Luffy: Hey, how come you didn't update yesterday?
I had a small writer's block. I'm sorry! D:
Sanji: Aw... Author-san, dun be sad! -Hugs.-
Amie: Hey, if he falls for the Author, does that mean that Zoro wins?
Sanji: -Automatically lets go- AMIE-CHAN, NO ONE CAN REPLACE YOOOUUU!!
... Anyway... Poll Update time!
... Wow. It seems that DEFINITELY SANJI is the highest category, AND Sanji's in the lead by one vote!
Sanji: HA!! Ha ha HA!!
Amie: o.O
But you know, I've been thinking: What if Amie was paired up with neither of them? And was paired up with, say... Usopp?
Usopp: DON'T SAY STUFF LIKE THAT!! DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE!?
No! I'm just saying that if you have a crack-pairing idea, tell me! I wanna know! And who knows, I may get inspired and may write-.
Sanji and Zoro: YOU WILL NOT!!
Sanji: Sorry for yelling at you!
Uh... right! Anyway, on with the chapter!
Amie: It's long again, so you can tell she's still bored with this arc!
WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!?
After tying Ryuuji's raft to our ship, I decided to sneak down to the women's quarters to change.
I don't think it's very wise for me to run around in a ruined dress anymore... It would be like a constant reminder of the money Nami wasted getting me a dress only to have it destroyed. It was bad enough that I had a sneaking suspicion that Nami was gonna make me pay her back for it...
I decided to shrug all that off along with the dress and I put on a long black tee shirt, slipping back into my sandals.I sighed happily as I stepped out on deck, stretching my arms over my head, walking towards the back to see everyone there. At least, everyone except Apis and Sanji.
Wonder what they're doing...
Eh. Oh well.
"So, how's our dragon friend doing?" I asked down at Luffy, who was staring at its eye.
Luffy looked at me. "I think he's sleepy."
I blinked, tilting my head to the side as he closed his eyes. I frowned. "Seems a bit more depressed than just sleepy to me..." I muttered quietly.
"EVERYONE!! LUNCH IS READY!!" I blinked, turning to see Apis carry a pot. I felt my brow twitch, remembering that breakfast, and I noted everyone else cringing a bit as well. Then Sanji came walking behind her, and everyone relaxed. It appeared that he made it and Apis was just helping out.
No offense, I know the poor girl tries, but I dun wanna eat something that tastes like burnt moldy socks again.
But then again, I've never had any...
"Oo! Sanji!" Usopp spoke. "For a second I thought Apis made it!"
I saw Apis glare at him, then purposely step on his foot. As he yelped, I turned my head away, snickering. I covered my mouth so they wouldn't come out, though. I didn't want to be too rude.
"Here's yours, Ryuuji!" Apis said, holding up the pot she was carrying.
"Yay! Food!" Luffy cheered, extending his arms to grab the pot.
"Ah, wait! Luffy I wouldn't-!" I tried warning, but too late. He grabbed the pot from Apis.
"ACK!! IT'S HOT!!" Luffy yelped, flinging the pot onto Ryuuji's head.
I cringed just as it hit his head, my shoulders hunched and all.
"YOU IDIOT!!" Sanji snapped.
"Ryuuji!" Apis called, sliding down the rope to his raft. She rushed over to him.
I leaned over the edge, trying to see if they needed help as Luffy pulled the pot off with his sandals and Apis brushed Ryuuji's head off. Apis seemed to pause, then look eastward. Luffy walked over to her to ask what was going on, and I leaned in more to try to listen in, but was yanked back by Nami.
"No leaning. You'll fall in!" Nami said firmly.
"Oh, blah blah blah..." I mumbled, crossing my arms.
"HEY!!"
We all looked down.
"Lost Island is East of Gunken Island!" Apis called. "Ryuuji remembered!"
"Wow." I said, grinning. "It seems that what Luffy did jogged his memory..."
"SET COURSE FOR LOST ISLAND!!" Luffy called.
"Usopp, come help me!" Nami called, rushing off.
"Right!" Usopp said, following.
"Oi, idiot." I heard Sanji call down to Luffy. "You wanna eat or not?"
"Oo! Food!"
After lunch, it was relatively peaceful, so I pulled out my sketchbook and began to draw again. As I did, I went into thought.
I've come to admit that Zoro and Sanji may have feelings for me. Then again, Sanji just loves every woman and Zoro... well... it's just too hard to tell.
Besides, even if they did, I don't even know if I do or not.
This was tough... I mean, of course, I'm starting to feel relatively close to both of them. I worry about both of them, everything just involves both of them!
Argh! Why does this have to be complicated!?
"Oy, Amie-chan!" Eh?
I looked up at Luffy, putting my sketchbook and pencil down and walking over, sitting on the ram's horns.
