Hello all!

Thanks reviewers:

Madame Rodoshe - It will be interesting to see what happens on Punk Hazzard.

10th Squad 3rd Seat - Trust me when I say that the Log Pose is the least of the worries/troubles the Heart Pirates will be facing.

Memory25 - Well, Law is a healthy 24 year-old man (before time-skip) so I'm positive he thinks about sex like any other guy does. Unless we're talking about Luffy, who I'm convinced is too innocent and pure for those thoughts. So it is safe to assume that he can be as perverted as almost every male his age can be. As for FF, no worries there. Every M rated fic has sexual content so if they really wanted to crack down on that stuff, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot especially when there are other places to post fanfic online nowadays. Harem fics are easy if you know how to write them properly. It takes time and practise just like everything else.

Shiningheart of ThunderClan - Your hopes are misplaced. A lot's gonna go down in this Arc. This isn't a happy-fun-time Arc by any means. Also, **hugs**, missed you the past couple of chapters! XD

Emily Hakumana - Yup…not a good idea at all.

And thanks followers and favouriters! The charm I have for you today is called: flamingo, fancy pink cz and orange enamel. I want to make a Pandora bracelet (in real life) using all One Piece based charms, if possible. I think I can do the Shichibukai easily since their based off of animals, lol.

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First off, HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all of you lovely readers out there!

Secondly, next week's chapter may be delayed due to: buying a new computer (thus transferring stuff from old compy to new compy), holiday season is here, working full time job (which hinders the speed to set up compy). What this means is: should a new chapter not be up next week, expect two chapters the following week. I don't think there will be a problem but this is a "just in case" message to you all.

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The Connected Islands Arc

Not Quite As Planned

TWO DAYS LATER

Rayne was worried. For some reason the Den Den Mushi wasn't working. Kitsune explained that it was probably because of the islands. Still, having an explanation didn't make her worry any less. Law had said that they wouldn't even be there for a day. So what had happened? She knew that her boys would be fine but she couldn't help the bad feeling she felt.

Which was why she disobeyed her captain's orders.

She knew he would be pissed at her but she couldn't help it. The uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach just wasn't going away. She would deal with his anger later. Now, she needed to know that they were okay. She needed to see with her own eyes.

It was night when she decided to sneak off the ship. Penguin and Kitsune were fast asleep so they wouldn't hear a thing. She planned on being back before they woke up whether she found the other Heart Pirates or not. She didn't want them to needlessly worry about her.

"But why did it have to be this damn cold!?"

It was snowing the kind of flakes that stuck to the ground and made the snow deep and hard to walk through. She remembered the winters from back home. Canadian winters could be fearsome given the year. Even though she complained, this weather was nothing. The best thing about it snowing was that it couldn't be very cold. For snow to fall, the temperature has to be a below zero but not so far in the minuses to be considered freezing.

She continued her journey, mentally cursing the white around her. But it wasn't long before she finally reached a village. She frowned as she approached it. The houses didn't look very well insulated. Some even shook when a strong wind passed by. How could anyone live under these conditions? She wondered.

The female Heart Pirate walked along the rickety houses until coming across a bar. The lights were on so she took that as a good sign and entered. Everyone stared at her as she unwound her scarf. They seemed…surprised. She stopped her movements and blushed a little at the attention she was suddenly given.

"Um…you guys are open, right?"

"Of course they are."

Rayne suddenly became tense at those words. The way they were said, the man's voice…it caused her heart to start pounding in her chest. Slowly, she turned to face the man off to her right. He was sitting by himself in the corner with the few other patrons in the bar giving him a wide berth. He wore a strange red and black diamond patterned shirt that reminded her of jesters from the Renaissance time period. His pants had the same pattern as well.

But what really captured her attention was his face.

He had slightly pointed ears like an elf and sharp pointed teeth. His eyes were crimson like blood and seemed piercing in the way that Mihawk's were but this man's held a sadistic gleam in them. Covering them slightly were bang of white hair, white like the snow outside.

I need to get out of here…now.

The cook spun quickly on her heel to reach the door but her hand never made contact with the wood.

~x~x~x~

Law shook the snow off of his coat when he entered his ship. His crew ran off to warm up while he took his time making his way to his bedroom. He walked in quietly until he realized that his cook wasn't there. Frowning slightly, he went in search of the two he left behind with her. The others had woken them up which saved him the trouble of doing it himself.

"Welcome back, captain." Penguin greeted with a yawn.

"Where's Rayne-ya?"

