched for the three kids in Usopp's 'crew'.

It didn't take long to find them. When we found them they were just sitting next to a fence near the road to the village. Tamanegi wasn't with them. I sat on the fence while Sky and Zoro sat on the ground. It'd be best to just get to the point and ask where Usopp would be. If we find the liar, then we'll probably find Luffy too.

"Do any of you know where those two idiots ran off to?" I ask once it became clear no one else would. Zoro and Hayzues just shook their heads, and Sky didn't seem to care about the whole situation.

Piiman was the first to speak. "I bet he's at his secret spot." Neither of the two seemed at all worried to where Tamanegi ran off to. I should just focus on Luffy and Usopp for now.

"Yeah! Over by the shore! The captain always goes there to think. Should we go see him?" Ninjin finished answering before I had to ask where this secret spot was. Even though we know this, no one seems to be in a big rush to get to them. I was about to hop off the fence to go back to the village and wait for Luffy and Usopp to come to us, rather than waste time looking for them, but it seemed our glowing eyed crew member had something to say.

"Well, I don't think anything will trouble Kiddo, and if I were to care less about Patho I think it'd end up in the negatives! Even so~ I still think leaving those two on their own would end in a ton of trouble, and not the fun kind either." Sky spoke with her normal cheery smile, but there was definitely something, off, about it. She certainly isn't concerned, but that was certainly far from her usual cheer. Why does she seem hesitant to leave those two by themselves?

"Trouble?! How do you know that our captain is in trouble?" Ninjin had taken Sky's warning to heart and was panicking at the thought of something happening to Usopp. Was it just to scare the kids? Sky's usually blunter than that, though...

"Oh?~ I know because I'm a psychic!~" Sky chimed happily, completely changing the atmosphere with a single statement. Of course, Ninjin and Piiman were too naive to see through Sky's obvious excuse of a joke. Yeah, keep changing how you act, that'll really make people like you...

"Wah?! You're psychic?! That's so cool!" Piiman and Ninjin were both bouncing around, and it was pretty clear that if I didn't say something now, Sky was going to keep stringing them along. Zoro beat me to the punch though. He had to be expecting something like this to happen.

"She's not psychic, she just felt like messing with you." Zoro said with his eyes closed. This is true friendship ladies and gentleman...

"I'm not lying Zoro-chan! I'm one hundred percent serious about Kiddo and Patho being in danger! I know because of my superhuman instincts!~" Sky yelled, feigning anger. You know, the more she speaks, the less I want to listen. I'm really starting to doubt my previous hope that she may have shown something similar to concern for our captain.

"You're not a superhuman either!" Zoro was slowly beginning to yell. Just my luck to have a short tempered swordsman and a snarky gambler being in the same crew!

"Then I'm a cyborg!" Sky gleefully responded, her smile growing bigger with every syllable. Oh, is this really going to happen again?!

"You are in no way a cyborg!" Zoro shouted, having finally lost his temper. Yep, it's happening again.

"A chimera?" Sky asked, tilting her head. Why can't these two just go off to the other side of the world and deal with their problems?

"Those don't even exist!" Zoro screamed, voice only getting louder. Seeing as how this won't be ending anytime soon, now seems to be the best time to take the kids and run to the shore. Yeah, I'm not putting up with this again. Zoro and Sky can solve their own problems.

"If not that then I'm a hybrid~!" Sky yelled cheerfully. Even though we'd already gotten pretty far away, I could still easily hear the two of them argue. Just keep walking Nami, just keep walking.

"Yeah, no way!" Zoro roared. Their conversation had officially become a yelling battle to make sure the other one heard them.

"Then how about-!" Sky attempted to bring up another impossible idea but was cut off by Zoro before she could finish.

"No!" Zoro yelled, this time, fainter due to the distance between them and myself finally making them harder to hear. Ninjin looked a little concerned, so I thought it would be best to make them focus on something else.

"Hey, where'd your other friend go? Tamanegi, right?" I asked in the calmest voice I could muster after our recent... Experience.

"Tamagi? Oh, now that you mention it he isn't here is he?" Piiman replied, only now noticing how his friend was gone.

