Chapter 11

"Friends are like stars; they are always there, but you only see their true brightness in the darkest times." –Jeremy Arnold


"What was that?"

"He hit Captain Kuro!"

"From that far of a distance?"

Kya smirked as she looked at the clawed captain lying on the ground. 'Luffy is one hell of a kid.' She thought to herselfas she cracked her knuckles. She didn't understand why the man didn't get up, but apparently it wasn't a good sign. "Captain Kuro is angry. What will happen to us?" One of the other pirates shouted fearfully.

"Now!"

Everyone looked up the hill to see the three young boys jump out from the bushes. 'What are they doing?' She thought fearfully as pain stung her wounded shoulder. She clutched it tightly as the boys shouted.

"The Usopp's Pirates are coming!"

"Prepare yourself, stupid!"

"You bastard butler!"

The boys began to hit Kuro's face with their fists and wooden swords. "Why are you here?" Usopp yelled out at them. "I told you not to come!" Kaya shouted at them with a sickly voice, but the boys ignored them both.

"Let's get him!"

"Don't take our peace from us!"

"Die!"

"What are those kids doing?" The other pirates yelled out, backing away in fear. "That's enough! Get out of here all of you!" Usopp tried to get them to run, but his efforts proved fruitless. "What are those crazy kids thinking?" Zoro muttered and Kya gritted her teeth. She may have hated kids, but they didn't deserve to die.

"That's enough." Ninjin said, and the other two stopped beating Kuro's face. "Captain did come to fight him." He added and the others agreed. "Why didn't you tell us? That's dirty!" Piiman shouted at Usopp. "No! It's dishonest!" Tamanegi added lastly. "It doesn't matter what! You'd better escape now! Go!" Usopp shouted at them, but they didn't listen.

"No captain!"

"We won't run away! We'll fight with you!"

"Usopp's pirates shouldn't run away!"

That's when Kuro stood up behind them, pushing his glasses up but the glass fell out from the frames. "Shit." Kya muttered to herself. How were they going to get them out of this one? The boys turned around and fell, screaming their lungs out. "Go!" Usopp yelled, hoping they would finally listen.

But they didn't.

Instead, Kuro walked straight past them. "Why did he walk past us?" Their question was answered as Kuro hit Usopp after peeling the bandage off his face. "Captain!" One of the boys cried out for him. "It hurt a little bit, because it's a very strange skill." Kuro said to Luffy. "You got that skill from a Devil Fruit right?" Luffy nodded and smirked. "Right! I ate a Gomu Gomu Fruit and became a rubber man!" He answered as gasps arose from Kuro's crew.

"What? A Devil Fruit?"

"It's not a myth?"

"No wonder that kid is so strange."

Kya snorted at their stupidity. Everyone knew that Devil Fruits weren't just myths. "Rubber man? So when he stretched his arm out, it wasn't an illusion. But how can he stand after my attack?" Jango thought aloud, swinging his disks around his fingers. "Jango!" Kuro shouted, making the hypnotist jump slightly. "I'll kill that kid. You take care of Miss Kaya." The cruel man put his hands together by his palms, sticking his blade covered fingers out. "Make sure that she writes the will according to the plan. After that, kill her." The sickly young lady shook in her boots. "By the way, the three worms too." Kuro added and Jango tipped his hat. "Roger."

"Stop right there."

Kya shot a look at Zoro. He was injured pretty badly, he shouldn't be doing this. "I won't allow you to get through here." He continued, a dark gleam in his eyes. "Buchi! Get him!" Jango shouted fearfully, and the fat man charged straight for the swordsman. "Cat…." He started, and she backed away from the two quickly. "Pound!" He slammed into the ground, destroying it to pieces. "Zoro!" She called out for the man as a side of the cliff fell apart. 'Dammit, what's going on?'

"He doesn't know his own strength." Kuro muttered behind her. She clutched her bleeding shoulder one last time before letting go. 'It's just a little wound.' She thought, looking at Usopp, who had been flung to the side during the ground breaking attack. "Super! Is he human?" Luffy yelled from the bottom of the hill. Her eye twitched in annoyance; he was an idiot.

Then Buchi ran at Zoro again, who stood near the side of the cliff. 'He's going to get crushed.' Her eyes widened as the cat man shoved his clawed hand against Zoro and into the wall. "I defeated you once." She let out a breath to see Zoro had stopped the attack with his sword and put his foot on his face. "So, I won't lose against you!" He pushed Buchi's face, sending him flying back.

