Ureshiitamago: …*ahem*
Aave: be warned, ureshiitamago, whatever you say to excuse yourself may or may not give me the excuse to sic Gwaine on you. *simmers with anger*
Ureshiitamago: Ah!...um…*ahem…sorry about that one month…two month? Hiatus, guys. I really got kicked in the butt by a combo attack of school and writers block-
Aave: though you seemed to have no trouble writing those essays.
Ureshiitamago: Whatever! What I mean to say is, thank you all for your continued support of this fanfic, and, like promised, I'm back! (Also, in the first chappie, I said something about Aave having a devil's fruit. That was wrong, ignore that please. *bows* I was thinking of a different OC, and I believe I wrote it…late…early…)
Forewarning: This summer, I am jam packed with things that might take me off the radar (again), so the updates will be long, but spotted.
Aave: …OK! XD BACK TO ENERGY!
Ureshiitamago: I forgot how liberating it is to write your character, Aave.
Aave: YOOOUUUU'REE Welcome!
Ureshiitamago: OK! I'll do the thankies this time! Long list XD.
We would like to thank Scrap Metal Skeleton, ADDBaby, pokemonking0924, nami988, secretdewdrop, PokemonNarutoLover, Volpiko, Shano1321, RyAnneCorra, nightstar261, yukicarr, pettysylph, Choppertheracoondog, hinata95, Assatte, onepieceoffreedom, hiraikoneko, Blahblahcat, .140, xXDeathBunnyXx2, TreacherousDeer, spacetimeenigma, Adam95F, alexc123, Picu, CallmeEevee, chaosrin, and ComicGeek for following/favoriting!
A special thanks to; ADDBaby, Cyannel, QuirkyKit, Rina Dragonfly, Varus the Shadow Sage, EVA-Saiyajin (thank you for your input, I will try to make it less third wheely), and chaosrin for reviewing! Cookies for all of you! (::) (::)
Aave: Onto the chappie! With a disclaimer, ureshiitamago doesn't own One Piece!
"But the facts are still the facts…" Zoro said. "Pirates really are coming, aren't they?"
"They're coming, all right." Usopp said, his face determined, and his voice glum. "But no one will believe me! They all think tomorrow will be just another peaceful day…" There was a pause. "SO IT'S UP TO ME TO MEET THOSE PIRATES AND FIGHT THEM OF!" Usopp suddenly shouted, rocketing to his feet.
"THEN I'LL HAVE A REAL TALL TALE TO TELL! I MAY BE A LIAR…BUT THIS TIME MY TALE WILL COME TRUE!"
Chapter 14: Ghosting around
Mia mensoganto sat back down on his rock, and held his injured arm out, clenching his fist. He looked very intense, and for a moment, I was reminded of Hoshi-chan's cook, Mr. Don. I shook my head slightly, and refocused on the now.
"They can shoot me in the arm," Usopp was saying, "and they can chase me with brooms, but this village is my home. I love this village! I've got to protect my neighbors!" I unconsciously gripped my right hand glove with my left hand. Usopp was now crying. "There's not much time to plan…" he choked out, his voice muffled by his hands, "but I refuse to let anyone get murdered." My heart (though it was dead) went out to his predicament, and my resolve to help him solidified. There was a small 'woof', and Gwaine alighted on my shoulder. I grinned at him, and looked over at Zoro, who was speaking.
"You've got a noble heart! You sent your crew away so you could face the danger alone." He was grinning at the prospect of an oncoming fight. Luffy warmed up his arm with a stretch.
"Well, then. We're going to help you."
"Yay! We're helping Pinocchio!" I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air and jumping up and down with joy.
"It's not a game!" Snapped Nami-baka. "But I'm telling you now," she said to Usopp, making a money sign with her fingers, "The treasure's all mine!"
"Always thinking about money, huh. Booooring!" I sang, and then giggled and hid behind Zoro when she turned to me. "A demon appeared!" I said, pointing at her. "A demon!"
"Huh?...You guys," Usopp looked at us. "…you guys are willing to fight beside me?...Why?!" He looked absolutely perplexed. Gwaine woof/tweeted in my ear.
"Yes, I agree." I whispered back.
"You're hopelessly outnumbered, right?" Luffy said, still warming up his arm to fight.
