Yes, we're all happy that Ace is here. Sadly, he won't be around too long (no, he's NOT going to die!). Hope this makes you all happy! Oh here are your answers, CulinaryChef:
1+2) Iris can't ride horses. Neither can Katie, Garret, Donsopp, Kiki, or anyone else except for Shol and Nick. Okay, Thina can too but she didn't go with them. Other than that, none of the others can. Chopper and Chompy can use their walk point so they don't need horses and considering they're animals themselves too.
3) Oh yeah, was it about this purple dragon? I hope my last chapter was able to encourage you to get farther in the game!
"How long does this usually last?" Iris asked with an eyebrow rose looking at Ace who was brought back to the palace. Kiki shrugged.
"Well, I don't know how he became the first mate of White Beard with this kind of disadvantage," said Donsopp.
"Hey! This happens to be my father that you're talking about!" Spyro snapped.
"Yeah, Uncle Ace is awesome! But you guys can ignore Spyro," said Kiki proudly about Ace but lacked respect when she mentioned Spyro. Spyro grew an anime vein and tackled her down and the two got into a fist fight. Everyone else sweatdrops.
"…"
"Okay, who is he again?" Donsopp asked,
"Kiki's cousin I think," Garret replied as the crew watches the two roll around and Kiki's arms getting tangled around Spyro.
"Hmph! This is the worse thing Shanks can ever do to me! Leave me with this stupid excuse for a pirate and a captain," Shol complained leaning against the wall.
"Hey, you weren't the only one that did this out of someone else's orders or ideas," said Garret.
"I'm doing this out of a bet and I'm planning on winning," said Iris and got tired of watching so she's been staring at the ceiling.
"Well nobody asked you," said Katie,
"I was just stating something," said Iris calmly.
"Come on guys, stop fighting," said Nick trying to calm Kiki and Spyro down.
"Yeah seriously, grow up," said Chopper having a drink in a corner of the room.
"Do humans do this often?" Chompy asked waiting for an answer from anyone,
"Well not all humans," Thina answered who was sitting out of the 'excitement' at a table, sewing.
Before anything else could be said or done, Sakan came barging into the room.
"I need your help, quick!" he said, out of breath.
"There," Sakan pointed into the distance. Sakan made everybody go with him against their will but it's the fact that he was pretty scary when he shouted at them to make them go with him with or without Kiki's orders. Spyro stayed at the castle, not wanting anything to do with Kiki. Chopper stayed in case Ace needed something. Everyone either walked or rode on horses, and those that didn't ride before fell off this time too. Sakan lead them through the desert and there in the distance looked like a sandstorm brewing up.
"What about it?" Katie asked,
"It's not normal," said Sakan in a monotone voice.
"So what do you want us to do about it?" Shol asked,
"Simple, go in there and check it out," said Sakan and crosses his arms waiting for them to do so. The others just glared at him,
"When did you become the captain?" Iris asked bluntly,
"I'm a prince, I'm higher than a mere captain," said Sakan proudly,
"Pth! Spoiled rich guy…" Garret mumbled and got off his horse and headed for the unusual sandstorm followed by the others.
When the crew got close enough to actually feel sand on their faces, it all of a sudden just stopped.
"Okay…that was weird," Katie commented then something popped out of the sand and half the crew shrieked in fear.
"Guys, it's just a scorpion," said Shol with a sweatdrop.
"I BIG Scorpion!" Donsopp pointed out. Before any more comments could be made, Iris kicked the thing on its side.
"Come on, let's investigate exactly what was going on here," she said and started leading the others this time.
"Ooh, can we eat it?" Kiki asked watching the scorpion trying to get up or dig back into the sand.
"Unless you want to die, go ahead but I highly advise you not to," said Thina and took Kiki's shoulders to lead her away from the scorpion.
"Why would I die?" Kiki asked,
"The scorpion just said he'll get that yellow-blazing freak that kicked him," said Chompy,
"Really?" asked Kiki amused then Iris suddenly went running back to the giant scorpion.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU STINGING BUG FREAK?" Iris shouted angrily and started beating on the scorpion. Everyone just stood there with sweatdrops.
"Stupid bug with a pointy tail and big in size thinks it's better than me! Ha! I showed it!" Iris grumbled as every desert animal is now officially afraid of her.
"H-Hey Iris, you might have gone just a bit overboard there," said Katie with a sweatdrop.
"I'm actually happy that she took care of it!" said Donsopp.
"It wasn't that scary really. Leave the creatures here alone and they'll leave you alone," said Nick.
"Doesn't matter, we have to find out what happened to that sandstorm that just stopped when we got close to it," Thina reminded.
"Agreed," said Garret,
"Okay! Everyone spread out and search for clues!" Kiki ordered, though it was more of a random shout than an actually order.