Her attention was drawn towards footsteps, and she saw Jango walking up the slope. "You think you can stop me?" He smirked at her, glancing at her bleeding shoulder. "Of course I do." She answered back simply, pulling out her dagger. He chuckled. "You're just a little girl." He joked, and she growled. "This little girl could kill you in an instant."

She didn't notice movement under the rubble until a hand grabbed her ankle and threw her back against the cliff. "Shit." She muttered, rubbing her head as she stood. Moshi was standing in front of her, panting heavily as blood seeped from the wound in his stomach. Form the corner of her eye she could see the boys taking Kaya away, and Jango going after them. 'I have to go help them.' She thought bitterly, cracking her knuckles.

"Your plan isn't going to work. I know that she is very weak, she can't escape from Jango. But…" Kuro pushed his glasses up as he spoke. "You have to survive first!" She clenched her fists and stared at Moshi deadly. He was in the way. "Damn it, the tables have turned." Usopp muttered, attempting to stand. "Usopp." Luffy called out. "Just leave the rest to us."

A loud crashing noise came from the forest grabbed everyone's attention. "What was that noise?" Usopp gasped as blood dripped down his face. "I think Jango is losing his temper. Go ahead and look if you want, but it's probably too late." Kuro said simply from his spot on top of the hill. "I guess we can hurry up and do this now." Zoro said and Kya nodded in agreement. "If you can!"

Apparently, that was a signal for Moshi. He came charging towards her, claws out. She waited until he was close enough, and put her hands on her shoulders, flipping herself over him. She turned around, ready to dig her blade into his back, when something knocked her against the cliff.

"God dammit." She wailed, pushing the body off her, who happened to be Zoro. "Sorry." He said to her, before stopping Buchi's claws with his swords. "You okay?" She breathed out from behind him. "Yeah." He answered, struggling against the cat man. She patted his shoulder before moving away from him, facing Moshi again. "Let's just get this over with okay?" She said to him, and he just stared at her with his cold eyes. 'Weird boy.'

He charged at her, claws out, and she managed to stop them with her dagger. 'If I don't finish this soon, Kaya will get killed.' She pushed him away and he flew back, his feet sliding across the ground. "Soru." She whispered, and quickly she was in front of the mute man, her dagger plunged into his stomach. His eyes widened and blood came out of his mouth, and for a moment she thought he was going to speak, but only groans escaped his red lips as she pulled the dagger up and out. Moshi fell to the ground, blood still spilling from his wound. She stood over him, panting heavily. It had been so long since she actually killed someone; had their blood on her hands. It felt strange and unnatural, and she was a bit scared by her ability to easily take a life. How could she be so heartless? How could she-

She was jerked from her thoughts by a hand grabbing her arm. "Oi, we have to go save them." She stared at Zoro wide eyed as he carried Usopp easily over his back. "Oh-oh. Yeah." She looked back at the dead body then to him. "Let's go." She said quickly, moving on from her emotions. He gave her a strange look but nodded. "Okay." As the started to run, Kuro turned to them, holding his hand out to attack. "Who said you could leave?"

"Me, the great pirate Luffy did!"

Luffy shot his hand out, causing Kuro to hold back on his attack. "Go Zoro, Kya!" The straw hat boy yelled and they took off along with Usopp. "You think he'll be okay?" Zoro asked her, and she nodded. "He's Luffy. Usopp, which way do we go?"

"East." The boy said lightly, and the other two shot each other a glance. "I have no idea which way is east." She whispered, slightly ashamed. "Me either. We'll just go left." He told her, nudging her to the left side of the forest. As they began to run through the thick fauna, Usopp pulled his head up.

"What are you doing? I told you to go east dammit!" He shouted in Zoro's ear. "Enough with the compass talk! Just tell me right or left!" The swordsman shouted back. "Go right!" Kya sighed, having to turn Zoro around as he began to run towards the left. "Bakas." She muttered, hitting the side of her face. 'They're going to be the death of me.' She thought bitterly.

As they ran through the forest they noticed trees laying on the ground that had been cut down. "They were here." She muttered and the other two nodded. A loud shouting caused them to stop where they were. "Did you hear that?" Zoro asked, panting heavily. "Yes, it's their voices." Usopp answered him. "Alright, let's go this way." She took off towards the left, where their voices were coming from.