"What is it?" I asked him. He merely pointed outward, and I turned and looked.
What the heck is that!?
It was a grayish blob, and it seemed to slowly get bigger the further we went.
That was... peculiar...
"Do you know what that is?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
He did also. "No. Do you?"
We both tilted our head to the other side. "No, I don't..."
"Hmm..." We both frowned.
I then blinked. "Hey! You know what it kinda looks like?" I said, straightening my head up.
He looked at me, head still tilted. "What?"
"It kinda looks like a ship..." I said, narrowing my eyes. "But it's kinda see-through... so maybe..."
We both felt our eyes widen and looked at each other. "A ghost ship...?"
We both stared at it as it got closer. Finally, Luffy slowly extended his foot, and I gasped as the air rippled around it, and I gawked back at myself the smoky boat turned into us in our boat.
It was like a frickin' mirror!
"Oo! Cool!" Luffy cheered and I fell back onto the deck. He merely ignored that and looked towards Nami. "Hey, Nami! Look at this!"
I gawked as we kept going, through our reflections and all.
"Oo! Where am I going? Where am I going?" Luffy said, laughing as he disappeared.
I jumped as I heard Nami and Usopp scream.
"AMIE-CHAN, GET AWAY FROM THERE!!" Ack, she has a point!
I didn't stand, but I merely crawled on all fours hurriedly.
The galley door burst open and I paused in my crawling to see Zoro and Sanji step out. I squealed faintly as I felt as a strange sensation at my feet, working upward. It was as if I was being pulled through a waterfall or something.
Zoro's eyes landed on me and he gaped as I was through halfway and kept on going. "Amie-chan!" He yelled, rushing towards me, soon followed by Sanji.
I looked back again, cringing as it was at my neck and it kept going. I then grunted when two people tackled me.
"Ouchies..." I mumbled. I felt one person get off completely, then I felt my face heat up when Zoro rose a bit, coming face-to-face with me.
If I had to guess, we were probably the same bright red.
"GET OFF HER, YOU SHITTY MARIMO!!" I blinked as I saw Zoro being flung back and saw an angry Sanji standing over me. I pushed myself off the deck and dusted myself off.
"Amie-chan, are you all right? I hope you weren't hurt!" Sanji said, standing over me.
"I'm fine, Sanji-kun." I said, looking at him and patting his shoulder. "You didn't have to do that to poor Zoro-kun, though... is he okay?"
I looked and saw Zoro on the ground, groaning.
"Zoro-kun, you okay?" I asked, walking over.
After hearing that, he automatically jumped up. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine." He then glanced around. "What's with this fog, though?"
"I dunno... but I dun like it..." I said. "I'll be right back."
I then ran over to my sketchbook and pencil, quickly running them into the women's quarters and tossing them on my bed.
As soon as I shut the door and got back onto the deck, it started to rain.
"Oh lovely!" I said over the ran, then yelped as the ship jostled, falling back down and skidding around a bit. When it calmed enough, I stood, looking over to see that Zoro, Sanji, and Apis had fallen on each other.
"Sanji-kun! Zoro! Take in the sail and fasten the ropes!" Nami ordered. "Amie-chan, make sure to take Apis somewhere safe!"
"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji shouted, rushing off.
I turned to Zoro as he was about to run off. "You sure you don't need help?"
"We can handle it! You just make sure that you get somewhere safe with Apis!" Zoro said.
I sighed, not liking to sit out as I went over to Apis, grabbing her arm. "Come on, Apis. Let's get inside!"
"No! I have to be with Ryuuji!" Apis shouted, yanking her arm out of my grasp and running.
"Oy! Are you nuts!?" I didn't want to use my full strength on the kid. I'd break her arm!
She skidded around a bit, and I sighed. I have to chase around a kid while the others deal with the sails. Fun...
I ran after her towards the back, and gasped as I saw her try to hold onto the ropes.
They must've gotten untied!
I ran over, grabbing onto the rope she was holding with my hands and cringed. I might just get a blister...
"Amie-san!" I heard Apis say as I stood and quickly went over to the other, putting one rope in each hand. I didn't really listen to Apis as she talked to Ryuuji. He merely stared at us as I tried working on pulling him in so I could tie it back.
I took a few steps, then skidded back where I was when the ship shook.
Crap. Looks like I can only hold it in place until this storm stops.
"GOMU GOMU NO NAGENAWA!!" I yelped as I saw Luffy's arm shoot off and wrap around one of the wheels of the raft.
"Thanks for the help, Luffy!" I called.
"Luffy!" I heard Apis shout.
"We promised that we'd get you to Dragon's Island, right!?" Luffy called.
I smirked, looking down at her. "We can handle it until the storm's over..." I said.
Apis blinked, then grinned. "Okay!"