"Yeah, he always disappears and then randomly runs at us screaming." Ninjin replied, finishing Piiman's thought for him. As if Tamagi heard us, we suddenly hear a scream drawing near. "See, just like that." Neither of the kids seemed to be the least bit concerned for their friend's well-being. You know, most people would show some concern if their friend was running towards them screaming, but stranger things have happened.

When Tamagi finally reached us, he was out of breath and panting. "Terrible news guys! Listen to me! I saw some nut job and he's on his way here, and he only walks backwards! He even had a weird purple beard!" Tamagi yelled, his voice echoing through the forest. So he saw a man moonwalking, and he had a purple beard... Thank god Sky isn't here because I'm pretty sure she'd die of blood loss of she heard this.

I was preparing to call the kid out for lying, until I saw a strange man walking backwards towards us, with what looked like a purple mushroom on his chin... I have nothing to say to this.

Before any of us could question him, he began to speak in an... interesting voice. What is wrong with this island and its people?

"Hey, you brats! I am in no way weird. You're weird just by saying something so ridiculous!" The strange man shouted while spinning around to face the four of us.

I want planning on letting him go after saying something so idiotic, so I decided to speak up. "Um yeah, the people that usually say something like that while spinning and moonwalking tend to be weird. So yes, you really are a weirdo." This island was really starting to get to me. If things like this kept happening, then I might be inclined to stick around and listen to Zoro's and Sky's fights. At least that would be somewhat entertaining...

The man seemed to be surprised by my statement and looked confused. "That is the strangest thing I've ever heard! I am merely a traveling hypnotist!" He declared in a brash voice. I'd be more inclined to believe him if he didn't have a mushroom for a beard and was wearing shades while we're in the forest.

The kids, on the other hand, seemed to eat this up, because their eyes soaked with excitement. "Really?! Oh, oh, hypnotize us, hypnotize us!" All three cried in a somewhat disturbing union. The man seemed to frown, which was unfortunate because the Usopp pirates did not seem like they'd take no as an answer.

"You fools. Why would I reveal my masterful hypnosis technique to a bunch of strangers I met in the woods?" The hypnotist responded, his tone seeming dark compared to the previously upbeat one. The kids seemed like they were about to pester him, but the man spoke up before they could please their case. "Oh, alright. You've convinced me." He gave in just like that?!

The kids squealed with joy and anticipation, while the weirdo pulled out a round metal disk tied to a string. That's gotta be what he uses to hypnotize people. Though, I'm pretty sure you usually use a pocket watch or something of the like. That disk looks pretty sharp, you could probably throw it at someone like a Frisbee and leave a mark.

"Now, watch the ring closely. When I count to Jango, you will all fall asleep. Ready?" The man started while swinging the so-called ring back and forth. "One... Two... Jango!" The hypnotist, who I'll now call Jango because Sky's nicknames are rubbing off on me, finished his countdown and like he said, they all fell asleep. Including the idiot himself...What has my life become?

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Zoro's POV

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"Don't think you're better than me just because you beat me in that one fight! The only reason you won that was because you distracted me!" I yelled viciously. After shouting for god knows how long, my throat was starting to get sore. Surprisingly, Nami hadn't tried to stop us from fighting yet. She probably thinks this is fun to watch and is sitting back seeing it unfold.

"Well, technically, I never actually won that fight thanks to Mr.Fancy Pants, and it's your fault for being so easily distracted Zoro-chan!~" Sky joyfully pointed out, making sure to drag out the honorific on my name. One of these days. One. Of. These. Days.

The only good thing I can say about this conversation is how Sky isn't rubbing her victory in my face. She doesn't even consider it her win. Though I'd be an idiot to start thinking well of her just because of that. I've already fallen for that once with that letter on Clover Island!

My surprise didn't last long, seeing as how Sky had something else to say. "Nee, Zoro-chan, don't you think we should go searching for Elk? She's vanished!~" Sky asked playfully, locking eyes with me while tilting her head to the side. I wanted to glare at her, but I couldn't help but turn away due to her eye's intense glow. Am I ever going to get used to the whole glowing eyes thing? Luffy seems to not be affected by it, so it has to be possible.

