Ureshiitamago: Only been a week, only been a week, YEAH! SUUUUPERRRRRR! –does the Franky thing –

Aave: WOW! HOW WONDERFUL! YOU'RE ACTUALLY ON TIME FOR ONCE!

Ureshiitamago: I try. New updates every week hopefully, ya'll! Now, onto thankies! This week is a short one!

We would like to thank; marrok4shadowpaw, JayXGrmR, Ravenclaw-girl28 (me too! High five!), The nerd Queen15, and ma petite lili for following/favoriting this fic!

A special thanks to AC, Valkyrie, blackfox, Guest-san, ADDBaby, and Momochan77 for reviewing!

Wow, there's a lot of Guest reviews this time. Let's answer them!

AC: Hmm, well, she hasn't learned who (that person) is yet, but we'll see soon! ;) Also, yes, Aave will be like Nel a little, but she can really transform into anything, not just an older version of herself and a centaur…though Nel is pretty cool

Valkyrie: I don't know Finnish, but Google kind of does! And no, it's not a coincidence that Aave and Ihmisen have their names…heehee

Blackfox: Aaaw, don't cry! Here's another chapter to cheer you up!

Guest-san: I tried what you said, but it sent me a spam thing…:'( it just doesn't seem to work on my computer, sorry!

"GOODBYE, LABOON!" All except Zoro (who was still sleeping, that lazy) shouted, and Laboon returned our goodbye with his own.

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Grand Line, here we come!

Chapter 29: Welcome to the Ghostly Parade

"You know," I said to Usopp as we carved a woman into a snow sculpture, "You all could die of hypothermia, and join me as ghosts."

"DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!" Usopp shouted, tears in his eyes. I giggled and plopped a heap of snow onto her head. "What's that?" asked Usopp, pointing at the blob of snow dubiously.

"That's her hat!" I said while doing a weird dance, "We wouldn't want her catching a cold now, would we?" Usopp made a sound like he was choking, but when I looked at him with narrowed eyes, he coughed into his fist. Our attention was drawn to Luffy, who had been assembling his own snowman behind us.

"Done!" He announced, "It's the man who fell from the sky, MR. SNOWMAN!" I cheered and flew over to Luffy's snowman, which looked like a regular snowman would, with the exception of a barrel on his head.

"Hahaha!" Usopp laughed, a sparkle appearing next to his face, "your snowman is boring!"

"Exqueeze me?" I snorted, planting my hands on my hips. "Our snowman is the boring one!" Usopp gaped at me.

"TRAITOR!" He shouted, "HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT THE SNOW QUEEN IS BORING!?"

"Because she looks just like that Kaya lady!" I pointed out, stomping my foot in the air.

"SNOWMAN PUNCH!" Luffy shouted, hitting the back of one of his snowman's arm poles so that it shot forward, destroying Snow-Kaya's face.

"SNOW FIIIIIGHT!" I hollered as Usopp got his revenge by kicking Luffy's snowman in the face, destroying it as well. In a matter of minutes, there was a full blown snow fight going on, which I joined in on by becoming human.

"FOR NARNIAAAA, AND FOR AAASLAAAAN!" I screamed, hefting a large bank of snow over my head and heaving it at Luffy and Usopp, who were too busy fighting each other at that point to notice me. I cackled madly and brought full sized Bearetta out to help me fight.

"ONWARD, BEARETTA! LET US PARTICIPATE IN THE BATTLE TO END ALL BATTLES…THE SNOWFIIIIIIGHT!" Bearetta and I both let out a war cry and dashed at Usopp and Luffy, who were struggling to get out of the snow. Bearetta and I leapt on them and started to cover them with more snow as they attempted their escape. "RESISTANCE IS USELESS!" I cried, hanging onto Luffy like a monkey when he was finally able to stand up, and pelting him with snow that Bearetta handed to me as she sat on Usopp.

"GET THE BEAR OFF OF ME!" Usopp shouted, "THE SNOW IS COLD!"

"THE SUN IS HOT!" I shouted back, shrieking as Luffy attempted to dislodge me.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Usopp cried, tears comically running down his face.

"I thought we were stating the obvious," I explained, dangling from Luffy's hand like a cat when he finally dislodged me. "This is a snowball fight. We take no prisoners."

