Been Through the Desert...

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

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Day 1

It had been hours since he seperated himself from both his own crew and Luffy's crew. Axe hadn't had a single break all day, and now the sun was beginning to set. He could feel the temperate getting colder and colder through his robes, and decided to take up refuge in a large rock outcropping.

His lone journey in the desert hadn't been a pleasant one, but compared to some of his past exploits, Axe even thought of it as entertaining. Since he had left the crews, he had encountered giant plants that pop out from the sand, wanting to eat anything that comes near, a couple of giant purple lizards that tried to swallow him whole, and a gigantic scorpion that was killed by Axe when the treasure hunter grabbed the tail of the insect and rammed the stinger into it's own head.

Since he had been through much hardships in journeys, Axe knew that he could ration his supplies very well. It had been his first day, and had hardly drank that much water, and barely touched his food supply. But since he was taking up a campsite now, he figured it'd be nice to have a real meal since he set out.

After finding a suitable alcove in the outcropping, Axe made a small fire for himself and set his water barrel and pack nearby before rolling out a blanket and a rolled up vest onto the ground for him to sleep on. As the sun went down, and the full chill factor of the desert night set in, Axe found himself staring into the campire while his dinner cooked. Even though he had plenty of dried meat, he would save that for his travels, and use the meat of one of the lizards he had killed for his dinner.

While the lizard meat sizzled on the stone blade of his weapon, which was propped up above the campfire, making a makeshift stove, Axe rubbed his arms for warmth, thinking about any and all things that came to his mind.

When I first started out, I had no idea about the troubles of the world. I just wanted to find One Piece and become World's Greatest Treasure Hunter...but I never got close. I had a lot of help my first time out too, now I'm the one helping out the newbies.

Rayo saved me from the Pit Arena, taught me how to fight better, taught me how to think in my fights...and he gave me my weapon he glanced at his "stove" It's kinda funny how two people meet. He's out looking for the bastard that ruined his life, and I end up looking for my old crew...trying to keep them away while I try to fix everything. Funny how alike he and I are...

He poked the fire a little bit, watching the meat juices slide off the axe, I can't believe after all the time, hard work, and recruiting I did for my crew, I ended up with a bunch of psycopaths and got overthrown...I'm luckily to be alive with what some of those people can do. Now, I gotta start over and take them down to boot! In addition, I gotta help this Princess, and take down Crocodile...but it's not so bad, taking down him is a step closer to another mission I have in my life.

Sighing, Axe checked his dinner and lifted his weapon off the fire, then tilted it downward so the meat slid off. He opened his mouth wide and took all the cooked meat in one bite. However, he had underestimated how hot the meat would be on his "stove" and chugged a fair amount of water down to keep his tongue from being too badly burnt.

"HOT!"

-Not too far away-

At that moment, a figure watched Axe through a spyglass, a smirk spreading on it's face.

"Baka...this idiot's the threat to our Captain?"

"Don't judge a book by it's cover...the two of them said he's a threat, so he's a threat. Simple as that,"

"Eh...if you ask me, all of this hype is a load of shit. Why is she and our First Mate worrying about him? Right now, we could be going deeper in the Grand Line, our bounties gettin' bigger and better!"

"I think you're having delusions of grandeur...I think you need to lay off the threadwork,"

"Fine, then gimme my knives, I'll do a little artwork of my own!"

SLAP!

"What the hell?!"

"Just shut up and watch him...bird-boy said he'd be dropping by sometime to deliver a message, so once that's done, we're outta here,"

"Why don't we just kill his nakama? I thought the Captain wanted that?"

"I dunno, I just know that we're supposed to only watch and not actually go against them...,"

"..."

"..."

"That's some bullshit, right there,"

"Damn straight,"

-Meanwhile, far away from the campfire...-

"DUSTY!"

The kitsune girl scrambled around the tents and took refuge behind the first two people she could find...which were Kagura and DJ.

"Whoa!"

"Dusty-chan, what's wrong?"

Dusty pointed ahead.

DJ and Kagura looked ahead to see Devon standing there, shirtless and without his jacket, seething and holding his gladius swords.

"She...stole...my jacket...,"

"That's not a big deal," DJ said quietly.

"IT IS A BIG DEAL!" Devon roared, "MY MOTHER GAVE THAT TO ME BEFORE SHE DIED AND THAT DAMN BAKA FOX NEARLY BURNED IT IN THE FIRE!"

Kagura opened her mouth to say something but stopped and leaned to the side. Devon quickly moved back at an angle.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"What's that?" Kagura pointed to something peeking over Devon's shoulders.

"Uh...,"

"Devon, there you are!"

Suddenly, Devon felt the heavy weight of a robe draped over his shoulders while Kirsty patted his arms.

