Hey all! Here's the updated chapter 2! This one's a lot longer than it was before, so I hope you like it!

Chapter 2

It's cold. Something's stinging my face...

I opened my eyes. I closed them right away. Wind. That's what it was! I covered my eyes with my hands, and carefully opened them again.

I froze. There were clouds all around me! I was in the sky!

A bird fluttered past me, and turned it's head. It must not have been used to seeing flying kids.

I wish I was flying.

Of course, that's when I noticed that something was definitely wrong. I was falling!

I was rocketing towards a big blue thing below me so fast, tears made me see everything all fuzzy.

I was so scared, I couldn't even scream. I just fell, so scared I couldn't move.

The blue thing was getting bigger and bigger.

I'm not sure what happened next, but there's one thing I do remember. Something hitting me in the stomach, then everything going black again.

When I came to again, I was in the water. I might've thought it was the ocean, if I could have thought at all at that point. I was still dazed from being hit by that semi, then that strange fall... Maybe it didn't happen.

But I was definitely in the ocean. I didn't understand that at all. I lived in a landlocked city.

There was also a red blur right next to me. I blinked, but I couldn't focus.

Finally, it clicked. It was someone's hair!

I was in the ocean, being held by some guy I didn't know! I let out a little gasp of panic, and struggled against the man's grip.

He looked a bit surprised, but quickly his expression turned a little less scary. He patted my shoulder.

I took a deep breath, then I felt a sharp pain behind my eyes. I gritted my teeth.

The man looked down at me again, and said something.

I blinked. What had he just said? It didn't make any sense. I figured that was just because of my splitting headache.

Everything around me became dark. Before I knew what was happening, I was out again, my head resting on the man's chest.

Was I still on the ocean? All I could feel was bobbing up and down.

I groaned and opened my eyes. I blinked.

Red.

Also, what do you think when you think red hair? Normally a reddish brown like mine or Keith's, right? This guy's wasn't. It was red like a fire truck!

I thought about that guy that had rescued me from the water. He had red hair. Maybe I was still with him. There was something else. Something scratching at my nose.

I opened my eyes a little wider. I didn't want the guy to know I was awake. I still didn't know what he wanted. That's when I saw his straw hat.

This time, there was another guy with him. He was slightly taller, with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. I'd never seen a guy with a ponytail before.

He looked at me, then said something to the redhead. I still couldn't tell what they were saying.

The redhead shifted his weight so he could look me in the face. This was the first time I saw him clearly. He had three scars running down his left eye. He grinned, then said more gibberish.

I rubbed my eyes. Where was I? And more importantly, where was Keith? "Hey, where am I? Have you seen Keith?" I asked.

Both of them looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out my ears. The redhead just smiled at me, and set me down on a stool.

I blinked and took a look around. I was on the deck of a boat, I thought. It was pretty empty, I was the only one there, apart from the Straw hatted red-haired guy and ponytail guy.

I looked up and saw a black flag with a skull and crossbones. The skull had three parallel marks over the left eye.

A pirate ship! I was on a PIRATE SHIP! My life was complete. I loved everything about pirate stories. The dangerous seas, the fights with the navy, etc.

The ship was docked at a small port. There were a few tiny buildings. It looked like a quiet, yet busy town, the kind of place I liked best.

The redhead stood up, and held out a large hand. I stared at it for a second, then looked at him again.

He smiled, and said something else.

This time it was my turn to look at him like he had lobsters crawling out his ears.

Ponytail guy turned to the redhead and said something else to him, and chuckled.

The redhead rolled his eyes. He looked at me, and said, "Ikuzou."

I looked at the redhead, then looked at his hand, then back in his eyes.

He smiled and nodded.

Slowly, I raised my hand, and took his.

I did mention that this town was a small town, right? I don't think it was even big enough to be called a town. There must have been about six or seven buildings, that's it!

We passed small shops and smaller houses. Only one shop had a sign I could understand. It said Party's Bar.

There was a little boy standing in front of the bar. He was about seven, with scruffy black hair and a goofy expression. His shirt said 'anchor'. His face lit up when he saw us. He shouted something, and ran towards us.

That's when he noticed me. He dug his heels into the ground and skidded to a stop in front of us. He looked at the redhead, pointed at me, then said, "Shanks, dare desu ka?"

The redhead bent down and flicked his nose. He spoke in the same tone that Keith used sometimes when I say something stupid.

The boy turned to me and said, "Ore wa Luffy!"

I stared at him, unable to respond or even understand. He looked at me, as if he expected me to start gabbling in his language. He stuck out his hand, and frowned. "Anata no namae wa nan desu ka?"

