A/N : There are very little details about the Red-Haired crew, so I took the liberty to create a new character among them ; Jericho, the navigator.

Special thanks to Spellcaster Hikaru, who gave me the idea for the subplot with Luffy. You're awesome !

Chapter 12

Shanks gazed intently at the black woman who had invited them inside. She was rather short, with long hair and a mysterious smile. Judging from her appearance, she probably was in her early thirties, but her eyes, dark and insightful, made her seem somewhat older. However, her most striking feature was the weird aura which emanated from her. Then, of course, there was also her most peculiar taste in decoration. The woman's hut looked somewhat primitive, but Shanks had a feeling it wasn't for lack of wealth - she actually seemed to like it that way.

At this very moment, the woman (Sparrow had given her the name Tia or something like that) was making some tea, and she came back to sit in front of her guests with several cups and a full teapot. There was a streak of steam when she poured the warm liquid into each cup, before she handed them to the pirates. Shanks took his with a graceful smile, but cast a wary look at the beverage. He had no idea what she had put inside, and as reckless as he might be, this was really too stupid a way to die. But Tia herself gulped down the contents of her own cup with a charming smile, so the tea was probably harmless. Shanks eventually tasted it, ignoring the scathing look Mihawk cast him for his levity. A bit grumpily, the swords master finally relented and sipped down some of his tea as well. The black woman had followed the wordless exchange with an amused smile, but she made no comment, fortunately for her.

"Well ?" Sparrow said, as he glowered unhapily at the tea - he was probably wishing it would turn into rhum. "You seem to already know why we are here, so do you have the answers we seek ?"

"The answers you seek, maybe not", she replied evenly. "But the answers you need, I might have them."

Shanks did his best not to snort out loud - the confusing things Tia said were a easy way to answer and not answer at the same time. Who was this woman anyway ? He failed to see how she could be of help to them. It was possible she had special abilities, but she could also be a charlatan. However, Sparrow seemed to trust her, and he knew this sea of the Caribbeans better than any of the Grand Liners. He'd been trust worthy (so far), so he probably knew what he was doing. Hopefully.

"Well then", the Black Pearl's captain suggested, "go ahead. I'm listening, love."

She had a half smile at the endearing word he bestowed her with, and Shanks easily guessed she had a soft streak for Sparrow. However, her first comment was rather acrid.

"I see you still fail to use correctly the compass I gave you."

"I need to know what I'm looking for, before I try to find it", the long-haired pirate protested heartily. "Besides..."

"You are cursed", she said. "Yet another time. How is it you always find cursed treasures ?"

Surprised, Shanks followed her gaze. She was staring at Sparrow's hand... No, at his finger. Or, more precisely, at the ring which gleamed around said finger. It was a simple silver band, beautifully carved but not looking special in any way. If it really was a cursed ring, how had the woman known ? Yet Sparrow's look made it doubtless she was right. He was livid, although he kept a steely grip over himself.

"I wish I knew", the long-haired pirate muttered in answer to Tia's question. "So how do I get rid of it ?"

"Ha !" she laughed. "Jack, don't try to double-cross me. You know I demand payment, even from you."

"Wait a second", Shanks cut them. "What is this about a curse ?" he looked at Sparrow with a raised eyebrow.

"He hasn't told you, has he ?" Tia commented. For some reason, she seemed to think it all was highly amusing. Well, it probably did look kind of ridiculous, from her point of view. Sparrow fidgeted uncomfortably, and Tia's grin widened. "The ring around his finger is bad luck. A dead's last, bitter call to reduce others to the same destiny he himself met. I can almost hear his shouts and curses from the other world. The ring is stuck around Jack's finger, and calls for his blood, calls for his doom. As long as it is there, hazard will go against you."

Sparrow had an uneasy smile and cast a quick look towards the exit, probably just in case that revelation made his guests a bit too angry with him. However, their reaction - or rather, their casualness and disinterest - surprised him. Both Shanks and Zoro remained quiet, although the green-haired man cast Sparrow a scathing glare. Near Shanks, Mihawk shrugged.

"Fine", the swords master said, "but that is none of our concern. We want..."

"...to return to where you belong", Tia finished for him. "You aren't from this world, are you ?" It wasn't really a question, and that was enough to convince the three Grand Liners she wasn't faking it. How could she know about all this if she didn't possess some sort of special ability ? But which ? A Devil's Fruit ? No, impossible, they didn't exist in the Caribbeans. Some kind of equivalent, maybe ? After all, curses did seem to exist in this world.

