Hey everyone! It's been a while! This chapter is for DorkyFox's birthday today! So Happy Birthday DorkyFox, I hope your day is filled with cake, presents, friends and family! I'd also like to thank you for inspiring me to write again. I haven't been feeling up to it in a long while but thanks to you I might just get back into it:)

Chapter 11

Ghosts and Snakes

A hand tapped my shoulder gently and I groaned with annoyance, rolling onto my stomach. The insisting poking continued however, despite my clear agitation with the person who decided to wake me up in the middle of the best sleep I've had in a while. With a growl I spun over and grabbed the person's finger tightly and glared.

I may not be violent by nature but I definitely was not a morning person.

Ussop shivered at my look and started sputtered nervously. I let his finger go and he instantly cradled it to his chest.

"What do you want Ussop?" I moaned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

The sniper looked down at his lap. "I have to go to the washroom." He said quietly, being mindful of the sleeping crew around us. I lifted my head and blinked at him. Really? How old are you? But when I thought about it, I wouldn't really want to go off on my own into enemy's territory either. So instead of protesting and returning back to dreamland I squiggled out of my sleeping bag and into the cool air. Goose bumps formed over my arms and I rubbed them quickly.

"Fine. Let's go." I started to turn towards the forest not missing his face light up with relief. I stepped over my friends and a bunch of wolves carefully, trying not to wake them. It had been a bit of a surprise to come back from changing at the ship and finding the crew having a party with a pack of large white wolves.

I held back a squeal as I passed Luffy snuggled up next to one of the animals. Can he be anymore adorable!

Ussop and I walked a ways into the forest before he stopped behind a tree to relieve himself. I sighed and sat on the ground waiting. I couldn't stop thinking about earlier. Did Alex really have to tell them? Don't get me wrong, I wasn't mad at her for doing it but… I kind of wanted to be the one to tell them. They were my family and it felt wrong that they had to find out through someone else. I should have told them earlier.

That was the least of my problems though. I still had to deal with this whole Cradle thing, find out more about Locke, find the other person from our world, figure out what's going on between Luffy and I, solve that riddle in the book, and get my powers up and running again! Not to mention that I had to do all of this while saving a floating island and its people from a deranged man with dangerous Devil Fruit abilities!

I sucked in a shaky breath, rubbing my temples to try and ward off the impending headache. I wasn't going to accomplish anything by freaking out like this.

"Someday everything will make perfect sense. But for now just remember to laugh at the confusion and smile through the tears. Keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason."

His voice flooded my head, like a wave washing away the mess of thoughts. Those were the last words he ever spoke to me.

"Kyal… I wish you were here right now. You'd know just what to say." I spoke quietly.

"Who's Kyal?"

I jumped and stumbled to my feet, facing Ussop.

"Sorry." He spoke quickly, raising his hands in apology. "Didn't mean to scare you."

I smiled lightly and shrugged. "It's okay. We should head back."

Ussop didn't miss the fact that I didn't answer his question and just when he opened his mouth to ask again a sound interrupted him.

The harsh bang made us both jump. We looked around for the source of the noise but saw nothing. It continued in a steady beat. "Do you hear that?" Ussop asked trying to hide behind me.

I nodded. "How can I not?" The sound wasn't extremely loud but it echoed through the silent forest in an eerie fashion. Already knowing where it was coming from, I walked back in the direction of the ship. "C'mon!"

"W-Where are we going!" Ussop squeaked.

"The sounds coming from this way."

We broke through the trees and stood on the bank of the lake. At first glance, the ship was as we left it, still sitting on the alter. The fog that had settled made it hard to see but if I looked closely I could just make out a figure near the hull. My heart clenched but I kept a straight face, watching as the figure hammered a sheet of metal to the ship.

Merry…

Before I could react, Ussop turned blue in the face and shrieked. I clamped my hands on my ears and glared as the sniper passed out on the ground.

I ran over to the rope we used to get back to the ship and swung across, rather gracefully might I add. Slowly I approached the figure and with an unsure voice asked "Merry?"

The figure turned to me and smiled, pausing in its hammering. My heart stammered and my throat felt thick. Merry walked forwards and I had to resist the urge to step back. The hammer that he had been holding seemed to vanish without a trace but that wasn't what I was focused on. Merry lifted up a white semi-transparent hand to my cheek and wiped away a tear that was rolling down my skin.

When did I start crying?

The hand felt warm and comforting but the sensation was strange, like it was a solid object but if I leaned into it too much I might pass through it. I was captivated by Merry's featureless face and the large smile he bore.

"I'll carry you all a little further, okay?"

I hiccupped at the childish voice and shook my head in useless denial.

You can't go yet Merry. They need you! We need you! You're family! Nakama! Don't give up yet!

I wanted to speak, to tell him all this, but my voice wouldn't work. Merry stepped back and continued to work. With little else to do, I turned slowly and walked away, straightening my back to seem braver then I felt despite no one being around to see my current state except Merry.

When I got back onto the bank I couldn't stop myself from looking over my shoulder on last time, knowing I wouldn't see him again until it was already too late. There wasn't anything I could do. I had to keep reminding myself that. Just because I knew what was going to happen in the future didn't make me responsible for it. That didn't mean that I couldn't try however. Merry was already too damaged, that much was for certain. But I could save people like Ace.