The redhead got down to our level, and whispered something in the boy's ear. Then he turned to me. He put his hand on his heart and said, "Shanks."

The boy did the same thing, but he said, "Luffy." Then, the boy put his hand over my heart, and looked at me expectantly. Were they introducing themselves? I pointed to the redhead and said, "Shanks..."

He nodded.

"Luffy..." I said, pointing to the boy.

He grinned hugely.

I clapped my hand over Luffy's, which was still over my heart, and I said, "Koe!"

Shanks and Luffy both looked at each other for a second. "Koe?" they both asked.

I nodded.

Luffy grinned. "Yoroshiku!"

I couldn't believe it. I had been hit by a semi and flew all the way to a foreign country or something. I still didn't know where Keith was, and I was getting panicky.

Luffy raised an eyebrow at me and said something else, and Shanks scolded him for something.

That's when I snapped. I started to cry.

Luffy and Shanks both looked at me, surprised.

Luffy poked my forehead. "Oi." he said. "Daijyobu desu ka?"

"Where am I!?" I wailed. "Where's Keith?! I'm scared! I want my brother!"

Shanks' expression softened. he knelt down and pulled me into a hug. He murmured something, while running his hand through my hair. I couldn't understand what he was saying of course, but his voice was soothing. The only part of it I understood was "Shh..."

I sniffed and buried my face in his shoulder. "What's going on?" I said, my voice muffled by his shirt.

Finally, I calmed down enough to take a deep breath.

Shanks let me go, and ruffled my hair. "Daijobu。"

Luffy stepped up, and used his finger to wipe a tear from my eye. "Nakanaide." He said.

I gave him a small smile.

Luffy grinned again, grabbed my hand, and started pulling me towards the bar. He looked over his shoulder and yelled at Shanks.

Shanks sighed in amusement and followed us inside.

Inside was crammed with people. When we walked in, they all stared at us, then yelled, "OKASHIRA!"

Okashira? What was that supposed to mean? I guessed Shanks was their captain.

Luffy dragged me over to the high counter and helped me onto one of the high stools.

There was a dark haired lady standing behind the counter. She was pretty, with big brown eyes, and a kind smile.

I liked her pretty much right away. She said something to Luffy, and pointed at me.

Then, Luffy put his hand over his heart and said his name. I followed suit and said, "Koe!"

The lady paused for a moment, then said, "Makino."

I grinned and shook her hand.

Makino handed me and Luffy a drink that looked like orange juice.

I sniffed it. Smells like orange juice. I wasn't sure if I should drink it, but Luffy took a huge gulp of the stuff. I followed suit. It was orange juice! I tell you, I was so glad to taste something normal in this messed up place.

Shanks sat down next to me, and Makino handed him a bottle of something that looked like the beer that Mom used to drink.

Shanks grinned and took a huge swig.

I stared at the scars over his eye. I wonder where he got them...

Shanks paused and looked at me over the corner of his eye.

"Oh." I turned away, embarrassed. There was one thing Keith did tell me about not staring at adults. Besides, Mom would hit me if I stared at her.

Shanks didn't hit me, though. He winked at me, then turned to face me. He cocked his head and said something else I didn't understand.

I put my fingers against his scars. "Does this hurt?" I asked.

Shanks shook his head.

My face lit up. "You can understand me!?"

Shanks raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.

I sighed. "Oh well." I turned my attention back to my orange juice.

Luffy started talking animatedly to Shanks, while the ponytail guy and a couple of others crowded around me.

Ponytail guy smiled, then held his hand over his heart. "Benn Beckman." he said.

"Hi!" I said.

Beckman looked at his friends. One was a really tall, really round guy with a huge rack of meat in his mouth. The other was a slightly shorter guy with really curly dark blond hair. "Hai."

I smiled at them, then introduced myself.

The round guy gave me the thumbs up and said, "Roo."

The blond haired guy did the same and said, "Yasopp."

I grinned and waved.

That's when Makino put down a huge plate of rice and peas and meat in front of me and Luffy.

Luffy grinned and shouted, "Itadakimasu!" He grabbed his fork and started attacking his food.

I blinked. "Thanks!" I said to Makino as I dug in as well.

Luffy turned to Shanks, and started talking to him so fast, I thought his jaw would come loose and fall off.

Shanks snorted and waved his fork around in a circle.

While Luffy was yelling at Shanks for something, and everyone laughed at him, except me of course, the swinging door flew off it's hinges. I winced as it clattered along the floor.