Everyone started searching through the sand or the area and no one found anything.
"…Does it feel like something is wrong?" Shol asked Kiki,
"Huh? Yeah! I'm hungry!" said Kiki and Shol grew an anime vein.
"You're an idiot! Can't you be serious for once?" Shol asked angrily.
"Um yes I can! So, you think something doesn't feel right or something?" Kiki asked and Shol was taken back by the fact that she's willing to listen.
"Uh, yeah I do. Something doesn't feel right. Kiki, there's no one here except us," said Shol.
"Okay, then maybe we should go back to Sakan…Sakan!" Kiki exclaimed.
"Hmm…that's weird," Sakan said to himself when he saw that the sandstorm stopped when the crew got there. Then he watched in amusement when Iris beats up the scorpion. Sakan sat on his horse and got suspicious when the crew searched and found nothing. Something really is wrong. Then Sakan heard Kiki shout his name.
"Hello, Young Prince…"
Sakan immediately reaches for the dagger and sword he had with him and jumped off his horse.
--
"Shol! Go on ahead! You're the fastest!" Kiki ordered as she and the crew makes their way back to the prince. Shol nodded, running ahead uphill to Sakan. Shol made a perfect landing and ended up in front of the horse which was frightened and nearly gave Shol a kicking. Shol avoided the horse and then bumped into someone.
"Look out!" Shol found himself hitting the floor, and then dragged.
"Hey let go!" he shouted,
"Sure, if you want to die!" said Sakan continuing to pull him and Shol then saw a blade just barely missing him.
Shol slipped out of his cloak that Sakan was dragging him with and took out his own sword and attacks the guy hiding his face with a mask that nearly gave him a haircut! Sakan tosses the cloak aside,
"Shol! Careful! That guy's got the powers of a Devil's fruit!" Sakan warned.
"Oh! Now you tell me!" Shol shouted as he quickly went under and behind and was about to stab the big and tall guy, with his body almost completely covered, but he only hits sand.
"What the? Where did he go?" Shol looked around and was on his guard, even if he can't see the enemy, he's got keen instincts. Sakan came up next to him and as much as the two don't like it, they had their back to each other just in case.
"Who was that guy?" Shol asked,
"His father was in charge of a group called the Baroque Works named Crocodile. My mother actually thought it was Crocodile himself that was back but this guy was too young to be Crocodile. Big, bad, mean, bad fashion sense, and ugly. It completely equals Crocodile's kid," explained Sakan,
"Yeah, except it's not really a kid. More a dangerous adult with a gun even though he's got a sword! And what was with him disappearing all of a sudden? How do you know he's ugly his you can't even see his face?" Shol asked angrily.
"He posses powers of a Devil's Fruit from his father. He has the power of sand. And I know what he looks like because I've been attacked by him before except I didn't know he was related to Crocodile in anyway back then," said Sakan and just then both felt that they should not be standing where they were.
The two jumped away just before a giant hand made out of sand reached up,
"You know, you're pretty good…for a prince," said Shol and got ready to fight,
"Hey, I cannot be defended all the time by other people," said Sakan and he too got into fighting position.
"Uh…which way did Shol go?" Katie asked looking around,
"I can't believe you lost him!" Garret shouted at Kiki.
"Hey it's not my fault!" she argued back.
"Come on guys, stop fighting," said Nick going in between them.
"What Nick said. Good to see that we actually have boys with brains," said Iris looking around for signs of Shol or Sakan.
"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Garret and Donsopp exclaimed.
"Come now, boys, remain calm and collective," Thina advised. Chompy was sniffing around,
"Hey, I think I caught a bit of Sakan's scent. The perfume scents from the palace is still on Sakan…I smell Shol too! Did you know his hair has the worst smell ever?"
"Great job, Chompy!" Katie cheered and pointed forward,
"Now I can see the handsome Sakan and hot Shol!"
Everyone sweat drops,
"Um, the scent came from that direction…" said Chompy and motioned to the opposite way Katie was pointing at.
"Stay back, your highness and let the ultimate assassin take care of this!" said Shol smirking and charged forward,
"Hey! Why would I let you take all the fun? Do you know how boring being a prince is?" Sakan asked and went after Shol. Both had their swords attack the sand fist but it was hard as solid rock! Learning from that Shol attacked again but with different force and sliced it. Then weapons shaped from sands sprouted from the ground,
"…Still think the prince life is boring?" Shol asked as he looks at all the solid sand shaped weapons in front of them.