"You look pretty scared." Zoro remarked as I pulled myself onto his back and hung there. Usopp stood up suddenly and started shouting, causing me to squeak in surprise and choke Zoro.
"ME? SCARED? HA! TH-THAT'S A L-LAUGH! OUTNUMBERED OR NOT, I'LL BE F-FINE! I'm captain Usopp, brave warrior of the sea!"
"Hey, can I sing? His knees are a good metronome." I said, pointing to his knees, which were knocking together with almost impeccable timing.
"Not now." Zoro said. I pouted and pulled on his ear in revenge, and then rested my chin on his shoulder. Usopp looked down at his legs when I pointed them out, and started cursing and hitting them.
"What are you looking at?!" Usopp demanded, his teeth turning into shark teeth and his eyes bugging out at us. "I'm going up against Captain Kuro's pirates! Of course I'm scared! So what?! I don't want your pity! You guys can stop laughing! Leave!" Wow, that escalated quickly…I thought, a sweatdrop running down my head. On the other hand though, I was impressed that although he was scared, he was willing to die for his neighbors who had shot him in the arm. Zoro gave voice to my opinion.
"We're not laughing at you." Zoro said. "We're impressed. That's why we're going to help you."
"Who'd risk their life out of pity?" Luffy asked.
"That would be stupid." I agreed. Usopp started crying again.
"Y-you guys!"
Time skip! ('cause I'm a lazy girl! :P)
A little while later, we were discussing where the pirates were going to be coming from. (To be more precise, they were discussing, and I had changed my perch from Zoro's back to Luffy's in an attempt to stay awake.)
My brain felt heavy and fuzzy as the night wore on, and I could barely concentrate on what everyone was saying. Regardless, I was able to make out a few words here and there. Something about putting oil on the slope that we were on so that the pirates would fall down as they tried to climb up. Suddenly, I was prodded awake by Usopp. I rubbed my eyes and peered at him.
"What can you do?" He asked me. I stared at him for a moment, my human (for now) brain working on deciphering what he was saying.
"…I freeze." I muttered, and then rested my head on Luffy's shoulder again. My brain felt like it was spiraling into the darkness.
"THAT DOESN'T TELL ME ANYTHING!" Usopp shouted. I grumbled and pulled my hat farther down my head. I fell down the spiral and into darkness.
I floated there, looking around my head. There were the memories of Hoshi-chan and her crew, there the memories of Roger and Rayleigh. The big area over in that direction were the memories of my friends and family before I died. The space in between those memories and the memories of Roger and Rayleigh were the memories of the time I spent alone, with only Queen Margareta of Ifnargal and Fairy Queen (then Princess) for company.
Turning to face the opposite direction, I saw the new memories I was making, lined up neatly in a row. Meeting Coby, my two years with him, meeting Luffy, going off with him to be a pirate, but refusing to join his crew, choosing instead to haunt his ship. Meeting Zoro, the disappointment I felt when I realized that he didn't have three arms. Meeting Nami-baka, and feeling the mistrust that had dimmed the last few days. Shrub man, Gwaine.
I floated over to those memories and gazed at the memory of me playing tag with Zoro and Luffy. Had that happened just this morning? I smiled, and flipped through more memories. None of them had even a whiff of depression.
"Maybe you should join their crew." Fairy Queen said, flying up to me. I turned to her.
"So, you don't think that Luffy's going to end up like Hoshi-chan?" I asked, looking over at the memory of Hoshi-chan taking the crossbow arrows for me.
"We cannot guarantee it, but we don't think so." Queen Margareta said from my other side. I glanced at her, and then at the memory of trying to steal Luffy's hat (for fun) in my hands. I looked back over at Hoshi-chan's area, remembering the first time I had met her.
Memory!
It had been three years (?) since Roger and Rayleigh had left the island and had given me the pocket watch. Two years since I realized the island wasn't going to let me go after them any time soon, and one year since I heard anything from the outside world. I was lying on my back in the clearing, staring up at the sky, wondering what else there was for me to do. No other ghosts had come by recently, and my excursions with Margareta and Fairy Queen were growing farther and farther apart with each passing day.
I stared blankly up at the clouds, trying to find shapes by myself.