In walked a large group of scary people. They were a bunch of people with towels wrapped around their heads, and faded coats. The man in the lead was taller than the others, with dark hair. He was the only one without a towel on his head. I figured he must be the ringleader.

The man who I thought was the ringleader stepped up, and smacked his hand against the counter. I flinched.

He spoke to Makino in a raspy voice. Makino said something that obviously irritated him. I was seriously impressed that she sounded as calm as she did. I would have been a nervous wreck.

Shanks chuckled good-naturedly and held up an unopened bottle to the weird guy.

That didn't seem to please the weird guy though. His expression turned dark as a thundercloud. He took the bottle, and smashed it over Shanks' head!

Shanks toppled off his stool and hit the floor.

"Shanks!" I shouted. I jumped off my stool and ran up to him."Are you okay?!"

Shanks lifted his hand, and waved it absently through the air.

The weird guy laughed and walked away.

For a moment, there was silence. Then, Shanks snorted.

All the others burst out laughing. Shanks took off his hat and laughed along with them.

I stepped back, surprised. Did the ugly ape tell a joke or something?

Luffy started yelling at Shanks for just laughing it off.

Shanks tried to explain it, but Luffy didn't seem to be listening. He abruptly turned around, snatched a small box, and started to eat the pale purple swirly fruit inside.

I frowned. "Hey, Luffy..." I said, poking his shoulder.

Luffy looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Nani?" he said through the fruit.

"I don't think you should eat that." I said. "It'll make you sick."

Luffy shrugged and continued to wolf the fruit down.

Shanks saw this and he went pale. He shouted at Luffy.

Luffy turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

That's when things got crazy.

Shanks grabbed Luffy by the ankles and started to shake him up and down.

Luffy looked like he was going to throw up. Instead of throwing up, his legs stretched and his face hit the floor. Then, his legs and torso went back to normal, followed by his head a few seconds later.

There was a short, awkward pause.

There was quite a bit of shouting after that. None of which I understood. All I caught was Shanks saying something that I was pretty sure meant, 'You DUMBASS!', though I wasn't sure.

I just stood there and blinked, unsure of what the heck was going on.

A few days had passed since the stretchy fruit incident.

I had stayed in the small village, and I already felt at home there.

I had found new friends in Luffy and Shanks, and I started to learn how to communicate without words.

Since Shanks was usually off somewhere with his crew, I spent most of my time in the tavern with Luffy and Makino. Today was no different. Luffy was making me laugh by stretching his cheeks out three feet.

Then the doors swung open, and in walked the scary people from before. As Makino brought them drinks, the scary people started drinking and laughing. I didn't want to make eye contact with any of them, so I focused on my orange juice. Then, Luffy started freaking out. He started shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Luffy!" I said, grabbing his arm. What was making him freak out like this?

The ring leader walked up to Luffy, picked him up like a rag doll, and took him away, kicking and shouting.

I sat there for a moment in shock. Then, Makino and I ran out the door. She went one way, I went the other, towards the pier. Please let them be there...Please let them be there...

Yes! Docked at the port was Shank's ship, and Shanks was on the dock, talking to Beckman.

"SHANKS!" I shouted. I was crying. When I caught up to him, I slammed into his legs, and nearly sent us both toppling into the water.

"Koe!" Shanks said in surprise.

I grabbed onto Shanks' hand and tried to pull him along. "The big ugly guy took Luffy, and I don't know what to do to help him and I thought you could, since you're all big, and you gotta help me help him!"

Shanks put his hands on my shoulders and held me out at arms length, making me stare into his deep brown eyes. He said something in a calming tone, and handed me a piece of cloth. I took it and blew my nose. He raised an eyebrow at me.

I took that as an invite to continue. "Luffy..." I managed. "Shanks... You gotta help Luffy!" Shanks looked at me , nodded, then allowed me to pull him to the centre of town.

We got there just in time.

the big ugly ringleader was standing on Luffy's head!

"Luffy!" I shouted. I tried to run towards him, but Shanks out his hand around my shoulders and stopped me. I struggled, but Shanks tightened his grip, and held me to his side.

"Oi! Luffy!" Shanks shouted. He said something in a tone that sounded like he was teasing him.

Luffy shouted back, anger in his eyes.

The ugly ringleader guy said something to one of the towel heads (What were they anyway? Bandits?) and he walked up to us. He took a gun from his belt, and pointed it right at Shanks' head!

"Shanks!" I yelped and clutched his leg.

Shanks looked down at me out of the corner of his eye, and he winked. He said something to the bandit in a really low voice.