"What do you mean she's vanished? Nami's right-" I start while turning my head to where I thought Nami was but found that no one was there. Not Nami, or any of the kids. "Where the hell are they? They were right there! You gotta be kidding me!" I began shouting, not caring that my voice would soon become hoarse if I kept it up.

I turn back to Sky, managing to pull off something akin to a death glare. "Alright blue-eyed freak, where are they?" I asked, making sure my voice sounded cold.

"I dunno!~" The girl sang happily, clasping her hands behind her back. I have no way of knowing whether she's lying or not, so time to ask something else instead.

"Fine, then how long have you known they've been gone?" I demanded, barely holding myself back from raising my voice.

She blinked a few times and chimed peacefully, "Since you shot down my hybrid idea~ I'm shocked you hadn't noticed until just now!~"

I clenched my fists while growling. "And you didn't even bother to tell me about this until just now?" I was gritting my teeth, doing everything I could from letting my temper show, even though I've pretty much failed already. No, my goal isn't to win, it's just to make sure she doesn't get the satisfaction of victory. I won't let her win, again!

"I never told you because I thought we could spend this precious time bonding~ Don't you feel our bond strengthening?~" The blue-eyed girl asked with a jovial smile.

"Oh, I'm feeling something right now, that's for sure!" I retorted, not bothering to mask the venom in my words. My harsh tone obviously had no effect on her as she responded without delay or any change in tone.

"That's friendship Zoro-chan!~" Sky declared brightly. Never once did her grin falter. At this point, I don't know if that smile is genuine or not.

"No, it is not, you blue-eyed freak! It's called hate!" I roared with my voice at full volume. I could hear the sound of birds flapping away out of fear of my harsh tone.

"That's what friendship is Zoro-chan~ I understand if you don't get it quite yet~ After all, friends are supposed to accept each other's mistakes, right?~" She inquired lightheartedly.

"All I'm getting right now is a strong urge to hit you upside the head Nami-style." I replied coldly, maintaining my composer for once. When Nami hits people, she just bashes her fist onto the top of their head right? That should be simple. It should also shut her up if she doesn't stop purposely pushing every button in the world.

"Friendship!~" Sky sings, completely unfazed by my threat. Is that all she's going to say?! Really!?

"I can't tell if you're a masochist or a sadist at this point." I sigh, having my anger practically beaten out of me by that one word. This is my life now. Really wish I hadn't walked into that casino...

"Aw, Zoro-chan has become apathetic, how cute!~" She laughs while skipping past me towards the woods. I turn to follow her, but only got a few feet before miss flashlight eyes yells back to me. "Oh, just to keep you informed, we're going after Nami, so make sure you're alcoholism doesn't get you lost!~" Sky, remind me to thank you later for helping me find my lost anger. Really would have sucked if I didn't get it back before leaving this island.

Well, if I can't use threats to keep her mouth shut, then I'll just try to use her own method against her! "Oh, really? You think I have an alcohol problem!? Well, I think you have a... eye... problem." I begin to shout, but my voice dies off by the time I actually say the insult. Key word: Try.

"Zoro-chan?" Sky questions plainly while stopping to give me a blank stare.

"Yeah?" I respond, mimicking her bland tone.

"Just, stick to your death threats, okay?" She answers, sounding the slightest bit concerned.

"Sure thing." I agree, not even bothering to argue. Hell, even I regretted saying it the second it came out of my mouth. I swear I had a better insult available than that!

After we settled that, we continued walking to where our navigator most likely went. Again, neither of us got far before something happened.

Usopp ran past us towards the village screaming, "Everybody run! Pirates are coming to invade the village! We need to run away!" He continued to yell this even after I lost sight of him.

"God speed, you pathological liar. God speed." Sky whispered, staring off into the distance where Usopp used to be. "So, do we go after Elk or Patho?~" She questioned quizzically.

"Nami would have a better idea than Usopp, but shouldn't you be coughing up blood right now? Usopp did just run past screaming bloody murder." I responded glancing at her from the corner of my eye.

Sky simply shook her head and smiled up at me smugly. "Ah, but Patho would need to be telling one of his god awful lies for me to do something like that you know~" Sky laughed darkly, turning to look towards the village. I figured out what she was hinting at rather quickly, and started towards the village where Nami would be.

