Chapter 1

Once I had a dream.

I could see a figure standing a couple of steps away from me. Curious to see who it was, I took a step closer but the figure also took a step further away from me. I took another step, and another. I began to walk a little faster until I broke into a full run. But no matter how much I ran, I could never seem to catch up to the figure. It was always one step ahead of me. Sweat was now clinging to my hair and shirt, and I had to stop in order to catch my breath. The figure stopped, too, one step away from me.

I woke up that morning feeling restless and tired.

"A nightmare?" Someone gripped my shoulders.

I turned and saw Zoro. He looked somewhat sleepy but I could see a little look of concern in the corner of his eyes. I must have looked horrible enough for him to be concerned.

"As if I would be scared of a nightmare," I smirked and wiped a sweat off my brow.

With a shrug, Zoro got out of his bed and made his way outside the cabin. I, too, looked around the cabin before leaving. Except for Zoro who had just gone out, everyone else was still asleep. After all, it was still a few hours before dawn.

The morning breeze was, in fact, quite cold but it helped cool the remaining sweat on my face and neck. I closed my eyes and stood on the deck for a couple of minutes, just breathing in the air. When I finally opened my eyes, that night's dream came back into mind.

The figure.

I couldn't quite grasp the sense of familiarity when I saw it but I was sure it was someone I knew. It was still a mystery on why I couldn't catch up to it, but the ruckus that happened next didn't leave me enough time to think more of it.

"We're in trouble!" A ginger headed woman slammed the cabin door open.

"Nami! What are you doing up so early in the morning?"

She looked around me and commented, "It's strange to see you awake at this time, but this isn't the time to be chatting like this! Hurry! Wake everyone up before-"

She didn't have the time to finish before a huge wave sloshed down on the Sunny's deck.

"Whooahh! What? A tidal wave?" I cried but Nami urged me to wake the others up.

I quickly ran, or tried my best to imitate the action, to the cabin and opened the door with a crash. Some of them, like Robin, were already up while others still lay almost dead on their beds.

"Everyone! Wake up! It's a tidal wave!" I yelled and went down the stairs to help Robin wake some of the others up.

With a swipe of her hands, Robin produced multiple arms that carried everyone outside the cabin and onto the deck. The water was already up to my knees at this point and it was hard to stand firm with the swaying ground.

"IS EVERYONE HERE?" Nami had to scream for her voice to be heard over all the screeching of the wind and the pounding of the ocean.

We all took a look at all the faces and did a head count.

"6…7…8… Wait a second. Where's the ninth person?" I panicked and looked around. Who was it? Who was I missing?

It had begun to rain now, and the fog was only making it harder to see each other. We tried to stay together but a final push by the wave knocked Sunny to the right. It was almost as if it was in slow motion. Sunny was slowly going down. Nami and Robin grabbed onto the railings with all their might. The rest were falling into the ocean, one by one.

"…help …uit users …can't sw… will dr…" Those were the last words I heard from Nami before I was also swallowed by the liquid monster. I must have fainted for the next time I woke up, I was on a sandy beach.