"In that case…" Luffy said with a large grin that held no hope for me. I shrieked and started my struggle anew as he drew closer to the one untouched bit of snow left on the deck.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" I cried, trying to twist away from the offending patch of snow, to no avail. Alas, my opponent was too strong for any hope of victory on my part, and I was half covered in snow when Nami screamed.

"AAAGH!"

"WHAT!" Sanji immediately shouted, "WHAT IS IT!?"

"WHAT HAPPENED, NAMI?" Usopp added. I sat up in the snow and craned my neck to look at the upper deck, where Nami suddenly appeared from the kitchen.

"TURN THE SHIP AROUND 180 DEGREES! HURRY!" She cried in panic, gripping the railing like her life depended on it.

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY DEGREES?" Usopp shouted in surprise, "WHY ARE WE TURNING BACK?"

"Why is there a difference between 180 and a hundred and eighty is written?" I pondered to myself. "They're both the same thing."

"What are you talking about?" Usopp asked as Luffy asked Nami if she had forgotten something.

"Nothing, forget I said anything." I replied with a smile, pelting him with one last snowball.

"NO! SOMEHOW THE SHIP GOT TURNED AROUND! WE'RE GOING BACK THE WAY WE CAME!" Nami was pointing at the Log Pose.

"Meeeerry!" I whined, "How could you betray us like that!" Merry chuckled heartily.

"I ONLY TOOK MY EYES OFF THE LOG POSE FOR A SECOND! AND THE SEA WAS SO SMOOTH!"

"The world works in mysterious ways…" I commented, concentrating and turning back into my ghost form, the leftover snow falling through me as I rose to join Nami on the upper deck. I waved my hand, and Bearetta also disappeared.

"The sea is having its way with us." Agreed Mr. Nine from inside the kitchen. I peered in to see him and Ms. Wednesday curled up at the table wrapped up in thick blankets.

"Are you sure you're a navigator?" Quipped Ms. Wednesday, "on the Grand Line, you can't trust the wind, the sky, the waves, or even the clouds. Everything is treacherous…"

"Especially the hitchhikers," I muttered to Nami, who hid her laugh behind her hand.

"The only thing you can count on is the Log Pose! Understand?" Ms. Wednesday finished.

"I understand that you're a lazy little girly girl!" I said, sticking my tongue out at her. Nami kicked both of them out of the kitchen – quite literally too.

"OH, STOP ACTING LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING AND START HELPING!" She shouted as they flew out of the kitchen. I held up a piece of cardboard with the number '10' on it.

"WE'LL TAKE THE WIND FROM THE STARBOARD YARD BRACE!" She shouted. I flew down and joined everyone rushing around on deck. "TURN THE SHIP 180 DEGREES TO PORT! USOPP, WATCH ASTERN! SANJI, YOU TAKE THE WHIPSTAFF!" Sanji flew off with a barrage of compliments to Nami that made me gag. "AAVE, YOU ADJUST THE MAIN RIGGING WHEN WE NEED IT!" I saluted her and zoomed up to the relevant ropes of the main sail, awaiting orders.

"HOLD IT!" Usopp suddenly shouted just as I got into place, "THE WIND'S CHANGED!"

"WOW, GRAND LINE LOVES US!" I shouted back as we were forced to change our direction once again and spring came to our small patch of water that we were frantically spinning circles in.

"ZORO! WAKE UP! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" I heard Usopp yell. I glanced down long enough to see Zoro still snoring against the railing. Giggling, I sent a paint-bomb down at him (in the color pink of course), which sent him out of his seat and into the action pretty quickly.

"NAMI I SEE A PINK CLOUD RAINING CHOCOLATE!" I shouted among the various other screams of different natural disasters.

"HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!" Came her response.

"GRAND LINE!" I answered as we steered away from it. There seemed to be a cackling goat-dragon thing on top of it, watching our progress with interest. I cried out in surprise when a sudden pain broke out on my side in synch with the Merry just scraping by an iceberg.

"WE'RE TAKING ON WATER IN THE BILGE!" Luffy informed us. I gritted my teeth and worked through the pain as chaos erupted around us. We stopped only for a moment for food, and then we were off again, patching up the bilge when it broke again, and fixing the sail when it started to rip.