"Alright, then let's go find Nami and figure out what the hell is going on. The village sure isn't going to listen to Usopp." I said, not taking my eyes away from our destination.

Sky was quick to perk up and shout while running after me. "Yeah, sounds good! But~" She stops when she reaches me and grabs the back of my shirt, pulling me to the opposite direction. "That is the wrong way!~ Elk was in the forest, remember?~ So onwards to the forest you broken compass you!~" She cheered as she continued to drag me further away from the village.

"Oi! I knew where I was going, I was just, turning around!" I shouted, attempting to pull myself away from her grip. Though my struggling didn't last long because soon I was frozen in place, only moving due to Sky dragging my body.

"Ah, yeah, no.~ Zoro-chan, you know I wouldn't fall for that~ And it would be kinda sorta bad if I had to look for you because you got lost, so struggling is a no-no!~ I can negate force you know, so best of luck trying to move~ Tehehehe~" She exclaimed while smiling cheerfully. Though I was no different from a statue at this point thanks to you know who, I could see from the corner of my eye a small trickle of blood coming from her mouth. Ha, not so tough when you got to try your best not to cough up blood, huh you blue-eyed freak!

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"Ah~ So that's what happened! Good old Elk, explaining what's up.~" Sky exclaimed while patting Nami on the back.

"Somehow that compliment doesn't make me feel very complimented." Nami mumbles while glancing at the ever smiling Sky.

"So, what should we do about these none imaginary pirates?~ I vote we feed them to a couple of goats~" Sky offered, gaining strange looks from everyone except our captain. Nami was the first to address the elephant in that entire sentence.

"Why would we feed them to goats?" She asked, putting emphasis on the why.

"Cause they're a bunch of badies that deserve a good serving of vengeance!~" Sky responded, pumping her fist into the air at the word vengeance.

"Yeah, I got that part, but why... Goats?" Our navigator questioned, making sure the blue-eyed freak understood what she was actually asking.

"Um, didn't I explain this already? It's because they're a bunch of baaadies!~" She answers in an almost condescending way. All four of us had the exact same response. Silence. There were no words to describe how I felt right now. None.

"So, we should first find Usopp. He'd probably have the greatest understanding of what's happening." Nami said. She looked to each of us and questioned, "Do any of you know where he is?"

"Yeah, he ran towards the village screaming bloody murder." I said lazily, pointing towards the village.

"Wait, so is he in the village or the forest?" Luffy asked, tilting his head to the side. I glared at him, not understanding how he could possibly be confused when I had just told him, and even pointed to the village. Where did he get the idea that Usopp was in the forest?

I sign and close my eyes. "He's in the village," I pause, jerking my thumb towards the village once more to somehow make it even more understandable for the future pirate king. "I said this already. Do I have to spell it out for you?" I replied, irked at Luffy's ignorance.

"Uh, Zoro, you do realize you're pointing towards the forest, right? You know, in the opposite direction of the only village on this entire island?" Nami enquired, raising her eyebrow. I immediately turned towards where I was pointing, and only saw the forest. I looked to the opposite direction and, just as Nami said, there was the village I had talked about. I felt my face heat up, and I don't know if it's from embarrassment or anger. When I was about to speak up and defend my quickly eroding pride, I heard someone snicker. Nami is standing right in front of me smirking, and Luffy sure as hell doesn't snicker, which means that it has to be...

"Shut it, you cheating, blue-eyed, gambling freak. Someone who coughs up blood when they hear someone tell a crap lie has no right to laugh at my sense of direction!" I barked defensively at her. She was snickering while holding her hand over her mouth, trying to not burst out laughing for some reason. I need to stop her before she drags both Nami and Luffy into this. If they both go to the dark side, then no one will be on my side! Wait, I get the sinking feeling that I'm forgetting someone... Who, though? Well, if I can't remember, then it must not be important.

I'm pretty sure my insult backfired though and actually broke whatever self-restraint she had left. "Ne, Kiddo, you really didn't need Elk as your navigator when you could just use Zoro-Chan as a broken compass, you know?~" She snickered out before she began to giggle like a madman. Luffy started laughing along with her, while Nami just pinched the bridge of her nose walking off towards the village. All of this because of one old man. I swear, if I ever see an old man selling an overpriced sword again, I'm burning his shop to the ground.