"Hn, yes. But anyway, Shol, we're wasting our time and energy fighting sand. We have to find the actual person," Sakan pointed out,
"But then it's no fun," said Shol and went straight ahead attacking every sand-made objects. Sakan sighed,
"Shol! This is what he wants! Shol! Listen to me!" Sakan shouted after him. Sakan growled to himself. A sweat slipped down the side of his face and hits the sand. Deep down, he's worried and a bit scared. He can use a sword and he can fight to defend himself. But since fighting isn't what princes are supposed to do, he doesn't battle any more than Donsopp. There's no way he can fight this enemy alone without protection from someone like Shol. He knows that Shol was purposefully lured away from him.
"Okay…I'm afraid. But I can't let that get to me. My mother put her life at risk when she joined Baroque Works to save her country. Now, I have to be brave too and fight whether I'm alone or not. But…I can't fight someone twice my size with twice my strength and skills. That and the fact that he has powers of a Devil's Fruit is also what's giving me a bit of a shake…" Sakan thought with fear but starts taking in deep breaths to calm down.
"Okay, I'm going to be okay. Shol! Get back here! I can't handle this on my own!" Sakan shouted to Shol again. Shol turns around, getting annoyed with him but his face of wanting to complain changed to a worried and scared expression,
"SAKAN RUN!! Behind you!"
Sakan didn't need to turn around; he made a dash forward only to trip.
"Sakan!" Shol shouted running to his aid, but he's not fast enough to actually save him even though he can actually reach them.
"Gomu! Gomu! No Pistol!"
"Sakan! You alright?" Shol asked helping him up,
"Yeah, was that Kiki?" Sakan asked and looked behind where the person that was about to kill him lay knocked out.
"Alright? Where is he?" Kiki asked with a fist ready for another attack,
"Uh, you took care of him," Shol pointed.
"WHAT? I didn't even get a chance to fight!" Garret exclaimed when he saw it was already over.
"Uh, I'm actually quite glad! He looks a little to big to deal with!" said Donsopp with a nervous laugh.
"You are useless," said Iris,
"That was mean, Iris. Besides…I agree with you, Donsopp! That guys twice Garret's size!" said Katie looking between the two.
"Though Garret's definitely a lot more handsome. Even though I can't see this bad guy's face…I did NOT just say that about Garret!" Katie thought and started hitting herself with her hands.
"Uh…are you alright?" Garret asked raising an eyebrow.
"Huh? Who me? Of course I'm okay! What? Do you think I have mental problems are something?" Katie snapped.
"Actually yes…" Garret mumbled and received a hit at the head with a bat that Katie pulled out.
Chompy quickly changed back into his two-legged form and pulled out a needle and injected it into the man,
"There, now he's for sure, knocked out!"
Back at the castle, everyone, especially Kiki, was enjoying a great dinner. Well, everyone except Shol that is. Unfortunately to him, he sat right next to Kiki.
"Hey Shol! What's wrong? Aren't you hungry? Because if you're not, I'll take your dinner," said Kiki between mouthfuls. Shol grew an anime vein.
"You are so childish!"
"Yeah? Well you're too serious!"
"Gr…No, you can't have my dinner and nothing's wrong!" Shol snapped,
"Oh come on Shol. Lighten up just a bit at least. You're going to stress yourself out if you keep thinking so hard," said Kiki in a normal tone of voice.
"Hn…don't you think that the single punch you gave that guy that tried to assassinate the prince and knocked him out was a bit…too easy?" Shol asked,
"No and why did he want to kill Sakan in the first place? Oh yeah, don't forget that Chompy injected something in him," Kiki reminded and asked, them took another bite.
"Who cares why, I'm just trying to figure out how that single hit could've knocked him out, if it really did. Something's not right," said Shol.
"Oh come on! I even kicked his body a few times! The guy was out cold!"
"You don't get it! Being careless is what could lead to our own deaths!" Shol snapped at her as she chews her food but she wasn't taken back by him at all.
"…Is that how you lost your family?" Kiki asked calmly and Shol felt like he has been physically hit by her as his body moves back and he lost his balance and falls off his chair.
"Shol! You okay?" Kiki asked with some concern in her voice. He looked at her, okay, he glared at her.
"You…just SHUT UP!" And with that, Shol took off.
"Shol!!" Kiki shouted and left the table to go after him.
"Kiki! Shol!" Katie shouted after her,
"Where are you guys going?" Donsopp added.
"They were fighting I guess," said Garret playing with his food.
"I think Kiki just annoyed the heck out of the guy," said Spyro and cooked his food extra crispy.
"They'll be fine," said Ace as he continues eating. Then all of a sudden, his face just hits the plate.
"OH MY GOSH! HE DIED!" Katie shouted,
"Oh not again," said Spyro after he found his father's pulse.
"Let me guess…that sleeping disorder he has?" Thina asked,
"Yup, he's fine," said Spyro as Garret and everyone that has sense on the crew sweatdrops.