"So what do you want ?" expectedly, Zoro had finally lost patience, and he stepped in with his usual subtlety. "Is it gold ? Jewels ? Clothes ?" he had an eloquent look at her attire, but she didn't seem to mind. On the contrary, her smile widened even more.

"If I craved for these earthly riches, would I live in this place ?" she asked.

The question was consistent. Why, indeed, would she live in a wild jungle if she cared at all about money, luxury or power ?

"I guess not", Shanks admitted. "But the question stands ; what do you want from us ?"

Tia half closed her eyes as she cast the red-haired pirate a predatory look.

"There is one thing I do covet. Something worth all the help I can give you and more. But more than that, it might also hold part of the answers you seek."

"Pray tell love, what is it ?" Sparrow asked eagerly.

"That's called the Orb of Videre", the black woman finally explained. "That's an old artefact, one only I have the power to use. Give me this orb, and the answers to your questions will be given to you."

"So where do we find this orb of whatever ?" Zoro impatiently queried, but Tia merely eyed him with an amused smile.

"My dear boy, if I knew where to find it, do you really think I would need your help to get it ?"

Zoro glowered at her, although he wans't in a position to do anything, since she was so far their only hope to get back to Grand Line someday. But that didn't mean he liked to be called "boy", even if he was the youngest man in this hut.

"That's your only price ?" Sparrow asked as he rose to his feet.

"It is", Tia nodded, imperturbable.

"Fine", Sparrow said abruptly, before he headed to the door.

The three Grand Liners followed his lead, Tia's gaze on their backs. At least now they had a clear objective, Shanks mused, even if finding this orb wouldn't be easy. But they were pirates, and they had probably all done much more difficult things before. After all, how big could be this Caribbeans sea ? Certainly no bigger than, for instance, West Blue.

The four pirates got down the rope ladder and set foot onboard the dinghy waiting for them. It dipped a bit when they came to sit on the benches.

"Steer to the Black Pearl", Sparrow ordered the rowers shortly, and they complied obediently.

The pirates remained silent for some time, the only sound being of the rows diving into the water, before Zoro finally ventured a question.

"Any idea where we might find this thing ?" his query was obviously aimed at Sparrow.

"Not the slightest", the Black Pearl's captain replied after giving the matter some thought.

"So what are we going to do ?" Shanks asked curiously.

"To the best place when looking for something", Sparrow anwered as a smile tugged at his lips. "Tortuga."

At the bow of the ship, Ben Beckman gazed intently at the sea. He had stayed there for the best part of the last few days, cursing at everything that slowed them down. The wind wasn't strong enough, the currents deported them too much from their course, it took too long to take supplies on board, in other words, nothing made him happy. He had even become a bit snappish lately, when he usually was pleasant and well-mannered, although he tried to control himself. He knew perfectly why he acted like that, but it was hard not to take out his concern and frustration on everything.

However, this unpleasant travel came near an end. The atoll should soon be in sight, and Ben refrained the urge to draw his telescope and have a look. That was unnecessary, since the ship's watcher would shout a warning as soon as he saw something.Ben heaved a sigh of frustration. That wasn't like him to get so worked up. He could imagine a thousand reasons why Shanks would be late. Only, this time, he had a bad feeling about it. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like something had happened, and he would not retrieve his peace of mind before he had made sure nothing was wrong. But this uneasiness he felt was so nerve-racking...

"We're almost there", a familiar voice said from behind. Lucky Roux came near the first mate, who nodded thoughtfully.

"By the way, do you..." Ben started, but never got to finish his sentence for a shout came from the crow's nest.

"Land in sight !"

"At last !" Ben couldn't help but exclaim. "Good job boys, let's get closer."

The ship was still quite far, and it took them several hours before they came near the atoll. However, a bad surprise awaited them.

"Sir, there are too many reefs", the navigator said after a little while. "The ship won't go through them without damage."

"You're sure of that, Jericho ?" Ben asked, frustrated once again.

"Positive, sir."

A bit disgruntled, Ben finally nodded. There was little he could do against that, although he felt like bad luck was hounding them. Ah, so much the worse, it would only be a small delay.

"Never mind that", he said, "get a launch down."

The men started to bustle about, while Yassopp approached the first mate. He looked more thoughtful than usual - after all, his job was to shoot at people, not to think, as he liked to remind the rest of the crew. A bit surprised, Ben cast him a curious glance.

"What's the matter ?" the first mate queried.