They began to run for a little bit until Usopp cried out: "Found them!" He flailed, hitting Zoro on the chest. "Stop! I found them!" He yelled again and they skidded to a stop. "Stop hitting me then! You're hitting my wounds!" Zoro shouted at them as Kya looked in the direction the long nosed man was looking. Sure enough, there was Kaya and Jango, but Jango had his blade directed at the sick girl. "Over there!" Usopp pointed at the scene. "We're lucky! She's still alive!" That's when Zoro threw the poor boy to the ground, nearly hitting Kya. "But she's in danger. You wait here, we'll save here." The two pirates took off through the forest.

"Stop right there hypnotist!" Zoro yelled out stupidly, grabbing his swords. Jango stared at them wide eyed before turning to Kaya and grabbing her by the throat. "Shit." Kya muttered, running faster. 'We won't make it!' And just then, the three boys came up behind Jango and hit him in the back, knocking him over.

"You little brats!" He shouted and kicked the boys against the trees before turning to Kaya and grabbing her coat collar. "You're too late swordsman, pink haired girl!" He cackled, holding the ring near the girl. Zoro chuckled and pulled a sword out, cutting some of the trees down. "What are yo-" Kya didn't finish her sentence as Zoro pushed her to the ground, squatting next to her.

"Death Marble Shot!"

It looked like an explosion on Jango's face and Kaya screamed, ducking away from the scene. "You bastard." The assassin murmured as she stood up and brushed herself off. Zoro chuckled at her as Usopp stumbled his way up to Kaya and the three boys. "You could have just told me." She pouted and he shrugged, throwing his bandana at her. "Tie this around my arm." He demanded, holding his left arm out. She glared at him, but complied, tying the fabric around his bicep maybe a little too tightly. He winced and pushed her back from her good shoulder. "Bitch."

"Ass."

"What was that?" He yelled, getting in her face. "I said you're an ass!" She shouted, putting her hands on her hips. "At least I'm not short!" He retorted and her jaw dropped. "I'm not short!" She punched his chest with her bad arm. "Shit." She winced, grabbing it tightly as more blood spilled from the wound. "Ah, you should get that checked." He told her boredly and she opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the boys.

"Thank you!"

They hugged the two pirates' legs tightly before grabbing Kaya's hand. "Thank you, for everything." She whispered lightly, tears in her eyes. Kya smiled lightly at her and nodded while Zoro shrugged at them. They exchanged short goodbyes as the four took off and Usopp limped over to the two. "We should go see how the others are doing."

The walk back was silent, except for the occasional redirecting of Zoro, and finally they made it back to the cliff. It wasn't surprising to see Luffy sprawled out on the ground with Nami next to him. Kya walked over near Nami and lay down while Zoro sat against the cliff with his swords in his lap.

"Thank you very much. Because of all of you…" Usopp started from where he stood at the top of the hill. "Without your help, it would have been impossible for me to help this village." He finished happily. "What are you talking about? If you didn't do anything I wouldn't have helped you." Zoro smirked at the young boy. "Same here." Luffy added tiredly. "Ya." Kya said, closing her eyes. "That's okay, because I got all their treasure!" Nami added, hugging the bag she had in her lap. "This situation helped me make a decision about my life."

"Eh?"

"I'm going to be a pirate!" Usopp declared and the other three laughed. "Alright. You do that." Kya chuckled as she stood from the ground, cracking her back. "But for now I need sleep." Luffy jumped up quickly, pumping a fist in the air. "And meat!"


Kya stared intently at Luffy, who pretty much had his hand shoved down his throat. After a good night's rest, everyone needed a meal or two and Luffy had eaten more than he should. She munched on an apple as the boy pulled part of a fish skeleton from his mouth. "Phew. I finally got it out." He said, holding the piece between his fingers making the assassin chuckle. "If you don't train yourself well enough, you're going to choke yourself with the fishbone." Zoro instructed him. "I must tell you that normal people don't eat the fishbone, you know?" Nami said from Kya's side, but her words were ignored as usual.

"Well, we've eaten. Shall we go?" Zoro asked with his eyes closed. "Yes." Luffy answered, munching on the bone again. Just as the crew was getting ready to leave, the door opened and Kaya spoke to them. "You're here." She said, relieved. "Hi, ma'am." Luffy said politely as the girl walked over to their table. "Are you okay without taking a rest?" Nami asked worriedly. "I'm fine. My illness was caused by the stress of losing my parents. With Usopp-san, who always cheers me up, I think I will try hard to recover." Kaya explained before turning to Luffy. "But anyways, you told me that you wanted a ship right?"