The bandit frowned. He cocked his gun with a click.

Shanks pointed at the gun. He smiled, and said something so quiet, I could barely hear it.

Then, BANG!

I stared in horror as the band it's head snapped backward, blood flying everywhere.

He hit the ground with a sickening thud.

I looked up.

Roo was standing there, holding a gun that was smoking at the end.

My mouth hung open. I didn't expect that at all. I shuddered and clutched Shanks' leg even harder.

Shanks patted my head.

The other bandits started shouting in protest.

The ring leader ordered his men to attack, and fifteen of them charged.

I froze in fear.

Beckman put his hand on my shoulder, and smiled reassuringly. He stepped up, and with one huge rifle, knocked them all out. I stared at him wide eyed. What was with these people? They were all so nice! But they could be fierce as well.

"So that's what pirates do..." I said.

The bandit guy looked close to panic. He took a small sphere, and threw it on the ground. Smoke exploded from the ground.

There was shouting from all sides. I blinked. I could see Luffy under the smoke! The smoke was high enough that it didn't even touch my hair. I saw the ugly guy bend down, grab Luffy by the scruff of the neck, and walk away.

When the smoke cleared, the bandit and Luffy were gone.

Shanks started freaking out. Roo started yelling at him.

"Shanks!" I shouted. I ran up and grabbed his hand. "They went that way!" I pointed towards the pier.

Shanks looked down at me, then where I was pointing. He smiled at me and ruffled my hair. "Yokuyatta, Koe!" he said. Then, he took off.

"Shanks, wait!" I shouted. I started to run after him, but Beckman put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, and he shook his head.

I pretty much got the message: Let him handle it.

I ended up just sitting next to Beckman and Roo, pretty much shaking with worry. Roo handed me a rack of meat, but I barely touched it. Beckman patted my shoulder awkwardly.

"WAAH!"

I stood up. I thought I heard a scream... Luffy... I thought.

I was getting really upset. I blinked back tears. What if Shanks couldn't save him? What if he was really hurt, or dead?

My shoulders shook. Every minute that passed was like an eternity of torture.

Then, Beckman tapped my shoulder. When I looked at him, he pointed down the road towards the port. Shanks was walking towards us, followed closely by... "LUFFY!" I ran up and practically glomped him. He was soaked to the skin and shivering, but he was otherwise okay. He hugged me back. I buried my face in the side of his neck. "I-I thought you were going to *hic!* die!" I cried.

He said something I didn't understand, then sniffed.

"Shanks!" I said, looking up. At that moment, I felt that nothing could ruin this moment. Then I noticed a bloody stump where his arm used to be. I froze. "WAAH! SHANKS! YOUR ARM!" I wailed.

Shanks smiled and ruffled my hair with his remaining hand. "Daijobu."

I put my hand on Shanks'. Relief flooded through me, and I cried even louder.

Four days later, Luffy, Makino, and I were standing at the dock, watching Shanks and his crew packing up to leave. It was a beautiful day. Shanks' crew was working so fast, they reminded me of a colony of carpenter ants. Beckman passed by, carrying a large crate. He winked at me. I grinned back.

Shanks started having an animated conversation with Luffy, who didn't seem too upset about him leaving. Shanks stuck his tongue out at Luffy, then Luffy shouted at him. I can still remember what he said, "Kaizoku-o ni ore wa naru!"

Shanks smiled, then placed his straw hat on Luffy's head. He smiled, then said something so quiet I couldn't hear. Luffy clutched the hat and started to cry.

Then, Shanks turned to me. He smiled, and handed me a large leather bound book. My eyes went wide.

It was beautiful, with intricate patterns pressed into the leather. It was about as large as my torso, and very heavy.

I opened the book, but all the pages were blank. A loose piece of paper fell out from between the pages. It was a note. Shanks picked it up, and placed it between the cover and the first page, and grinned at me. Then, he ruffled my hair. I sniffed, then I jumped up and gave him a hug. I was barely tall enough to reach his waist, but I managed to catch him around the middle. "We will see you again, right?"

Shanks grinned and ruffled my hair again.

Luffy kept crying. Shanks smiled again and put my hand in his. Then he said something to Luffy.

He must mean 'stick together'. I thought.

I tightened my grip on Luffy's hand, and we both watched as Shanks and his crew boarded their ship.

The whole crew was waving to the crowd on the pier. I waved my hand frantically, and shouted, "BYE, SHANKS!" at the top of my lungs.

Makino put one of her hands on my shoulder. We all watched the ship as it disappeared into the horizon.