I was left with only one option. Children. "Hey, Nami, where did those kids go?" I shouted while walking towards her.

"Oh, they went looking for Usopp. I'm pretty sure they're in the forest." She answered without even looking back towards me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw both Sky and Luffy getting up and following after us. Luffy was grinning from ear to ear while walking straight past me towards Nami. Sky, on the other hand, caught my glance and pulled off one of the smuggest smiles I've seen in a long while. Just keep walking. The sooner we find Usopp the sooner she can start annoying him instead of me. Sorry Usopp, it's survival of the fittest.

"Ah, so the kids went the wrong way? I wonder if we ran into them on the way here. I wouldn't be surprised if they took Zoro-chan's advice.~" Sky cheered, skipping past so she was next to Nami. You dragged me the entire way here, eyesore. Don't even try to pull that.

"Yeah, but I'm sure they'll be fine. The pirates shouldn't be attacking until dawn after all." Nami answered calmly, still maintaining the same pace.

"Yosh! Once those pirates show up well wipe 'em out and get a ship." Luffy exclaimed, throwing up his arms. Finally, something I can get behind. About time.

Sky giggles and turns around, walking backwards with her arms behind her head. "Ah Kiddo, fists always ready to beat anyone to a bloody pulp!~ Though, I do wonder about why you think this will end with a ship.~" She chimes while staring back at Luffy and I. At least we agree with Luffy's method to dealing with Usopp's problem. "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter?" Sky questioned, stopping and dropping her cheerful tone. Her bow was twitching as she turned around while shading her eyes with her hand. Why is her bow doing that? And what in the world actually managed to shut her up for once!?

"Um, why did you stop walking? We need to find Usopp." Nami asked, but Sky wasn't responding. She just kept looking towards the village. "Hey, Sky. Are you going to, oh I don't know, respond? Because that would be great." Nami asked, but made her sarcasm quite evident.

After a few more seconds of silence, Sky finally responded. "Yeah... I don't think we're gonna need to look for Patho." She dragged out the beginning of her sentence, but still didn't have her normally cheerful tone. Though she definitely wasn't confused anymore, but the rest of us now are.

"What do you mean by that?" I questioned before Nami or Luffy could get a word in.

"Just give it a second. With how he's running now it won't be long..." She responded while turning away from the village. What is she talking about? Is Usopp charging over here or something? I look towards the village, straining my eyes to see further, but get nothing. Luffy looked like he was about to ask what the hell she was talking about, but Sky spoke up again. "Also, I strongly recommend moving off of the road for... Safety reasons.~" She warns, finally reverting back to her teasing.

"Why would I move off the road just because you told m-" I pause after hearing a strange shrieking sound in the distance. I didn't even have to look to tell who it was. "Oh." I sighed while backing off the road. Nami caught on and moved away, dragging Luffy by his collar onto the side of the road as well.

Usopp charged passed us at a speed that seemed impossible for how scrawny he is. As he ran past I caught sight of the droplets of blood trailing behind him. That amount of blood would be nothing to me, but this was Usopp, whose main skills were lying and sniping. It was clear that Nami, Sky, and Luffy all saw it too. Luffy clenched his fists and looked ready to kill anything that got near him, while Nami looked far less angry and much more concerned. Sky, on the other hand, seemed to not be the least bit concerned or angry, but I don't think I could call her happy either.

Usopp ran for another yard or two before looking back and finally noticing us. He turned around towards us or at least tried to turn around, but unlike Sky, he can't control force so he ended up tripping and rolling right into a tree near us. Well, at least he managed to get back over to us, I'll give him that. It only took a moment for Usopp to leap back onto his feet. "Please, you have to help me! The village is going to be attacked by pirates!" He begged, barely keeping his tears from flooding down his face.