Kirsty smacked him over the head, "Baka...just because you got lucky at Drum Island, doesn't mean you can do so again in this freezing weather," she scolded, turning him around and pushing him back the way he came, "Don't worry about your jacket, I'll be sure you get it back, so you go on and get warm, baka!"

While she guided him away from the trio of Devil Fruit eaters, Kirsty patted him on the back and leaned to the side, "You so owe me,"

"Yeah yeah," Devon mumbled, gripping the robe, "Thanks...,"

As the two of them walked to Devon and Austin's tent, Azu, Chizuru and Niri watched, looking up from their packs.

"Dude, they got a thing going?" Azu asked quietly, capping off his saki jug.

Niri grinned, "Not at the moment, but it looks possible, don't it?"

"They make a cute couple," Chizuru mused, slipping a large dagger under her pillow, "Destructive demon meets the healing dragon," she giggled, "Interesting thought...,"

Niri laughed as she stood up, dusting herself off, "Yeah...anyhoo, we got lucky to live through the first day...but we gotta focus on what's ahead,"

-Flashback-

"Okay, so it's decided," Niri handed the map to Chizuru, "Anything else we can think of before we move out?"

Dusty hopped up and down, "OH! OH! OH! ME! ME ME ME!"

The sniper sighed irritably, "Yes, Dusty?"

"Why not take a travelling wagon and go in disguise as entertainers of the desert?"

"...that has got to be the dumbest idea I have ever heard of!" Niri whapped her over the head, "First off, we're not entertainers-,"

"DJ-kun and I are!,"

"Second, we don't have a damn wagon, and something to pull it with! We can't take turns pulling a large supply filled wagon with just one person in the heat! We'd fry in an hour!"

"Actually...," Kagura grinned and raised a hand, "Ya do,"

-End Flashback-

Niri lugged her pack into the large covered wagon and leaned against the back door, "Man, I can't believe this. We find a run down piece of shit, Azu fixes it, and Roo-girl pulls it for us...," she rubbed her eyes, "It's a miracle that she didn't keel over,"

"I'm used to it, and I'm happy to do it,"

Niri jumped out of her skin after hearing Kagura's voice in her ear. The sniper whirled around and instinctively reached for her gun...which was currently at the girl's tent a few yards away. Kagura stuck out her tongue, "Sorry...habit to sneak up on people,"

"Don't do that with me...," Niri hissed as she closed the wagon's doors, "You're lucky I didn't have my gun, and you're damn lucky I don't have any Sea-stone laced bullets!"

Kagura waved her off, "Aw, take it easy...you know, you're too stressed out, you should be like Dusty,"

"What, full of illusions and an empty head?"

"ACHOO!" Dusty sneezed on the other end of the campsite, "Ugh, damn sand,"

"I mean, lose the burden for once and just enjoy life," Kagura advised, grinning a little.

"Love to but," Niri ran a hand through her hair as she started to walk back to the camp, "Wish I had enough good life around me to enjoy,"

Kagura watched her go and shook her head, "Man, what a buzzkill...,"

"I heard that!"

"Good!"

-----

As Axe hunkered down for the night, the two figures watched him, nerves driving them both crazy.

"If Damien, does not come in the next five minutes I'll-,"

"You'll do what, you rottin' bugger?"

Both figures spun around to see a young man in leather standing behind them, black feathers falling from his shoulders.

"Dammit, Damien, what the hell kept you?!" the first figure asked, pointing up at the moon, "That's already high in the air and you said you'd come before that happened! What's next you gonna tell us to go wait for ya and you don't show up for da-,"

The figure didn't get a chance to finish, because the man in leather waved his arm and the next thing the first one knew, his arm was laying on the sand, blood spilling onto the grains below.

Both of the two figures looked down at the arm, then back up at the one who severed it.

"What was that for?"

"That was pointless,"

The man in leather grinned as he lowered his weapon, "If you say so...you two, get the hell outta here for now. Head back across the river and help Gaine with his task,"

Grumbling, the first figure bent down grabbed his arm and walked off, smacking the man who had severed it...with it, the second person following behind

"Stitches...Eliza,"

The two figures stopped and turned to look at the one in leather, "What is it, Damien?"

"...be glad I only lopped off his arm...," he grinned, "I know you enjoy putting him back together, but sooner or later, I'm gonna go overboard and it'll take weeks to put him back,"

"Damn bastard...,"

As the two of them walked off, Damien silently made his way to the snoozing pirate captain. As he approached the camp, he saw that Axe was laying quietly on his bedding, his hat over his eyes and his fire dying down to a glow.

Bending down, Damien grabbed a couple of nearby pieces of wood and stoked the fire, "Can't have you dying on us, Captain," he chuckled darkly as he placed a thick folder ontop of Axe's pack, "She has so many plans for you and your new crew...,"

His mission complete, Damien stepped out into the moonlight and held out his arms, as though he were being crucified, "Until we meet properly on the fated day, Axe...,".