"You'll give us a ship!"

She nodded, smiling enormously. "Come with me!" She walked out the tavern and the four pirates followed her quickly through the town to the coast. There they met up with Kaya's other caretaker, Merry (and he wasn't evil), and the new ship. The pirate's mouths dropped to the ground. Kya had never seen such a beautiful ship before, and though it was fairly small, it was still their ship. The flag had Merry's head on it and the figurehead was in the shape of a sheep. "Ho." Was all Zoro had to say to it.

"It's a caravel!" Nami exclaimed, putting her hands up to her mouth. "It's cute." Kya chuckled. "Wooooow!" Luffy nearly shouted, busting everyone's eardrum. "This ship is designed by me. It might look a little bit old. The ship's name is Going Merry. It's a caravel ship with a rudder in the middle. It has been very popular in Latin world." Merry explained to them happily. "Aren't you the people who defeated the Kuro pirates? I thought that you'd have more people."

"You'll give us this ship?" Luffy asked, putting his arms up. "Yes please take it." Kaya told him politely. "It's gorgeous." Kya murmured and walked over to it, running her fingers across the wood.

"I also prepared the necessary supplies on the ship." She heard Kaya tell Luffy. "Really? Thank you! You're very kin!" He told her, and Zoro and Kya snorted. "It's kind not kin, idiot." The swordsman told the boy. "Somebody stop me!" Everyone stopped and looked up the hill, only to see Usopp rolling down it with a large bag of stuff on his back. "Usopp-san." Kaya muttered worriedly. "What's he doing?" Luffy asked stupidly. "Just stop him before he hits the ship!" Zoro shouted. The two boys stood with one foot out, and they slammed directly into Usopp's face, stopping his movement. "Th-Thanks." The long nosed kid said, though his voice was muffled by shoes and feet. "You're welcome."

Kya shook her head and climbed up the ladder to the deck. It was fairly spacious for such a small ship. 'I should have no problem meditating.' She thought as she sat up on the stern's railing. "It's pretty nice up here." She looked over to see Zoro jumping on the deck with Luffy behind him. "Ya." She leaned back on her palms and looked at the sky. "It's a good ship." She added and the swordsman snorted as he leaned back against the railing next to her, Luffy on her other side. "How do you know that?" He asked and she smiled at him. "Just a feeling."

"I wish to remain healthy, maybe we'll meet again someday!" Usopp shouted from the ground, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Why?" Luffy asked with his face on his arms as he leaned over the railing. "Huh? Why are you asking me? Both of us are pirates so we have to meet again someday in the sea!" the long nosed boy said, raising his arms up in a confused manner. "Just shut up and get on the ship." Zoro told him, crossing his arms. "We haven't got all day you know?" Kya added.

"Eh?"

"We're on the same team now." Luffy explained as Nami climbed up the ship. It seemed to take a long while for Usopp to soak in this news, but when he did, he nearly leaped on the ship. "I'm the captain right?" He shouted and Luffy frowned at him. "Don't be stupid! I'm the captain!" He said, making the rest of the crew laugh lightly.

With short goodbyes, the crew set sail, onto their next adventure. "We need to figure out the sleeping arrangements." Nami said, putting her fist in her other hand as the crew sat on the deck. "Ah, right!" Luffy shouted, running down to the lower deck. "The men's cabin is here." He said, pulling up a latch which led below deck. "And the girl's cabin is here." Nami said, opening a door which was above deck.

Kya went to walk into her new 'room' but Nami stopped her, putting a hand out. "I don't think so." She said, causing the assassin to raise an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. "I don't trust you. You're an assassin, you kill people for a living. I'm not sleeping in the same room with you." The orange haired girl said simply, and Kya went red with anger. "What the hell? Where am I supposed to sleep then!" She nearly screamed.

"With the boys."

She opened her mouth to yell again, but Zoro's happy shouting overpowered her. "I found grog!" He said, heading towards the bow with two barrels over his shoulder. 'I'll get you for this, Nami.' She growled mentally, following the swordsman. As the five of them gathered around with their drinks, Luffy shouted: "To a new ship and a new member!"

"Hooray!"

Everyone toasted their drinks together before downing them happily. Kya smiled lightly as she watched her crew dance and laugh and smile. She never thought she'd be in a pirate, or working with other people firstly. It nagged her a little to know she might have to leave, but they weren't there yet. She could enjoy the time she had with them for now.