After about an hour of weird weather and sudden changes in course, the sea went from throwing a two-year-old sized temper tantrum to suddenly calm.

"I wish I'd stayed asleep," gasped a no-longer pink Zoro, who was lying flat on his back on the deck with everyone else.

"I'm glad I threw a paint balloon at you then," I retorted, floating above the deck in my hanging-over-a-tree-branch pose.

"I hope we're still sailing in the right direction," he commented, causing Nami to gasp and check her Log Pose.

"Still the same," She announced in relief. There was much rejoicing.

"By the way, what are the two poachers doing here?" Zoro asked. I snorted in amusement, taking Bearetta back out and turning her into the hulking and intimidating bear that she is inside.

"Bearetta's food," I said, sending Bearetta over to them, watching as they screamed and tried to move away from her.

"Call Bearetta off," Nami sighed, reluctantly sitting up.

"We're sailing to their town!" Luffy announced, sitting on the upper deck's railing and looking quite unaffected.

"You're not taking them home, are you?" Zoro asked, sounding a little dubious. "We don't owe them anything."

"No, we sure don't," Luffy agreed, clapping the bottoms of his sandals together. Zoro snorted and sat up, looking over at Ms. Wednesday and Mr. Nine threateningly.

"You two look like you're up to something," Zoro observed with a smirk, making the two hitchhikers gulp nervously. "What did you say your names were?"

"I…I'm Mr. Nine," answered Mr. Nine with some hesitation.

"And I'm Ms. Wednesday," gulped Ms. Wednesday soon after Mr. Nine had introduced himself. Zoro's up to something. I thought to myself with a chuckle.

"That's right, they've been stuck in my head," Zoro said slowly, his grin widening. "Seems like I've heard them somewhere before…" Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday sat up and looked at him immediately, eyes widening almost comically in fright.

"…or maybe not!" Zoro finished. The two poachers looked at each other in cautious relief.

"Torture doesn't become you, Zoro!" I scolded him, throwing another paint balloon at him, this time painting him blue. Zoro growled in anger and stood up to run at me when he was sent to the ground by Nami's fist.

"STAY ALERT, PEOPLE!" She shouted, holding her smoking fist in the air in front of her. "WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT!?"

"A unicorn named Bob arrives to escort us to Whisky Peak." I offered, kicking my feet in the air behind me. Nami responded by throwing a random piece of wood in my direction.

"NO! I know now how dangerous this ocean is! And I know how the Grand Line got its reputation! MY NAVIGATION SKILLS ARE USELESS HERE!" Nami looked so proud of that fact.

"Sure you'll be okay?" Usopp asked weakly from the upper deck.

"Yeah, you seem to be saying that you're useless…" I added, taking my hat off to scratch the top of my head.

"Oh shut up…" She muttered at me, half-heartedly throwing another piece of wood at me. "Of course I will! Something good will happen! And there's proof! Look." She pointed to the bow of the ship, where a shape was making itself known in the distance. "The first leg of our journey, is over!"

"HEY! WHISKY PEAK!" I shouted excitedly, shooting up to the top of the mast to get a better look.

"IT'S AN ISLAND OF GIANT CACTUSES!" Luffy shouted from below, his excitement rising to new levels. I, on the other hand, felt mine slowly draining away. The island reeked of death. What the jolly ol' Saint Nicolaus? I flew down to be with the others for a moment, watching absently as the island drew closer. Finally, when it was only a few hundred yards away, Ms. Wednesday and Mr. Nine suddenly leapt up onto the railing.

"Well, we'll be taking our leave now!" Mr. Nine said.

"Thanks for the ride, darlings!" twittered Ms. Wednesday. "We'll see you again, fate willing!" Then, the two dove backwards off with their signature phrase, "Bye bye baby!"

"They're gone…" I observed, a sweatdrop running down my head.

"Who were those guys?" Zoro chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

"FORGET 'EM! LET'S LAND!" Luffy cheered from his spot on his special seat. I decided to go invisible for this visit, crew's eyes only.

"There's a river up ahead," Nami noted, "It looks like we have to sail inland."

"I-I hope there aren't monsters," Usopp worried, holding his stomach.

"That's a definite possibility," Sanji informed us. "This is the Grand Line."

"That includes people," I added.

"If there are, we'll just run away," Luffy proposed.