-----

Day 2

The next morning, Axe woke up with a yawn and the discovery of his blanket was on fire on the edges.

"Aw, dammit!"

The captain shot out of his shelter and tossed the blanket on the sand, stomping on it as hard as he could, desperate to put it out. As soon as it was out, Axe realized something and looked down. The desert sand was extremely hot, and he was now wearing nothing on his feet.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Axe hopped around, trying to find a shady, cool spot for his feet. After scrambling back into his shelter, Axe grabbed hold of his water barrel, popped the cork out and poured it all over his burning feet.

"Aahhhhhh, much better...,"

While he let his feet get soaked, Axe noticed something was different. On his pack, was a folder stuffed with paper. Frowning, he reached for it and as he did, he noticed that large, black feathers littered the area around it.

"The hell...?"

He opened the folder and flipped through the pages. As he did so, his eyes went wider and wider with each turn of the page. After getting into his travelling gear and boots, Axe put out the fire and ran out of the shelter, looking around.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" he screamed, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, YOU BITCH!? SHOW YOURSELF!"

Axe's voice echoed around the outcropping, bouncing off the hot rocks. The sound of birds made the young pirate run a short distance from his campsite. As he ran, he noticed a large flock of birds on the ground ahead. When he got there, the birds scattered into the air and Axe nearly threw up at the sight that lay in front of him.

Bodies. Nearly a dozen of them were laying on the desert floor, their blood staining the sand. Half of them had been torn apart and the other half were just mutilated. Blood, organs, and limbs were covering the area. In the middle was a campfire that looked like it was made just last night, as the wisps of smoke were still rising into the air.

"Shit...she was here...or at least someone under her command...," Axe stepped back, holding back the vomit, "This isn't good...,"

With a quick prayer for the dead, Axe gathered his things, tucked the folder into his robe and turned, staring into the horizon.

"I don't have much time...gotta get there as soon as possible!"

-----

"I can't believe we're doing this...,"

"I can't believe we're dressed like this,"

"I can't believe that this thing still had it's owners clothes inside...wonder what happened to them?"

Devon adjusted his robe as he leaned against the wall of the wagon, "I dunno..., but I just wish Kagura would go easy...all that damn hopping of her's is making me sick,"

"Aw, big crybaby," Dusty pulled off her robe and spun around in her dancer outfit, apparently unaffected by the movement of the wagon, "What's with you today? Ever since you got up, you've been bitchy, whiney...jeez,"

"You happen to remember...what had happened when I woke up?"

"Uh...," Dusty tapped her chin, "I remember a little prank I was gonna do to Niri...but somehow, it wandered over to your tent," she grinned and waved at him idly, "Don't worry, it was just a itty, bitty spider,"

Devon's eye twitched, "First off...it was not itty bitty...it was the size of a damn dinner plate! Second, I cannot stand spiders...I wasn't able to move an inch while it crawled over my legs. Now, you pull a stupid as hell stunt like that again, I'm cutting off your damn tail and shoving it down your throat!"

Before Dusty could snap back, the wagon suddenly came to a screeching halt and everyone inside screamed as they were tossed around.

"...Devon...you alright?"

"No...DJ?"

"No. Niri, what about you?"

"Oh, I'm just fine, what the hell do you think?!"

The wagon's door opened up and Kagura poked her head in, "You guys okay?"

"NO!" came the collective shout.

Kagura frowned, "Hey, excuse me, but I thought you might wanna come out and see this,"

"I wanna come out, but I wanna kick your ass!"

"Oh, calm down, Niri...could be worse,"

"Oh yeah, Kirsty, how?"

"Dude...when did we pack melons for the trip? I found like four of them...two are nice and firm, and the other two are squishy,"

SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP

"BAKA!"

"PERVERT!"

After all of them climbed out of the wagon, Azu found himself rubbing numerous bruises on his face while Niri and Kirsty tried to avoid the drunken fighter. While the girls went about their business, Devon, DJ, Kagura and Chizuru stared at the sandy field ahead of them.

Bodies of armed men lay in the sand, all of them either shot dead or cut down by the blade. Devon sniffed and groaned, holding his nose, "The stench of death...this battle ended not too long ago...like half a day, or a little more than that,"

"You can tell just by that?" Kagura and DJ asked, looking at him, "How?"

Devon felt his hand twitch and he closed his eyes, Don't...you...dare!

"Devon?"

"I can tell because I've trained my senses," the blonde swordsman said quickly, "We should be on our guard...,"

DJ nodded, "Well, yeah, but what the hell happened?" he asked, gesturing to the battlefield.