After that, I merely focused on holding onto those ropes, barely noticing the dull pain that was there. I could ignore it for now. Right now, there were more important things.
I blinked as I felt the rain lighten up, and I looked up, seeing the sky go from evil and dark, to clear and blue.
"Wow..." I whispered, blinking around my glasses.
When it lightened up fully, I then started reeling Ryuuji in, putting Apis back on deck. When I got close enough, I heard Luffy's arm snap back and I felt a hand on one of mine. I looked at Zoro.
"Let me help with that." Zoro said simply.
I smiled at him. "Thanks!" I said, letting him take a rope. We tied it to the mast together, and I sighed, flexing my hands and cringing. They were bright red from irritation, and surprisingly, there was no blister.
Well that's good!
I then looked around and gasped, rushing around Zoro and looking, seeing an island seemingly in the middle of the eye that we were in. It was amazing! "Oh wow!"
I went to the front deck with everyone else, staring out at it and brushing my hair out of my face.
"Hey, look at that statue!" Usopp said. "It looks like a dragon!"
"Well, this is a dragon island, Usopp..." I said, snickering.
"I guess the humans who lived here built these..." Sanji said.
"Oo...! I wanna explore it!" I said excitedly. "It seems so cool!"
"Have I ever mentioned that you're crazy?" Usopp said plainly.
"DON'T INSULT AMIE-CHAN!!" Sanji snapped.
"It's okay, Sanji-kun! I know I'm crazy!" I said happily.
We docked on the island not too long afterwards. I helped pull Ryuuji's cart in, and then I took a look around.
"Oh wow!" I said. "This place is awesome!"
"Something wrong with Ryuuji?" I turned to Luffy, who was looking at Ryuuji and Apis.
Apis looked a bit sad. "This may not be Lost Island... Ryuuji doesn't remember..."
I slouched. "You've got to be kidding!" After all that!? This has to be it or I'll be pissed dammit! That was a tough storm!
I ALMOST GOT A BLISTER!!
"Let's go up there!" Luffy said. "Ryuuji may remember if we go up there."
Apis blinked, then grinned. "Okay!"
And with that, we started walking. Nami and Apis were up ahead while I helped push the cart with Usopp and Sanji as Zoro and Luffy pulled.
"Damn Nami!" I heard Usopp grumble. "Making us men push the cart!"
"Oi! You callin' me a dude, Usopp!?" I snapped.
"Hey! Less talking and more pushing!" Nami snapped.
"You're not the one pushing this thing, you witch!" Usopp said.
"Shut up!" Sanji said. "Nami-san is not a witch! She's wonderful!"
"CAN WE ALL JUST DO AS SHE SAYS AND COMPLAIN ABOUT IT LATER!?" I finally snapped. "YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!!"
"Sorry, Amie-chan!" Sanji said quickly.
I merely sighed as we kept pushing. There wasn't much to complain about anyway. It was just pushing a cart!... That had a big dragon on it...
... Okay, THEY had something to complain about. I was unnaturally strong due to the Devil's Fruit, so it didn't bother me...
"Is... this a town...?"
I blinked as we stopped moving to take a look around, seeing the remains of buildings, possibly houses. It didn't seem that anyone lived here anymore. Most possibly for a while now...
"Well, it used to be..." I answered, stepping away from the cart and kicking a piece of rubble. "These buildings look like they collapsed a long time ago. I highly doubt anyone's still living here..."
"GET BACK HERE!!" Usopp snapped.
"SHUT UP!!" Sanji snapped. "Amie-chan, you don't have to push anymore. Really, we can handle it!"
"ARE YOU INSANE NOW!?"
"Hey!" We all looked to see Apis with a bird on her shoulder and something in her hands.
"You hear anything, Apis?" I asked.
Apis nodded. "Up that hill!" She said, pointing. "There's a building there with a picture of a dragon on it!"
Nami grinned. "Then that's where we'll go!"
Apis nodded, dashing off ahead. "Come on, we have to hurry!"
"Okay, okay! Geez!" I said, rushing back to the cart. "Okay, guys! I'm ready!"
As we started to push again, I couldn't help but notice that Nami wasn't following. I looked back and sighed as she just stood there. "Oy! Nami! Hurry up!"
"Coming!" Nami called, rushing after us.
I rolled my eyes and kept pushing. And I thought I was bad...
... Well, okay. She still isn't as bad as me... but still...!
It took us a while for us to get to where the bird told Apis to go, and when we got there, I put my hands on my knees, panting. Even a girl with unnatural human strength can have limits, you know!
After a bit, I looked up to see a wall with a dragon painted onto it. I assumed that it could possibly be a door, what with my knowledge of watching too many of those adventure movies back when I was young...
"All right!" Luffy said. "Let's go in!"