And I would.

No matter what.

I found Ussop again (who was twitching and mumbling about ghosts) with no problems and I grabbed his foot and started to drag him back towards camp. It was slow going, the boy was heavier than he looked and I was trying to rein in my emotions. Huffing and dropping the snipers leg roughly I wiped my face again to rid it of tears.

Damn it. This is what happens when people wake me up at ungodly hours! I'm a complete mess!

There was a thump from beside me as someone jumped of one of the large roots and I looked over my shoulder at Zoro. Raising an eyebrow, he gestured towards the unconscious Ussop. "What's with him? He said he was going to take a piss, and now he's sleeping out here?"

I merely shrugged and scratched the back of my head. "He's hopeless. Wanna help me drag him back?"

Zoro and I didn't speak as we lugged the idiot back to camp.

"Look! It's just like I said! Someone must have been here!"

"The Going Merry's been repaired!"

Everyone stared around at the now fixed ship with awe and confusion. The sun was now up and I couldn't help but let out another yawn. What was that? My fifth this morning? I ended up only getting a few hours of sleep last night and I was extremely tired now because of it, which sucked because a lot was going to happen today.

Ussop had told everyone a hundred times about the 'ghost' he saw last night but no one took him seriously. When he tried telling me to tell them what we saw, I just shrugged and said that I hadn't seen a ghost. Which, if you think about it, is the truth. I hadn't seen a ghost, I had seen a klabaut- thing-a-ma-bob.

"I saw it! I knew it wasn't a dream!" Ussop declared.

Nami ran her hand down the main mast that was now standing in its rightful place. "You're right." She said with a smile. "Even the broken mast's been repaired!"

Robin looked up to the crow's nest. "Indeed. It must have been quite a chore simply standing up something this heavy.

"But, I'm sorry to say…" Sanji lit up a cancer stick. "He did a piss-poor job of it."

I frowned at the cook as I sat on one of the upper railings with Luffy. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Sanji. Luffy laughed and leaned into my shoulder subconsciously. I had to fight down the urge to hold his hand. "Whoever did this must be a nice guy!" My captain exclaimed.

"But, who would come all the way out to fix our ship?" Zoro asked and then turned to look into the forest. "The only ones on Upper Yard are us, our enemies and that Locke guy but we don't really know where he stands yet."

Luffy leaned back to look around me at the side of the ship. "But, he took off the Flying Model, Ussop."

Ussop had a hand to his chin and was pacing. "Yeah. That's what's even stranger about it. How did the guy who fixed it know what the Merry was supposed to look like? He knew she didn't have a comb, or wings, or a tail."

"We'll figure it out later." Nami interjected. "First we need to get Merry back into the water."

With that, everyone clambered off the ship and Ussop and Chopper managed to attract a Sky shark in order to get it to pull the ship down from the alter. When we all got back on we decided to split into two groups. The exploration team that consisted of Luffy, Zoro, Robin, Chopper and I would head directly south and Nami, Alex, Ussop and Sanji would take the Merry to the coast on the other side of the island where we were supposed to meet up.

We waved goodbye to the others as the sailed off and we headed into the jungle.

"Where are you going Zoro!? That's the wrong way!" Luffy shouted, not even ten minutes into our walk. I almost laughed at the swordsman's hopeless directional sense. "West is this way!" Luffy continued pointing off in a direction. "Man, your sense of direction surprises even me!"

I let out a snort at that and shook my head. These guys were so predictable. "Actually Luffy, that's east!" I called to him as he began walking in the direction he pointed before.

He stopped and looked back at me with a cute look, tilting his head to the side. UGH! Luffy you seriously need to stop with the cuteness, I can't think straight. I blinked at my own thoughts. What is wrong with me?

I walked over and grabbed Luffy's hand, pulling him the right direction. "We're trying to go south." I explained as he paused to pick up a stick, not letting go of my hand. It kind of felt like I was leading a toddler…

"Oh! Well why didn't you just say that?"

Really?

We kept walking, Robin leading us the right way. Luffy waved the stick around as he talked to Chopper about how awesome it was. I glanced down at our joined hands and blushed, looking away. I wasn't sure why he hadn't let go by now, I'd figured he would want to run around and explore but he stayed right beside me the whole walk so far. It was stupid to hope that Robin and Zoro haven't noticed, them being the two most perceptive people in the crew.

Chopper stopped walking for a moment seeming to pause and look behind him. No one really took notice to it but it caused me to grip Luffy's hand tightly. My captain noticed this and stopped walking, looking at me with confusion. "Asa?"

"Oi! Chopper! Why do you keep looking behind you?" Zoro asked turning to the reindeer.

"I-I think we should get out of here… like, now." I mumbled shivering when Zoro asked about the stripped root behind us. Luffy looked around at the root that seemed to have us surrounded. He looked relaxed and curious but the slight tenseness in his muscles told me that he was on guard in case anything were to happen, he gave my hand one last squeeze and let go.

The ground shook and an enormous head of a snake came into view, baring its fangs threateningly.

I gulped.

I hated snakes!

Sorry this chapter is rather short but I need to get used to again and I really need to reread my stories so I refresh the idea. So if any facts are wrong in this chapter please let me know! Thanks for waiting so long everyone! And again, Happy Birthday DorkyFox:)

Until Next Time!