"Isn't it obvious?" Niri asked, nudging a body with her shotgun, "Some of these men are dressed as villagers, and the other men are dressed in the same attire. If you ask me, this was a rebellion battle,"

"Good eye, Niri," Devon held his robe over his mouth and nose, "The sun must be affecting their decaying rates. Not too mention, scavengers of the sands. These men haven't been dead long, but they reek like no other," he coughed and looked around, "We should keep moving...,"

"Why?" Dusty asked, looking away from the corpses, "Besides the obvious nastiness,"

"Because," Devon went over and started to climb into the wagon, "When others find this, rebels or soldiers, they're gonna wanna talk to us, and we ain't got that time...,"

"But I thought we were trying to stop bloodshed like this?" Kirsty asked, walking up to him, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Devon dropped tossed his robe inside and strapped his weapons to his hip and back, "Normally yes, but if we waste our time talking to people who are gonna be royally pissed at this, they're gonna start to think that we did this. We need to keep moving!"

That settled it. Everyone climbed into the wagon while Kagura went back to the front, going into her Zoan form and taking hold of the rope

"Kagura,"

The blonde zoan turned to see Devon walking quickly up to her.

"What is it?"

"First off, you sure you wanna pull all of us?"

Kagura smiled, "Listen pal, you guys need to go and get this settled before more of this...," she waved at the battlefield, "Happens again, right?"

"Right...,"

"Good. Now, it's no trouble for me, because no one's after me...except for a certain Marine," she muttered softly.

"What?"

"I said that with my speed in my animal form, I can get you guys to where you're going in a short time,"

Devon nodded and leaned in, "Good...now, when I get in there, I want you to haul ass, okay?"

Kagura shrugged as Devon headed back to the wagon, "Sure...man, you're real edgy. You that scared about the rebels and soldiers in this country?"

No... Devon closed the door and watched the fading desert area as Kagura took off running, It's not that...

He stood there at the small window, eyes staring ahead in the opposite direction. He was waiting for a sign...a sign of something that had been bugging him ever since they left camp.

There!

In the dusty wake of the wagon, Devon could see something moving under the sand. It was too small to be a desert lizard, but too big to be a normal animal. Whatever it was, it had been following them since that morning...maybe sooner than that.

Kagura, my worries don't lie with the Rebel army right now Devon grimaced, hands going for his gladius swords, It's that...that...that thing. Whatever it is, it won't go away! I got a bad feeling about this...

-----

Man, I got a bad feeling about this... Axe thought as he took refuge under another large rock outcropping. He had set up a small camp to rest and while he did so, he took some of the contents of the folder he had found that morning and spread them out in front of them. One of them, was a note written in a red ink.

My Dear Axe...

How are you lately? It's a shame we couldn't meet up in Whiskey Peak. Toby still whines about that injury you gave him...as well as his humilation with that Assassin Shade!

Axe laughed, "He kicked your ass, Toby...,"

I've decided, instead of coming out straight and killing those fools you call a crew now, I thought I'd wait and see how strong those idiots can get before we either make them our own, or we make them suffer a painful death. Along with this letter, you will see the new crew I've managed to pull together in your absence. They're a great bunch...yet, I don't think you'd appreciate their company. 'Til we meet again...

Kairi.

P.S. Toby and I have been doing much better without you in the world...look and see for yourself! Also, you may recognize another face from your past...hahaha.

Axe looked at the thick group of papers in his hands. There were at least eight bounty posters and each of them made him worry for his crew.

-----

For a second time, the Axe-Head pirates stayed out under the stars...in tents, really, but the tents themselves were under the stars. After everyone ate and exchanged "good-nites", they all climbed into their tents.

Everyone except for Devon, who stood on a large rock jutting upward out of the sand. His robes were in his tents and he wore his normal jean jacket on his back, his small wings pressing against the fabric. The strange sightings earlier had made him very uneasy and thought it would be best to stand guard tonight, and get some sleep in the morning, if he was able to, what with Kagura's running or hopping, or whatever the hell she did for them.

Sighing, he sat down cross-legged and pulled out his gladius blades, looking at the names emblazoned on the metal.

Geri and Freki (1)

I don't know why I found you two blades of all things in Drum...but something tells me I was supposed to find you. Whenever that cowardly beast shows it's ugly face, maybe your thirst will be quenched?

The blades seemed to shake slightly, as if responding to his thoughts. Devon couldn't help but grin, "Thanks, boys,"

At that moment, an ear-piercing screech was heard from the campsite.

"AUSTIN!"

THERE YOU ARE!

Devon shot up from his seat on the rock and gripped his swords, running for the camp.

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Kilnorc: Well, there's that. Now, before I go, I gotta say some stuff, okay? First off, I'm sorry if this was a bit confusing. Either in anime or manga, I could never tell how many days pass while traveling in the desert, so I'm just winging it, okay?

(1) These are the names of two wolves that served under the god Odin, in Norse Mythology. Somehow, them as blades for Devon...just kinda seems right, ya know?