"You'll fight them head on," I sighed, and Luffy laughed in agreement.

"Hold it," Nami barked. "Don't forget, we can't leave right away." I had actually forgotten about that. It seems like the rest of the crew did too.

"How come?" Luffy asked.

"We have to record the island's magnetic field with the Log Pose before we can move to the next island!" She answered, tapping the Pose with her finger. "The time it takes to 'log' on each island varies. Some islands may only take a few hours, but others could take days."

"Or even years," I added, remembering a story my brother had told me once.

"You mean in an island full of monsters, we might have to stick around for days!?" Usopp babbled, accentuating every word with a wave of his hands. Nami replied the yes, we had to.

"Well, we'll worry about that when the time comes!" Luffy laughed. "Let's go!"

"I'm invisible to others by the way, so don't talk to me if there are people, just saying." I said, throwing in my ten beris. I got a couple of weird looks from Usopp, Luffy, and Sanji, but Nami and Zoro nodded thoughtfully. After a moments conversation on the best way to enter the island, we came to the only decision that we could at that point without sailing around the whole island to find another entrance.

"WE HAVE TO SAIL THE RIVER BECAUSE IT'S THERE!" Was Luffy's constant argument. At this point, when we had exhausted all other possibilities, Nami finally agreed with him.

"It looks that way," Nami admitted with a sigh.

"Luffy's right," Zoro said, "there's no use sitting around any longer. Let's go."

"I'll protect you, Nami!" Sanji said with a thumbs up.

"Hey guys," Usopp said shakily, eyeing the island nervously, "I think I'm coming down with 'better not visit this island' fever!"

"Really?" I asked in concern, "That's a serious disease that you could die from!" A startled Usopp looked at me in trepidation.

"R-really?" He asked tentatively, searching my face for any sign that I was playing a prank on him, which I was doing, obviously. I forced my face to stay neutral, and replied to him.

"Of course! The first sign is knocking knees, and then the second sign is nausea. However, it's actually too late once you get to those symptoms, you're already on the road of no return. Your guts will spill out of your mouth, and your bones will dissolve. To put it simply, you're dead." That elicited a terrified screech out of Usopp, and he was panicking for about three minutes before I started laughing and rolling around in the air, signaling that it was a prank.

"AAVE!" He squawked, tears running down his face as the rest of the crew laughed along with me. "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!"

"You make it too easy!" I roared, a large grin plastered across my face.

"Okay," Nami said, breaking up the small party. "we're going in. Don't forget, be ready to run or fight."

"Or hide," I added, "if they're attacking from above, there's no point in running. They could just follow us."

"That's not making me feel any better!" Usopp scream-whispered, only to be broken off by the sound of people talking in the distance.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," I groaned, hanging part-way over the railing.

"WELCOME TO THE TOWN OF CELEBRATION – WHISKY PEAK!" The entire shore shouted when the mist disappeared, catching me completely off guard. "PIRATES!" they continued, "WELCOME TO OUR TOWN! WELCOME TO THE GRAND LINE!"

"You catch more flies with honey?" I asked Nami and Zoro doubtfully, wrinkling my nose at the smell of death radiating off of all of them, even the children.

"Undoubtedly," Nami agreed.

"Trap central," growled Zoro, drumming his fingers on the hilt of the white sword.

"Want me to take a closer look at those cactuses?" I asked, pointing at the weirdly shaped needles.

"While you're at it, spy on them. See what they want." Nami added, smiling and waving to the crowd.

"How will you find us?" Zoro asked as we drew up to the dock. I grinned.

"I think I can find you again, Mr. Blue-man!" I chuckled when he growled angrily and swiped the air where I wasn't. He was still blue from the paint, which was supposed to wear off any time now. I flew to the top of the mast, and then looked back at the crew when I was there, watching them walk off with a weird old man who had big curls in his hair.

I set off, and about two minutes in, when the large cactuses didn't get any closer, I decided to sing for my own entertainment.

"Fairy Queen, sing along!" I demanded, Fairy Queen popping into existence next to me. She giggled, and we started singing loudly.

Impossible

Impossible!

For a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage,

Impossible!

For a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage,

And four white mice will never be four white horses!

Such fol-der-rol and fiddle-dee-dee of couse iiiiis,

Impossible!