"Tortoise. Sheep. Lion…strawhat." I sniffed mightily on the last one. "I miss you guys!" I called into the sky, crying ghost tears.
"Now, now. It's not becoming for a young girl like yourself to be crying! Not when there's a magician such as myself here to cheer you up!" A cheerful voice called from the woods. I picked up my head and looked over at where the voice was coming from. A tall lady was standing just inside the trees, leaning on a cane. Everything about her seemed to be halvsies. Half of her hair was brown, half was blue. One of her eyes was brown, the other blue. Her clothes were the same way, so it appeared as though half of her was brown, and the other half was blue. The only thing that seemed out of the ordinary on her was her top hat, perched precariously on her head. It was also brown and blue, but it was patchworked, so the brown and blue was mixed together.
"Who are you?" I called to her. If at all possible, her smirk/grin became bigger.
"My name is Hoshi-chan! You?"
"Aave."
"I'll call you Aave-yuuyuu!"
"What does that mean?"
"Hey! You wanna see a magic trick?"
"Sure!"
"It's called the disappearing coin!"
"Whoa! Where'd it go?!"
"It's in…your ear!"
"WOOOOOW! Another! Another!"
"Ok! Here's the floating ball trick!"
"Oh my gosh! It's really floating! That's so cool!"
The day passed by so fast, and I was disappointed when she said that she had to go back to her ship for the night.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to my ship!"
"Are you a captain?"
"Yes, but I don't want to be…"
"Why?"
"I'm a good time girl, not a captain. The old captain died from battle wounds. So, as first mate, I was promoted. I'm the new-ish captain of the Sparrow pirates!"
"You're a pirate!?"
"Yes…is it a problem?"
"NO! I've always wanted to be a pirate." I fiddled with Roger's pocket watch.
"Then why don't you come with us?"
"…"
"You can't, huh."
"No."
"Then we'll wait until you can."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Promise?"
"I promise, mia etulo."
"What does mia etulo mean?"
"I'll tell you later! See you tomorrow, Aave-yuuyuu!"
We did meet the next day, and she showed me all kinds of magic tricks. I even learned a few. We met every day, for weeks and weeks. Her crew met me too, and we all got along splendidly. Except for one. Kebukai Saru, a big, muscular man with frizzy brown hair, a bushy black beard, and a hatred of ghosts. How did I know that? Well, he had threatened me with his crossbow arrows before, that's how.
I didn't really pay attention to any of the threats he hurled in my direction, the "I'm going to send you to where you belong, the afterlife.", or the "Hey, Hoshi-senchou. You know I'm a ghost hunter, right? So why do you want a ghost on the crew?" I just thought him a bully and didn't want anything to do with him. Unfortunately, I didn't get to choose that.
End memory
I shook my head to clear it, my resolve hardening.
"No, I'm not going to join yet." I said. Margareta and Fairy Queen's heads whipped around to exchange a look.
"Don't you want to think about it some more?" Margareta asked me gently.
"No."
"Bu-"
"No." It was too real, the fear that Luffy might end up like Hoshi-chan because of me. It was a stupid fear, that I knew, but it was a horrible feeling non-the-less. Hoshi-chan died because someone in her crew decided that they needed to send me off to the other side. Not just that, but they defied their captain to do it. I knew it wasn't logical, wasn't ethical, to think that way, but I was a freakin' kid! What did they expect? For me to get over seeing one of my best friends die for me? No. I would wait.
"I'll continue to haunt his ship. Then maybe later," After I come to terms with the reason for Hoshi-chan's death "I'll see about actually joining his crew." Once I'm certain that he won't die because of me. Margareta and Fairy Queen sighed, but reluctantly vanished when I felt myself being prodded awake.
"Oooi! Wake up, Aave-chan. It's almost daylight. Did you know that you're half transparent?" It was Nami-baka, poking me awake while I was still on Luffy's back. I yawned in her face to spite her, and rubbed my eyes tiredly as I looked around. The ground sloping down to the water looked like it was covered in some kind of shiny goop.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's oil." Usopp replied. "Now here's the plan: we attack 'em while they're slipping and sliding. No matter what happens, we hold this pass."