"Where's the door then, Luffy?" Zoro asked.
I blinked, walking around to the front of the cart. "I think we're staring at it..."
"Doesn't look like one to me..." Zoro muttered.
"Then let's use a key!" Luffy shouted.
"We would... but... we don't have one..." I said.
"Ah, right!" Luffy said. I sighed, mumbling curse words to myself.
"Apis...?" I turned to see Apis holding her pendant.
"Think Apis' pendant is the key to the Dragon's nest?" I asked.
Nami shrugged. "Possibly..."
Apis then reached to put her pendant into a slot on the wall, but she was a few centimeters short. She whimpered, looking back at us.
"Aw, it's okay..." I said, walking over. "I'll do it."
Apis nodded, handing me the pendant. I twirled it around a bit to get the position right and started to move it in...
...Only to pause when I heard something crumble and felt myself shrink a bit.
"That's not good." I said simply, then screamed as we all feel through the floor. On the way down, I felt myself getting hit by several rocks and scraped by some tree roots. I grunted when I hit the ground with the others, laying on something that hurt my back.
"Mega ouchie..." I groaned.
"Stupid ruins and... stupid keys...!" I heard Sanji groan as I sat up. I heard him make a weird noise and I looked at him. Lessee... a bit pale... wide-eyed... staring at what I was laying on.
Déjà vu...
I decided to look myself and cringed. It was a rock that probably would've punctured my back and hurt my spine if I had normal strength.
I sighed. "I wish I didn't look..." I said, standing along with everyone else. I handed the pendant back to Apis. "Here ya go, Apis-chan."
"Well, at least we're inside now!" Luffy said happily.
"Yeah... but where are we exactly?" Zoro asked.
I saw that Nami was staring at the ceiling and I blinked, looking up as well. I gasped. "Oo! That's so cool!"
It was an old painting of sorts. It had some dragons and people on it. There were also little islands. It was peculiar...
... Almost like a map.
"I don't think this is the Dragon's Nest..." Nami said simply.
"Really?" I asked. "Why?"
"Look at the map." Nami said, pointing. I looked all right.
Okay... there was a picture of an island with a dome on it... hmm... dome... like this island... so maybe... that's where we were... I looked around the picture, seeing an island with a dragon on it, like Ryuuji, I think they're called Senneryu or something... maybe that was it! But... it's strange... it looks like...
"Dragon's Nest must be located on Gunken Island..." I said.
"You took the words right out of my mouth." I looked at Nami, blinking.
"I did?" I asked, noticing the crew giving me a weird look.
"You weren't listening to me!?" Nami said, looking a bit angry.
"I was trying to figure it out!" I said defensively. "I lose track of what's going on around me when I'm thinking!"
Nami sighed. "Either way, Amie-chan's right. It does appear that it's on Gunken Island." She said.
"But you said that it was impossible!" Usopp said, aghast.
"The map on the ceiling says differently." I said, pointing up. "So we'll just have to go back and see... but then again... it... the actual nest might've sunk a long time ago..."
"It would explain why no one's been able to find it before..." Nami stated.
I cringed, seeing Apis' face fall. I was about to cave and comfort her until she ran over to Ryuuji again. She began talking to him, telling him to look at the picture and to try to remember.
Come on, Ryuuji... you need to think...!
I saw his eyes widen, and apparently he remembered something.
"He remembers!" Apis said, turning to us. "The Dragon's Nest is on Gunken Island!"
"So we went through all that trouble for nothing..." Usopp grumbled.
I saw Apis' face fall and I smacked Usopp lightly on the head.
"I'm sorry..." Apis mumbled. "I put you through all this trouble..."
"Cheer up." I said, causing Apis to look at me. "We still have a good chance!"
"Amie-chan's right!" I looked at Usopp. "And who knows! It may be somewhere else!"
I put Usopp in a headlock. "Yeah, and we won't know unless we try!"
"Ack! Leggo!" Usopp whined, flailing his hands around. After a while, I did let him go, seeing him glare at me, then he did the same to me.
"Eeya!" I squealed, flailing around as well. "Okay, okay! You got your revenge!"
Usopp let go of me, then grinned. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Then let's go!" I turned to Luffy. "Ryuuji won't get better if we just site here!"
Apis was in tears. "Thank you guys so much!" She said, smiling.
I heard some rustling going on above us, and I tensed, glancing in the area where it came from. I also heard Zoro begin to unsheathe one of his swords, just slightly.
"Zoro? What is it?" Nami asked.
"Someone's here..." I nodded in agreement, and I barely noticed Usopp start to step away from me.
Everyone looked, and sure enough, it was Erik: the Gay Kamaitachi.
On a side note, for Chapter 25, I added a bit to the clothes at Amie bought. Not really negligable, but I want it known that Amie also bought clothes for colder weather.