But the world is full of zanies and fools,

Who don't believe in sensible rules,

And don't believe what sensible people saaaay!

And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes

Keep building up impossible hopes,

Impossible

Things are happening eeeeeveryyyyyyy daaaaaaay!

Impossible

Impossible

Impossible

Impossible

Impossible

Impossible

Impooooosible!

It's possible!

For a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage!

It's possible!

For a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage!

And four white mice are easily turned to horses!

Such fol-der-rol and fiddle-dee-dee of course is,

Quite possible!

And the world is full of zanies and fools

Who don't believe in sensible rules,

And don't believe what sensible people say,

And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes

Keep building up impossible hopes

Impossible

Things are happening eeeeeeveerryyyyyyyy daaaaaaaaaay!

It's possible

It's possible

It's possible

It's possible

It's possible

It's possible

It's pooooooossible!

The two of us giggled when we were done, and seeing that we were about halfway closer to the mountains, we decided to sing another.

N.Y.C.

NYC

What is it about you

You're big

You're loud

You're tough!

NYC

I go years without you

Then I

Can't get

Enough!

Enough of cab drivers answering back

In a language far from pure,

Enough of frankfurters answering back

Brother, you know you're in

NYC

Too busy

Too crazy

Too hot

Too cold

Too late

I'm sold

Again

It's N…

YC!

C'mon you slowpokes

We gotta get to the Roxy before the prices change

NYC

The shadows at sundown

The roofs

That scrape

The sky!

NYC

The rich and the rundown

The big

Parade

Goes by!

What other town has the Empire State

And a mayor, five foot two

No other town in the whole forty-eight

Can half compare to you

Oh, NYC

You make 'em all postcards

You crowd

You cramp

You're still

The champ

Amen

For N…

YC!

NYC

The shimmer of Times Square

The pulse

The beat

The drive!

NYC

The city's bright as a penny arcade,

It blinks,

It tilts,

It riiiings

To think that I've lived here all of my life,

And never seen these things!

Oh, NYC

The whole world keeps coming

By bus

By train

You can't

Explain

Their yen

For Star

To be!

NYC

Just got here this morning!

Three bucks

Two bags

One me!

NYC

I'll give you fair warning

Up there

In lights

I'll be!

Go ask the Gershwins or Kaufman and Hart

The place they love the best

Though California pays big for their art

Their fanmail comes addressed

To

NYC

Tomorrow a penthouse

That's way up high

Tonight

The 'Y'

Why not?

It's N…

YC!

NYC

You're standing room only

You crowd

You cramp

You're still

The champ!

Amen

For N…

YC!

(quietly) Give in

Don't fight (sleep!)

Good girl

Good night

Sleep tight

In N…

YC.

By the time we were done with the next song, the mountains were much closer, and I felt a little bit uneasy looking at the spikes of the cactuses. Were they really spikes?

"One more song and we'll be there" Fairy Queen noted, perching on my hat. I nodded gently so that she wouldn't fall off, but stayed silent. After a few moments of only the wind whistling past us, and the smell of the sea, Queen Margareta popped into existence next to us, flying on a broom and tutting at us.

"Come on, let's take your mind off of what's to come," she said. "One more song," I grinned weakly at her, and we started another song, though it was noticeably weaker and less energetic than the other two.

What's the Matter With Kids Today

Kids, I don't know what's wrong with these kids today.

Kids, who can understand anything they say?

Kids, they are disobedient, disrespectful oafs

Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy, loafers

And while we're on the subject,

Kids! You can talk and talk 'till your face is blue.

Kids, but they still do just what they want to do

Why can't they be like we were, perfect in every way?

What's the matter with kids today?

Kids, I've tried to raise you the best I could

Kids, all the things I've done were for your own good.

Kids, can't you once appreciate how I've sacrificed

Working, slaving, scrimping, saving pennies

And livin' with your father!

Kids, no one knows the burdens I've had to bear (and in my condition!)

Kids, I'm a poor sick woman and does he care?

Go on, go on and kill me, that's what it's coming to

When a mother has kids like you!

Kids, all the chicken soup I made for you!

Kids, now you throw me out like a worn old shoe

Mom, after all I haven't been such an awful son,

I never sass you back, or leave a ring around the bathtub,

And don't I always phone you?