"Isn't there another pass?" I asked. Well, tried to ask. It came out more like. "Mmmphh pper nnnmm ppmmph?" My voice was muffled by Luffy's shoulder, and, try as I might, I couldn't find the energy to move my head. Perhaps it was because I was becoming a ghost again? Luffy plopped down onto the ground and began playing with the oil.
"I have no idea what you're saying." Nami-baka said to me. "But I just hope we don't end up slipping and sliding ourselves. It'd be pretty dumb to get caught in our own trap."
"You sure did come up with a slick plan!" Luffy punned with a laugh. I giggled, amused by the pun. It really was punny.
"NATURALLY!" shouted Usopp, crossing his arms to look epic. "WHEN IT COMES TO DARING IDEAS AND THIS SLINGSHOT—I HAVE ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE!" Luffy stood back up as the sun peeked over the horizon. I picked my hand up from my side and looked at it. Transparent.
"It's dawn." Zoro remarked. "Here they come." I tugged on Luffy's hair.
"Could you let me down?"
"Sure." I just touched the ground when I floated off of it. So it didn't last 24 hours this time. I started to juggle as we waited, and then dropped them when I felt a surge of spiritual energy to the north.
"Where are they?" Luffy asked, kicking a rock. "It's already dawn."
"Maybe they overslept?" suggested Zoro.
"Mon Kapitano!" I called to Luffy. "Spiritual activity to the north, sir!" I came to attention and saluted.
"I think I can hear someone yelling 'yaaahr' to the north of us, too…" Nami-baka said, cupping a hand around her left ear.
"NORTH!?" Usopp shouted with a gulp. I flew up to the treetops, and peered in the direction of where we had landed our boats, and saw a mid-sized galleon, with a cat figure head. I reported what I had seen to Luffy and the others.
"YOU MEAN WE'RE ON THE WRONG BEACH?!" Luffy shouted up at me.
"WHOOPS-A-BUTTERCUP! YES WE ARE!" I shouted back. I descended faster than normal, and looked at the four of them.
"…pirates had their secret meeting here!" Usopp was saying. "I just assumed…"
"WE'VE GOTTA GET TO THEM BEFORE THEY CAN ATTACK THE VILLAGE!" Luffy shouted. "WHICH WAY SHOULD WE GO?"
"IF WE RUN STRAIGHT NORTH, WE SHOULD BE THERE IN ABOUT THREE MINUTES!" Usopp shouted back, clenching his fist. "THERE'S ANOTHER PASS THERE ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE THIS ONE. WE CAN STOP THEM THERE!" I looked over at the oil covering the ground, 'poof', 'pop'. A small can appeared in my hand, and I scooped up a can-full of oil. Might come in handy…I thought. In the meantime, Nami-baka chose a really weird thing to panic about.
"OH NO!" she shouted. "OUR SHIPS ARE AT THE NORTH BEACH! THEY'LL TAKE OUR TREASURE!" Luffy blasted away from us.
"I'LL BE THERE IN TWENTY SECONDS!" he shouted.
"DARN!" Usopp shouted, facing the hill covered in oil. "MY GREAT OIL-SLICK PLAN WAS FOR NOTHING!" I rushed off after Luffy, with Usopp following close behind.
I kept pace with Usopp, swinging my can full of oil and thinking of ways to use it.
"I swear I won't let them get to the village!" Usopp gasped from behind me. "But that guy sure is fast! I can't even see him!"
"Ne, Usopp?"
"Hmm?"
"Why is a Raven like a writing desk?"
"WHY ARE YOU ASKING THAT NOW?"
"I was just wondering…"
"WONDER LATER!" He shouted as he rained lead pellets on the enemy pirates. There were cries of indignation from the pirates. 'Poof', 'pop'. A small brush appeared in my hand, and I made myself invisible. I just had to stop them from getting up the hill, right? I flew between pirates, applying a small layer of oil to the bottoms of their shoes while they ran, making them slip and fall as they attempted the climb. There were about thirty pirates total, including the hypnotist.
"Hmph, so it's you…you're the little barnacle that overheard our plan. What's the big idea?" I looked over at the hypnotist, and scowled.