"Well, I'm not sure, but... Did you look at the creek ?"

"The creek ?" Ben repeated.

He turned to face the atoll, and narrowed his eyes to try to see through the sunbeams. Yassopp had the eyes of a hawk, and he certainly might have seen something no one else noticed.

"What am I looking for ?" the first mate finally asked, as he failed to make out anything in particular.

"On the left, half hidden by the rocks, there is a small boat that looks awfully like the captain's", the marksman explained. "Mihawk's boat is probably hidden somewhere else. But in front of us, there is another boat... more a wreck than a boat, actually..."

"Ah, yes, I can see it now", Ben cut him. "Well, I can see its shape at any rate", he amended quickly.

"Yeah, and it seems to be in a pretty bad shape. Only, if there another ship apart from the captain's and Hawk Eye, then it means someone else is on this island."

"Hmm", the first mate blurted out slowly. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that. The simplest thing to do was still to set foot on this atoll and have a look for himself.

"Launch's ready, sir !" another of the crewmembers called him.

"Good", Ben nodded as he nibbled mechanically at his cigarette. "Yassopp, Lucky, Jericho, you're with me. The others stay here and mind the ship."

Everyone nodded, and the small group Ben had selected got onboard the launch. They started to row, and it didn't take them very long to reach the shore. The first mate jumped out of the craft, water to his knees, and together he and Yassopp hauled the launch until it was safely aground and there was no risk it could be lost. Ben really didn't fancy swimming back to the ship, and better safe than sorry.

"Well, we're there", Yassopp commented. "What do we do now ?"

"There's a path, here", Lucky pointed out.

"Right", Ben said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. "If there's someone we don't know here, I don't want him to have fun at our expense, so Jericho, you stay here and keep a look. If we're not back in three hours, don't go after us but get back-up from the ship. Lucky, Yassopp and I are going to follow this path and see where it leads us."

"Aye sir", the navigator nodded, and he sat on the launch to wait comfortably.

The two others followed the firt mate's lead, and they started to walk on the path, which hardly warranted this name. It was more of a track, with a few more or less recent footprints. But it did seem to go somewhere, and the three pirates strided along the way. They walked for a few minutes in silence, everything quiet around them. Eventually, they arrived in front of a small log cabin, but it seemed empty.

"Hey, Ben ! Look at that !" Yassopp bent forward and picked up a bottle of a familiar shape. Saké.

"Let's have a look inside", the first mate ordered.

They entered the log cabin together, and Lucky flung the shutters open so some sunlight shone on inside the small log cabin, chasing away the shadows. Ben eyed critically the place. It was spartan, to put it mildly, with a stack of bottles, some of them full, most of them empty. Apart from that, two beds, two chairs and a table. There was obviously no one inside. No Shanks, no Mihawk, no stranger. Baffled, Ben sat down on one of the chairs. If he had found a corpse, he could have understood. But nothing ? They would have to search the whole atoll, but given its size, it wouldn't take long - besides, if Shanks had been there, he should have seen them coming...

"Maybe he just went out for a walk", Roux suggested.

"Yeah, let's get out and look for him", Yassopp concurred.

Ben nodded and followed them outside. But as he was about to step out of the log cabin, he suddenly came to a stop - what was that he had seen in a corner ? The first mate came back inside and picked up the gleaming object.

"Ben !" Yassopp called him, and the first mate eventually came out of the hut, his find in hand.

"What's that ?" the marksman peered curiously at the thing Ben was holding, then he paled as he recognized it.

It was a sword - Shanks' sword. No way the captain would have gone anywhere without it. Yet, there it was, and Shanks was no where in sight.

The Black Pearl had hardly left the island for twelve hourse, but already tea-break was obviously over, as far as the curse was concerned. Not that Jack had ever deluded himself in thinking the damned curse would leave him alone. These kind of jinxes had a nasty way to suddenly remind people they were still there. Sticky wicked curse. But then, as prepared as he may be, Jack had not necessarily expected something of that scale. For the Black Pearl was currently in the middle of the most tremendous storm he had ever witnessed - and he had lived through some dire disasters.

Upright, hands clutching the tiller, he tried to steer his galleon so it would shear through the waves askew. No way the ship could take these waves in head-on, they would knock it over for certain, and that would be it for everyone onboard. Meanwhile, the crew had reduced the sails to a minimum, so that the masts wouldn't be pulled out by the power of the wind. They had left just enough sails to allow Jack to manoeuvre.