Kids, you can give your life to 'em night and day,

Kids, then they go get married and go away!

Why do we have these children?

Better to have a pet! (You know where you stand with a pet)

I never asked for nothing, nothing's what you're gonna get!

What's the matter with kids to-

Why can't they be like Albert, perfect in every way?

What's the matter with kids?

Yeah, what's the matter with kids?

Nothing's the matter with kids today!

Towards the end of the song, all three of our voices grew more and more soft as we approached the mountains, before they died away completely on the last line.

"Leaping lizards!" I gasped, shying away from the mountain that I was approaching. Graves. That's what the needles were for the cactus. Those sick meanies! I covered my mouth with a hand as I eyed the graves. Each had the same name on them; Mr. (or Ms.) Sacrifice.

"They're bounty hunters!" I choked, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who had died. I mean, they might not have been all good, but they were still people, and people could change.

"Or cannibals" Fairy Queen nonchalantly stated, as if she were commenting on the weather. I gaped in horror. In that case, 'sacrifice' would be in perfect context!

"Oh, don't make her panic!" Queen Margareta scolded Fairy Queen, whose apologies I didn't hear as I left them in the dust on my way back to warn the others. Either they're bounty hunters, or they're cannibals. Either way, we've definitely fallen into a honey-trap! In my haste to get back, I almost forgot Nami's other request, to gather information. Luckily though, I saw the man with huge rollers for hair walk out of a building and look up at the moon. I stopped near the awning of a nearby store so that I could hear him properly.

"They're all passed out cold," The man said. His voice was rumbly and deep. "Sweet dreams, brave adventurers," My nakama weren't dead yet! That was a relief. "Tonight, the cactus rocks seem to dance so beautifully in the moonlight." I shivered when his attention changed from the moon to the mountain of graves. Bounty hunters. Well, at least it wasn't cannibals. 'Grind your bones to make my bread' and all that.

"You're a poet, Mr. Eight." A voice said from above me, startling the bejabbers out of me. When I collected myself, I glanced up to see Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday sitting on the roof.

"Oh, it's you two." Mr. Eight didn't sound so thrilled at their appearance.

"How are they?" Ms. Wednesday asked as she and her partner jumped off of the roof to land on the ground.

"They've all fallen into the abyss."

"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster," I whispered, remembering something that Roger had told me in the middle of that one night, "and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you…" Shaking my head, I flew into the building that Mr. Eight had walked out of, and did a quick headcount of my Nakama. All except Zoro were there. Ducking back outside, I looked around for a moment, only for his voice to come out of nowhere, confusing both myself and the bounty hunters.

"Sorry, but would you let them sleep a little longer?" He asked, an unsheathed sword in his hand. I sweatdropped. He was sitting on top of a building with his back to the moon. Sometimes, he just had to be all dramatic, like a Queen.

"They're tired from the voyage," he added. At that moment, an evil minion burst out of the door, just narrowly missing me.

"MR. EIGHT! MS. MONDAY!" The minion screamed, "ONE OF THEM GOT AWAY!"

"But you were passed out!" Mr. Eight shouted at the silhouette of Zoro.

"A true swordsman never drinks himself into a stupor." Zoro retorted. "And a den of bounty hunters can be a dangerous place. You trick pirates into celebrating their passage on the Grand Line." I nodded along with his deduction. That sounded about right. A quick look back through the door said that Nami was listening to what was going on, but everyone else was out for the night.

"Looks to be about a hundred bounty hunters!" Zoro laughed, not sounding cowed in the slightest by the crowd that had assembled to kill him. "I'll take you on, Baroque Works!" I blinked. He knew who they were? Nami was suddenly by my ear.

"Do you know where any treasure is?" She asked as the people outside screamed about their organization being secret. I shook my head, and she gave me an irritated look.

"Then what the heck were you scouting for?" She demanded, folding her arms. I threw my hands up into the air in defeat.

"Well, if you must know, most of the night was spent trying to get to cactus rock and back." I groaned, folding my own arms. "And, as a side note, all of those needles are in fact, tombstones! You're welcome!" Nami growled at me, and pointed outside.

"Well, go get more information and find some treasure." She ordered, tapping her foot. I held up my hands again.