"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING! LEAVE NOW, WHILE YOU STILL CAN! I HAVE 10 MILLION FIGHTING MEN READY TO CRUSH YOU DOGS!" Usopp shouted. "AND A HORD OF GHOSTS!"
"That's the worst lie I've heard all morning." I overheard one of the enemy say. Then, I got a devilish idea, and grinned.
"What makes you think it's a lie?" I whispered in the man's ear. He looked to his neighbor.
"Did you say something?" he asked.
"No, I didn't."
"Don't lie."
"I didn't."
"DAMN YOU! I TOLD YOU NOT TO LIE!"
"BUT I DIDN'T!"
"LIAR!"
"AAAUUGH!" I silently cheered as they started fighting each other.
"TEN MILLION? GHOSTS? REALLY?" I hear a shout from behind me. It was the hypnotist.
"C'MON CAPTAIN! HE BE LYING!"
"That isn't proper grammar." I said, making sure that I said it from where there were no pirates. Everyone looked in my direction, and I turned visible for a span of a second, making sure to look bloody and have a scary face on.
"IIIIIYYAAAAA!" shouted the hypnotist.
"I-it's just an i-i-illusion!" said another pirate, not looking very confident while he was saying it.
"THEY SAW THROUGH THE 10 MILLION MEN!" Usopp cried. Baka…I thought with a sweatdrop.
"But not the ghosts? Really? Does he think we're that stupid?" a pirate asked.
"But he was right about us ghosts." I whispered in that one's ear. He was standing next to the cliff, and when he looked over, no one was standing there. He paled three shades before fainting.
"Why, you!" the hypnotist said. "You'll pay for your deceit." Before he could attack, however, a voice interrupted him. I cursed and flew over to our boats.
"CAPTAIN JANGO! IT'S AMAZING!"
"WHAT IS IT? TROUBLE?"
"NOT TROUBLE, TREASURE!" I flew past the man doing the yelling and halted in front of our boats.
"We found treasure on those suspicious ships. It's a king's ransom! Maybe four or five million beri's!" I gaped at the sight of pirates carrying Nami-baka's treasure off of the boat. Even though I'm dead, she's going to kill me…
"WHAT?!" Django the hypnotist shouted in surprise.
"THAT'S MY TREASURE!" I heard Usopp shout. Suddenly, I was afraid for his life. "BUT I'LL LET YOU HAVE IT ALL!"
"HUH? YOU'RE GOING TO LET US HAVE THE TREASURE?" The pirates sounded astounded. He is definitely going to die…
"YES, I WILL! I'LL GIVE YOU THAT TREASURE, IF YOU LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!" Usopp shouted. I shook my head. I was a kid, and even I wasn't stupid enough to try to bribe pirates with Nami-baka's money. It wasn't the bribing pirates part, it was the Nami-baka's money part.
"WHAT?! HE'S TRYING TO PAY US OFF?" one of the pirates shouted.
"That scum." Another said. I sweatdropped. Weren't they pirates?
"…Are you daft?" Django asked Usopp. "Of course we'll take the treasure. But why should we leave?"
"Point." I said aloud.
"Who said that?"
"Nobody."
"Oh." He turned back to Usopp. "Now, when I say 'one, two, Django', you'll step aside." Django said, holding up his hypnotist gadget.
"One…"
"DON'T LOOK, USOPP!" I shouted. But the idiota kept his eyes on the circle.
"Two…"
"DJA-" Django was cut off by Nami-baka hitting Usopp on the head with her staff.
"DON'T SAY FOOLISH THINGS, BUSTER!" I took the time to fly through a few enemies. They collapsed from the cold.
"WHO'S THAT WOMAN?"
"CAPTAIN, THIS IS NO TIME FOR PARLOR TRICKS!"
"THE TREASURE ON THAT SHIP IS MINE!" Nami-baka shouted. "AND I'M NOT GIVING UP ONE BERI OF IT! HANG ONTO IT FOR ME, BECAUSE I'M COMING FOR IT!" She and Usopp had a small spat, and then she turned and pointed at Django.
"I forgot to tell you, but don't look at that guy's ring when he starts counting. He's a hypnotist!"
*Gasp!* dun dun dun duuuuun! How was that for a first day back? XD I think I did pretty well, though Aave might not seem as cheerful in this chappie. Oh well! See you next time!