In spite of the danger, Jack chuckled heartily. In these peculiar moments, when only his skill kept fatality at bay, he truly felt like captain Jack Sparrow. No sailor could contend with him when it came to steering, and once again he would stare at death and laugh at it. Not that he liked to take risks, but when in the middle of the action (and with no way out) he didn't waste time wallowing in self-pity. That wouldn't help anyway.

"Captain !" that was Gibbs, shouting in his ears - it was the only way for him to be heard over the racket of the storm and the thunderclaps. "We can't scoop out the water in the holds !"

"It doesn't matter !" Jack yelled back. "The weight will help stabilize the Pearl !"

"Looks like the ocean itself is trying to engulf us ! This storm has been raging for hours !"

Jack shrugged for all reply. It was true, and the storm didn't seem to be weakening at all. At first, the Black Pearl's captain had tried to keep to his original course to Tortuga, but he had given up a long time ago, and was merely trying to keep his galleon afloat - which wasn't as easy as it may sound. He just hoped this little gale wouldn't make them drift too far.

"That's all we found in the wreck."

Ben took the flag Jericho gave him and refrained a sigh. He had realized he was sighing a lot lately, and he was trying to get rid of this annoying habit. However, there wasn't much to be happy about. Apart from Shanks' sword, they hadn't found anything on the atoll, or anyone. Only, the sword was too much to leave it at that, and not enough to know what had happened. In other words, it raised more questions than it answered. So Ben had ordered the crew to search the wreck Yassopp had noticed when they had arrived, but all he got out of it was a dirty old flag. A bit of a mystery, though. Ben took pride in his perfect memory, but he didn't recall having ever seen such a skull and crossbones flag. This emblem was totally unknown to him.

With a nod, he motioned for the two senior crew members - Yassopp and Lucky - to follow him. It was time to hold a war council, and Shanks wouldn't mind if his first mate borrowed his quarters, would he ? At any rate, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

The three men sat inside the room, and stared gloomily at each other. Finally, Ben realized he would have to speak first.

"Okay, first let's gather the facts", he said after clearing his throat. "We know the captain came to this atoll to meet with Mihawk. We also know he isn't there anymore, and that he didn't leave of his own free will - he wouldn't have left his sword behind."

"What if the sword is a message ?" Yassopp suggested. "Maybe he had to leave, and he knew we'd be worried, so he left his sword to let us know he came here and he's fine."

"But then why is his boat still here ?" Ben shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. If he had wanted to leave a message, he could just have left a letter or something. And how did he leave the atoll ?"

"What if the Marines came here ?" Lucky Roux asked. "If he was drunk, it's possible they managed to capture him, isn't it ?"

"That's a possibility", Yassopp concurred.

"But we would have heard about it, wouldn't we ?" the first mate protested. "I mean, capturing one of the most wanted pirates in the world ? No way they wouldn't boast around. But in the last island we heard nothing about an arrest of any kind."

"In that case, what can we do ?" Yassopp sighed. Well, at least Ben wasn't the only one who did that. "We have no way to know what exactly happened."

"Wait..." the first mate nibbled on his cigarette as he drew the flag the Jericho had given him, and he laid it down on the table for his two mates to see.

It was a rather old and rag-looking black flag, with a skull and crossbones standing out in white, although half the skull was coloured in red. A golden triangle had been added around the skull, and a crown completed the emblem. It actually looked pretty good, but neither Yassopp nor Lucky seemed to recognize it, and they shook their heads wordlessly. Disappointed, Ben folded the flag and left it on the table.

"I never saw anything like this", Lucky said.

"Yeah, well, it's our only clue, so we don't have much of a choice in the matter", Ben replied darkly. "We are going to find the owner of this emblem, and when we do, he'd better have a pretty good explanation to offer us."

Her hull creaking dangerously, the Black Pearl was still fighting against the raging sea, determined or so it seemed to engulf the galleon in its depth. But this ship had been raised from the abyss itself, and no storm, as powerful as it may be, would get the better of her.

Shanks was outside, his right hand gripping a rope to prevent him from being taken by the enormous waves. Near him, Zoro and Mihawk were doing the same. Although they didn't exactly have a specific job onboard - besides, in such a typhoon, little could be done anyway - none of them would have considered finding a shelter inside the ship.

"I think the wind is slowing down !" Shanks yelled to his comrades.

"Wishful thinking I say !" Zoro shouted back. "This damned storm is stronger than ever !"

"Think positive !" Shanks replied.