"Well excuse me, princess!" I sassed, flying out the door and through the crowd, making sure to miss Zoro when he suddenly appeared, looking for himself.

"Be careful, don't break too many valuables or Nami'll kill you." I warned him. Zoro chuckled and continued to look for himself until they noticed him. Once I entered the building opposite, I flew through the ceiling directly into the foot of a sniper, sending them tumbling onto the ground from the cold.

"And there goes another minion to the frozen souls of the underworld," I said dramatically, looking around for others. Luckily, there were none, and I conducted my search in private. "Goodness, where do they put all of the treasure they get from other pirates that they've killed?" I asked the air, pouting and giving up my search. Too lazy to go through the door, I instead flew directly into the other room and searched there too, before becoming bored and giving up.

"This is too booooring!" I wailed, rattling the whole building while I pretended to be a poltergeist. "Woooooooo, the afterlife caaaaaaalls yoooouuuuu!" I imagined up some chains to rattle, and flew around the house, cackling and banging pots and pans together as the chains made a racket around my arms. This must have scared the bounty hunters that were in the building to ambush Zoro, because they ran out screaming. I giggled and followed them outside. Nami's game was too boring, but Zoro's sure looked fun!

I caught up to him on a rooftop where he had landed, and drawn a circle in the ground with his sword. While he was walking away, some bounty hunters appeared out of nowhere in the sky and fell onto the place where he had been standing, and then through the hole that the sword had made in the ground. I giggled at their screaming before muffling my own scream when Zoro almost got creamed by a ladder wielding gorilla. Zoro was then pinned down by said gorilla and punched in the head. I winced when I heard the crack of Zoro getting his revenge.

"You think you're strong?" Zoro asked as he squeezed the gorilla's head with one hand. "Wanna see who's stronger?" He finally let go when she passed out.

"Hyuuu," I fake whistled, floating up to him, "you're stronger than I thought." This made Zoro grin at me.

"Making you think twice about pranking me?" He asked jokingly. I grinned back and rattled the chains on my arms.

"Naw, you can't use that strength against me!" I answered with a laugh, and he laughed with me.

"You going to fight with me?" He asked, indicating the few who were left. I shrugged.

"Maybe," I considered, "or maybe I'll just scare 'em a little! Both sound like fun!" This made Zoro laugh again, and he shook his head.

"You know, I really hate it when you prank me, but when you do it to other people, it's really funny." I grinned at his response.

"So that means I get to scare 'em." I announced, chuckling darkly and looking back at the remaining bounty hunters in time to see bullets fly at Zoro and I. Well, mainly Zoro, since they couldn't see me. Zoro didn't move as they flew towards him, and I imagined up a shield with the words; 'Catch me if you can!' written in neat handwriting on it. The bullets bounced harmlessly off of it as the shield morphed into a little doll with a broken face. It was standing on its own and was carrying a baseball bat. Suddenly, it disappeared, and reappeared right in front of Mr. Eight. The doll had turned into a girl's toy, also with a cracked face, but dressed in a pink dress.

"Ma-ma..ma-ma" it's cracked voice said over and over. Then, it crumpled into ash, and was blown away.

"You are really going all out," Zoro whispered to me. I grinned and tossed one of my chains down onto the ground in response. It morphed into a very poisonous snake that draped itself around Ms. Wednesday's shoulders and hissed in her face before turning into a very psychotic looking clown with a knife held to her neck.

"I'm every nightmare you ever had," I said, projecting my voice into the clown, "I'm your worst dream come true. I'm everything you ever were afraid of…No one likes clowns at midnight…" Remembering how it felt when I first saw Jomei, I created a similar darkness centered around them, with the broken sound of the typical circus music playing all around them.

"Wow," Zoro shivered. "Remind me to never get you angry."

"When I'm angry with you, I just make you pink," I retorted, adding a flashing clown face to the picture. "I'm just bored right now, and they need to feel fear, after what they did to all those people." Zoro looked over at the Cactus rocks.

"You know, killing is-"

"A necessary part of being alive, I know. I'm dead, remember?" I said with a grin. "But some of those people may have been like us. Pirates with dreams too big for themselves, who saw Grand Line as the place to be free and achieve those dreams." I let it go on for a moment longer before sighing and letting them go. The area cleared up, and it showed all three of them huddled together.