Shol stood out in the desert night staring at sand that continues on and on across the land.
"Shol."
Shol refuses to turn around and answer the straw hat girl.
"Shol… (sigh) Shol look, from what I said earlier, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend or hurt you in any way. My Dad, he hates it when people don't smile, and so do I. I don't really feel that good if I'm the reason that a person isn't smiling," said Kiki in a serious, but gentle voice.
"You don't understand, Kiki. You're not the kind of person to understand what I've been through," Shol growled.
"Maybe not, maybe I don't understand, but, I can still care can't I? Shanks left you in my care and as captain; a crew member is my responsibility. Besides Shol! You're my friend!" said Kiki and grinned and Shol has never been more surprised and confused to hear those words.
"…Friend?" he asked and turns to look at her.
"Oh please don't say you don't know what that means!" said Kiki pointing at him,
"Of course I know what that means YOU MONKEY!" Shol shouted with an anime vein and Kiki just starts laughing.
"That's the Shol I know! You may not be smiling, but I know you're happy and smiling on the inside!" said Kiki with her own grin and turns around to leave Shol be.
"……K-Kiki wait."
"Yeah?" she asked,
"Hn, it's dangerous at night. I'll walk you back inside the castle. Whether you like it or not," said Shol and walked up next to her.
"Okay thanks but it's not like I can't take care of myself," said Kiki and puts her arms behind her head.
"Yeah, sure you can take care of yourself. You can't even walk 10 feet without tripping over yourself," said Shol coolly.
"Excuse me? Hey! Just because you have cool swords and weapons and stuff! Doesn't make you cool and smart!"
"Yes it does."
"No it doesn't!"
The two continued to argue until they got back to the others, who happened to have a food fight while they were gone. The funny thing was, everyone was enjoying themselves. Even Garret, Chopper, and Iris had fun…okay, Iris had some fun but she only wanted revenge for those that threw food at her hair. But never less, everyone looked ridicules. Kiki burst out laughing as Shol continued to stare at everybody with food all over them and Ace knocked out still. He couldn't help it, he wanted to hold in his laugh but he was still chucking.
"Hey! You do have a sense of humor!" said Kiki and Shol immediately shuts up,
"Hey give me a break! They all look-"
"Funny! I know!"
Shol expected her to tease him about it but instead, she restarted the food fight. He sighed,
"Okay, she's an idiot, but…a likable baka," thought Shol and a small smile spreads itself out…it lasted until he got hit by Kiki.
"Uh, sorry Shol!" said Kiki sincerely, hoping not to get him angry with her. He gave her an irritated glare and picked some food from the ground,
"You know that this means war!"
Kiki only laughed as Shol smirks and out to get revenge.
"Luffy look," Zoro puts a piece of paper in front of Luffy's face when he was watching the calm sea.
"What, Zoro? It's a picture," said Luffy.
"Luffy, this guy's been captured in Alabasta," said Zoro,
"So?" Luffy asked looking up at him.
"Luffy! This guy is Crocodile's son!" Zoro exclaimed,
"Are you serious? How old is he?" Luffy asked with his silly grin on,
"That doesn't matter, Luffy!"
"What matters is that he's been caught," said Usopp walking up to the two.
"It's been said that he tried to assassinate the prince," Zoro added.
"What? VIVI'S SON?" Luffy exclaimed in fear.
"Yeah, but there's something weird about it. It's not like a walk in the part for capturing a pirate with over 70 million berries on his head. I'm giving this guy less than a week for him to escape the Marines' grasp while in Alabasta," said Zoro.
"Hmm…whoever got him must be good," said Luffy.
"I heard that it was your own daughter and her crew that got him…" came a voice and Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp looked behind them.
"Nico Robin! Hi!" Luffy greeted, "I can't believe you tracked us down!"
"Hello, Captain. Zoro and Usopp," she greeted as well walking up to them.
"You really think our kids took him out?" Zoro asked,
"Not exactly, I don't have that clear of an information but Kiki and her crew were definitely involved," said Robin.
"Hey, what if Croc's son wasn't really after the prince? I mean, no offense to Vivi and her people, but a pirate with over 70 million berries on his head should have no problem getting to her son," Luffy pointed out.
"You know, Luffy's got a point for once," said Usopp.
"What do you mean for once?" Luffy asked angrily.
"So, you're saying there's more than what we think is going on?" Zoro asked.
"Not for us, but for our teenage children," said Robin.
Please R and R!
Okay, I updated this for different reason. First off, I had to eventually because I haven't updated in a while. Second, it's only fair before I go to the other side of the globe for my summer vacation. So I won't be updating anytime soon until I get back! Unless my cousin's let me use their computer for a few hours!