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"Okay, why aren't the pirates here yet?! And also, just where the hell did that blue-eyed freak run off to?!" I screamed towards no one in particular. Usopp, Luffy, Nami and I have been sitting on the shore of the island for at least five hours. Sky was supposed to be here to help with the whole pirate problem, but now I guess she ran off to go gamble or ruin someone else's day. Maybe even messing with those kids. The three of them got super pissed at Usopp after he lied about lying, so I guess the lying captain figure is now available.

Nami sighed, looking towards me while her smile twitched."Oh yeah, and you think I'm just so happy to be here? Sitting here, counting the number of rocks with Hayzues-"

"There are 134." Hayzues interjects, clearly having given up on the watching out for pirates.

"There are 133. That pebble doesn't count." Nami seethes, clearly growing tired of Hayzues' claims of the pebble's right to rockhood.

"It's a rock and you know it." The tiny wolf claims with a disturbing fierceness.

"So much fun." Our red-headed navigator groans. I would question what this was about, but I'd prefer to keep my head on my shoulders.

"Hey, I'm getting hungry. When are these stupid pirates going to attack so I can get food?" Luffy asked, patting his stomach to emphasize his hunger.

Usopp looked at the sea and froze, though I doubt it was from pirates because I sure as hell couldn't see them from where I'm standing. The sniper slowly and robotically turned towards Luffy and me, refusing to look either of us in the eye. "Well, they may just possibly kinda, sorta, be at the other shore on the other side of the island!" Usopp stuttered out quickly while his voice quickly grew into a shrill scream as he ran past us towards the forest.

"Wait, you didn't tell us where the other shore is!" Luffy yelled running after Usopp.

"Ah! They're running towards where our ships are! Those stupid pirates are gonna try to steal my treasure!" Nami shrieked while charging forward. While she took that first step, the tip of her foot stepped on a pebble causing her to tumble onto the oil spill we prepared for the pirates.

Hayzues stalked passed her onto the top of the slope. He turned as stated calmly, "Ah, I guess it was a pebble after all, huh?" and dashed into the woods. Nami's mouth was agape from shock, but she shrugged it off and grabbed onto the nearest thing to pull herself onto steady ground. Me. Oh, shi-

"Sorry! But the treasure comes first!" She yells back while following after Hayzues. Great! Luffy, Usopp, Hayzues, and Nami all left and Sky just disappeared. This day is perfect!

----------------------------

Sky's POV

----------------------------

"So, I've seen some pretty weird people in my time on the seas, but you have got to be one of the worst!~ Oh, did you take lessons or something in ugly?~ You are clearly a pro, Teehehe!~" I giggle, holding a finger to my chin. Hmm, it seems I'm all by my lonesome huh? Well, Hayzues will show up soon. Not like leaving me is really an option for him.~

"You dare mock the style that Captain Kuro chose? You really must want me to make you nyap, huh?" The cat-eared man in front of me purred out, evidently stunned by my beautiful compliments. His obviously fake whiskers were twitching in a forced manner.

"Okay, not be the downer of your little nyascapade, but could you please stop with the cheek twitching, your giving me flashbacks to a traumatic childhood event involving a certain freckled idiot, doing idiot freckled things." I sigh, cringing at the memory of Ace taking something I said way too literally. God, Luffy was so confused, I was scared, and Ace looked about ready to claim the sea as his coffin. That was a bad Tuesday.

"Oh, I'm very sorr-! Wait! Why would I apologize to you?!" He squealed, far more upset about this than I was at this point, somehow...

"Well, I have been told that I have a bright attitude and that I really light-up, the mood!~ So, I'd guess you were just so focused on how I'm just a shining example of everything good in the world, you simply forgot that we're enemies, right~?" I tease, trying to sound as condescending as possible.

It took whiskers only a moment to lunge at me, fake claws extended, and ready to cut someone. "I won't let you mock my crew or myself any longer!" He shouts, anger very audible. Teehee~ Checkmate mister!~

Before he could even blink, I dashed forward, jabbing him in the gut with my elbow. A hit like that with my speed would be enough to deal heavy damage, but it would just be a waste to not up the force of impact, right~? Just like that, whiskers fell back, coughing up copious amounts of blood. Oh, I really hope Kiddo isn't going to struggle with that butler guy, because if so, it may just be too painful to keep to Freckle's request.