"Your turn!" I sang, "I think I frightened them enough! Now that I'm not bored, I'm going to finish gathering things for Nami." I waved at him and left, floating over to the next building. However, before I flew through the wall, I stopped and frowned, sensing something odd. Looking around, I decided to follow that weird feeling.

Feeling a little bit possessed, I followed it to the dock, and stopped, frowning. It was out at sea. How far, I couldn't tell, but I was stuck between the decision of following it, or letting it be.

"I suggest you follow it," A familiar voice said from above. I looked up to see Drifter lying on his stomach with his journal in hand, staring down at me as his chin was propped up on the hand not holding the journal.

"And why is that?" I demanded, pouting at him and folding my arms. Drifter grinned and shrugged.

"Have I ever led you wrong?" He laughingly asked, indicating…something with the hand holding the journal. I thought about that for a moment.

"Well, not so far…" I admitted, tapping my chin with a finger. "But there's always a first time!" Drifter gasped dramatically and rolled over, clutching his chest.

"You wound me, fair maiden!" He cried, thrashing around on his cloud. "I may die from your mistrust!" I laughed.

"You're already dead!" I shot at him. "Fine! If it means so much to you, I'll toss away my mistrust for now and follow the weird feeling! Happy?" Drifter immediately nodded and grinned, fading away.

"Be wary of the fact that first impressions aren't always who they truly are," Drifter warned before he completely disappeared. I sobered at that, and stared out at sea. Who, or what, was I going to meet out there? And should I have told someone I was leaving? I hesitated, and glanced back at the town where I could hear explosions of every kind, and then squared my shoulders. I'm 422 years old, I said to myself, plenty old enough to take a small trip and tell everyone later. This is one of those find out now, or you won't later things, I'm guessing.

With that, I flew out to sea, making sure to lock the Merry's position in the back of my head so that I could always find her again if need be. It was just a precaution, but I felt better knowing that I had it.

When I finally reached the weird feeling, I gaped at the large turtle thing that was swimming towards the island.

"Tio estas granda testudo!" I cried, flying around it to take it all in. There was also a seat attached to it, and a pretty lady on the seat. Curious, I perched myself in front of her and studied the woman. She was wearing purple leather (cowboy style) and a matching cowboy hat. Her eyes were blue, and she had shoulder length black hair. Acting on a whim, I decided to reveal myself.

"Boo." I said as I appeared, causing her to jump. Hands suddenly appeared out of the turtle beneath me, but they couldn't grab on (seeing as I was a ghost and all). "Well, that was anticlimactic," I noted drily, crossing my arms as I watched the hands go blue and then disappear into little flower petals.

"What are you?" The lady asked, looking kind of spooked, though it was hidden by a well-prepared mask. I grinned at her.

"It's been a while since I got that question! I'm Aave! Nice to meet you!" The lady blinked, and then hid a smile behind a hand.

"You do know your name means 'ghost', right?" She asked. My eyes widened as I stared at her.

"How did you know!?" I shouted, gaping at her. "I thought that it was a dead language only my island knew!" The lady blinked again, and seemed to become on guard.

"What island?" She snapped. I cringed a little. Her tone was kind of scary. "What island?" She demanded again.

"An island in the East Blue." I answered. "To be honest, I've forgotten what it's called. And besides, it's gone anyway."

"Buster?" The lady asked quickly. I felt a little mystified at all of the questions.

"No, that wasn't my island's name…it sunk over time so no one else would know either." There was a sigh of relief at my answer, and then she looked up at me.

"You thought only your island knew this dead language?" She prompted. I grinned.

"Yeah! Even my brother's name is in it! His name was Ihmisen!" I waited for her to decode my brother's name in her head.

"Human." She said finally, looking mystified. "Your parents named you 'Ghost' and your brother 'Human'."

"Yup! That was 422 years ago though, so I can't exactly ask them why they named me that…" I sighed, poking my two forefingers together gloomily. "I can't even remember my own last name. I think it starts with a 'T', or something that rhymes with it."

"I see," The lady said. "Well Ghost-san, I'm Nico Robin. Could you do me the favor of leaving?" I blinked.

Well, that was…rude. But, as Drifter said, first impressions may not be the best, right?

1. Tio estas granda testudo: that's a big turtle