Through two gusts of rain, Zoro saw that the red-haired pirate was grinning wildly, just like Mihawk. Obviously, the tempest didn't frighten them excessively, and the swordsman grinned back. That was his kind of people.

Suddenly, there was a commotion behind them, and the three Grand Liners spun round to see what was going on. Several of the sailors stared eyes wide at the sea, and when Shanks followed their looks, he saw the biggest tidal wave he had ever seen, coming straight at them. The red-haired pirate burst out laughing.

He's crazy, Zoro thought as he gazed at the tidal wave in dismay. His only consolation in all that was that, if Mihawk died before him, he might be the greatest swordsman in the world for a few seconds before he succumbed as well.

Ever since the Going Merry had left the atoll twelve hours ago, everyone onboard had stayed mostly dead silent. Except when this Winslow fellow gave them the order to sail to the closest island, which had made everyone grit their teeth. But as long as Luffy was willing to obey this man, nothing could be done about it. No matter what, the stupid rubber boy remained their captain, even if Sanji was starting to doubt his sanity. At least, Winslow had been respectful to Nami and Robin, otherwise the cook couldn't have restrained himself. Well, Robin remained quiet as ever, but it was hard for Sanji to see his dove in such a grim mood. He had tried to cheer her up, to fix up a nice snack for her, but she had declined his offer. Food didn't always have the power to comfort people, to the cook's dismay.

He was somewhat tempted to throw the Winslow guy overboard, but he claimed to have beaten Zoro - and everything seemed to bear it out, from the stupid swordsman's disappearance to Winslow's story - and as little as Sanji may like the Marimo, he still couldn't deny that he was a formidable fighter. In other words, if he wanted a chance at Winslow, he'd have first to learn more about him. So he bid his time, gritted his teeth silently, and endured the whole ordeal.

However, Sanji couldn't bear any longer the sight of Winslow, sitting on the deck with Robin, and he came back inside. Usopp was there too, busy tinkering about. The marksman certainly was clever with his hands. Sanji himself knew everything there was to know about cookery, but out of his field he wasn't all that skillful. He probably could get better at these kind of things if he gave it a try, but that didn't really interest him, so he let Usopp manage these. However, as adept at repairing the ship as Usopp may be, he still wasn't a real shipwright. When everything was back to normal, they would have to seriously look for one. For now, though, it wasn't Sanji's main concern. He needed to take some of his frustration out or he was going to explode.

"I really don't understand Luffy !" he growled in a low voice. No matter how mad he was, he didn't want Winslow to overhear - he would never criticize his captain in front of this guy. "Allowing that deluded, arrogant, shitty..."

"Oi, oi, calm down", Usopp said soothingly. "Luffy knows what he's doing - more so than I would have expected from him, really."

"What do you mean ? We should just have bashed this guy up till he brought the salad head back, and that was it."

"No, Luffy's right. We can't find out how to get Zoro back that way. If Winslow really defeated him, he has to be strong. Didn't you notice ?"

"Notice what ?" now, Sanji's curiosity was aroused.

"He didn't have a single scratch on him", Usopp explained quickly. "We all know how strong Zoro is, yet this guy defeated him without being only touched by him."

"Maybe he's lying", the cook suggested after pondering the idea. "Maybe he just said that in order to impress us."

"Then where is Zoro ?" the marksman retorted. "And how did Winslow know who he was ? He was the first to say Zoro's name."

"Marimo's sense of direction is non-existent at best", Sanji shrugged. "He could have gotten lost."

"No", Usopp shook his head. "You didn't notice, on the way back, because you were too busy glaring at Winslow, but I found Zoro's boat, hidden in a small creek. The mast sticked out a bit, that's how I found it. And I think Luffy saw it too, but he didn't have time to tell us when we catched up with him, because he was already facing Winslow."

"Oh, I see", Sanji muttered, a bit vexed when he realized he'd been much less insightful than Usopp. "But anyway, even if he defeated Zoro, the six of us should have been enough to beat this guy."

"Luffy would have wanted to take him on his own, no help from us, you know that", the marksman snorted. "And apart from him, and maybe Robin, I'm not sure any of us would stand a chance." Usopp pointedly ignored the cook's glare at this insult to his fighting abilities. "Besides, killing this guy wouldn't bring Zoro back, and Winslow's our only key to him. We need to know more."

"Maybe", Sanji finally relented, although he didn't seem all that convinced. "But I still don't like that."

"Neither do I", his long-nosed friend sighed. "Neither do I."