I was about to skip my way over to the shore to see if the others had caught up, but sadly someone really didn't want me to be happy. "I said I wouldn't let you get away with insulting my crew. So if you think I'm done just from that, you're more of a fool than I thought!" He hacks up, struggling to push himself off the ground.

"You see, this is why we can't have nice things." I sigh. I doubt that I'll ever really understand these sort of people. "People like you that get so rattled from simple words with so real substance are the ones that I really don't get." I pause crouching down in front of the weak man. "So, instead of wasting your energy and life by throwing a hissy fit over some not nice words, maybe try to make it so you can have a bite to match you your bark because I really don't think any real threat will leave your crew alone because they hurt your feelings. Get it? Got it?" I ask while jumping back onto my feet. Before I walk away, I add cheerfully, "Alrighty! Bye-bye Mister Whiskers!~ Good luck with that crew of yours!~"

-------------

Ah, the shore, such a beautiful place full of peace and tranquility. A place where journies begin and end. I'd love to sit and stare at it forever if it weren't for the fact that Zoro-chan just piggybacked Patho into the forest and Bigfoot is fighting Kiddo. Or, I guess was fighting Kiddo may be better, because I don't see how attacking his own crew helps him, but I'm no criminal mastermind.

Before long, I heard the sound of shuffling feet behind me. Without bothering to turn around I began speaking, still retaining a mocking tone. "So, this is your dear captain that you wanted to protect the honor of? I'm guessing you've got some pretty strange standards. Either that or your eyes are so bad you couldn't see what he was really like."

"Captain, and everyone? This isn't how it was supposed to happen." He whispered.

I hop up and skip towards the town. "Well, I don't know about you but~" I make a quick point towards the kitty ship. "I'd get ready to set sail because this little pow-wow of yours is going to end pretty soon."

He shifts his gaze from the bloody scene towards me once more. His eyes show only my reflection, now void of the fury that once coursed through them. I grin, and continue on, not attempting to look back at him again. People exist to use and be used. He should've known the rules of the world if he wanted to ever be more than a tool.

-------------

"And where were you?!" Zoro-chan shouts the moment he sees me sitting on the porch of the mansion.

"Ah yes, yelling is truly the first thing I want to hear after a long day, that's for sure!~" I cheer. Though anyone, except Luffy, could tell that it was far too cheerful to be genuine.

"Again, are you a masochist or a sadist?" He asks straight faced. I glance behind him to see Elk tapping her foot, Hayzues on her shoulder, Patho hiding behind him, and Kiddo is... somewhere? Ah, he'll be ju~ust fine, I'm sure.

"I'm a helper Zoro-chan!~"

Shing

"Zoro no, bad dog. No attacking the money maker." Nami says.

"She says she's a helper, so I just plan to have her help me with my anger."

I freeze, get up, and put both of my hands on his shoulders. "I am so proud of you Zoro-chan! You kids just grow up so fast. One moment you're an alcoholic, the next you're an alcoholic with sass! I think I may-"

"Where were you?" Zoro-chan asks. "We're done fighting, and I'm done with your shit, so speak up." I blink in surprise. So he can keep his cool a little now. I guess that is some improvement, even if it's forced.

"I was just taking down Bigfoot's left-hand man, or maybe one of his feet? I don't really know if the cat men were one group or two different groups at this point."

"Okay, so we all fought except for Hayzues because Sky, so can we please check up on Merry like Kaya asked?" Nami sighs, clearly tired from everything.

"You mean the goat man? He's already patched up and sleeping." I explain.

"Really?! Who did it?" Patho asks, pushing aside his fear of getting between Zoro-chan and me.

"The magical bandage fairy." Hayzues chimes in.

"Wait, what were you doing while we fought the pirates?" Luffy asks, climbing over the bush.

"The gate is open you know." Hayzues sighs, but that sign quickly turns from disappointment to one of exasperation. "I wanted to help, but the one person that knows how to wield me decided to skip off somewhere without me!" I couldn't help but notice his gaze was fixated on me, but I have no idea why.

Sadly, Nami was on the sidelines, unnoticed. "This is going to last all day, isn't it?" She whispers up to vast sky, and whatever God had condemned her to this fate.