"She's not in your room?"

"No."

Without waiting for anything more to be said, he left and strode quickly to where the warm jackets were kept. Throwing open the door, he hoped for one last second before his fears were confirmed. The girl's jacket was missing.

His first reaction was anger that she had gone against his order but on the heels of that emotion was worry.

It had taken an entire day to get any kind of information from the people on the island. It took a great deal of threats and mismatched body parts before anyone said anything. And just as his instincts had warned him, there was something wrong with these islands. With what he now knew, having his cook vanish was a far worse outcome than he could have imagined.

Law walked back to where his crew slept and slammed the door as he barged in. Everyone became instantly alert by his actions, stopping what they were doing immediately.

"Rayne-ya is somewhere on one of these islands. Find her."

"Aye, aye, captain!"

He left as his crew prepared themselves for the weather outside. He planned on punishing his cook in some way but he would have to find her first. And he would find her. She was strong in her own way, he knew she would survive. Unless, and he didn't want to admit it, they discovered her breaking point.

The Surgeon of Death clenched his hands into fists as he remembered what those villagers had said. At the time, it meant nothing. But with Rayne now involved, their words took on a whole other meaning.

"Captain?" Kitsune's concerned voice broke through the haze of rage that had been building up inside him.

"What is it Kit-ya?" Law turned around to see the entire crew watching him.

"Did you find out anything about the island?"

Everyone was silent with tension as they waited for their captain to respond. While most of them knew, Penguin and Kitsune didn't know a thing yet because they had stayed behind.

"There are a total of five islands all connected by barely usable bridges. The only way to cross a bridge is to pay a large amount of belli, which no one can afford. Four of the islands, the ones on the outside, each have their own seasons, like we suspected, and are named after that season. The centre island, Coeich Island, experiences all four seasons normally.

"Ruling over these islands are the Steel Pirates. Each island is ruled by one of the top crew members with Coeich Island being ruled by the captain. No one would talk about the crew specifically no matter what I did to them. But the main problem is the people that live here. All we found were children and teenagers, seventeen years and younger, and older people who looked frail and weak. Based on that, and hints given to us, it is safe to assume that anyone in between are taken to the Coeich Island. The men become slaves and the women…" He grit his teeth, unable to even say it.

"They're treated like whores." Shachi finished quietly.

This kind of thing happened all the time in the world. It was nothing new. How many times had they heard of these things, seen it at times, and walked by without another glance?

"Don't worry, captain!" Penguin nodded, radiating determination. "We'll find her."

Law had no doubt about that. But what state would Rayne be in when they did?

~x~x~x~

Rayne was livid. She had never been so angry in her life. Her natural reaction to cry when she was angry was no where to be seen in this state of the emotion. And that was a good thing. She needed to hold onto her anger as tightly as she could…or else her fear would get the better of her. She refused to let her captors see her in that pathetic shape. She was a Heart Pirate. She was representing her nakama and, more importantly, her captain. If these people saw her as weak, they would think her crew was weak. And that was unacceptable.

She clenched and unclenched her fists where they were chained behind her back. She was currently in a cell with girls that looked younger than her. Well, younger than her age. In fact, they looked young like she did. At least none looked younger than that which meant she wasn't dealing with pedophiles, just normal perverts.

The cook still couldn't believe she was in this situation.

That man, who she now knew was named Cyrus, had been too fast for her to detect. He had been on her in an instant. She had managed to get one of her daggers out but it hadn't mattered. His fingernails were like claws and there was so much strength within his unassuming form…

He had grabbed her neck, nails digging into her skin, and picked her up slightly to bang her head back against the floor. She was knocked out instantly due to that move.

The sounds of sobbing and sudden panic caught her attention. The women around her huddled into the back corners of the cell. It left her on her own, chained to the back wall. Some were trying to hide behind others, eyes squeezed shut, hands over their ears, while some wearily and fearfully looked forward through the bars of their cage.

Rayne followed their gazes, her dark eyes widening at what she saw.

Standing at the door to the cell was a very tall man, seven feet easily. He had short platinum blond hair and light green eyes. He was actually very damn attractive. However, radiating off of him was an aura of danger.

Next to him was Cyrus. The crimson eyes stared at her with that piercing sadistic gleam. His mouth curved in a twisted smirk of pointed teeth.

"That's the one, captain."

The blond opened the cell door and walked over to her. "Welcome to Coeich Island, Queen of Blades, this will be your new home."

Of course, she couldn't keep her big mouth shut. "I highly doubt that."

The tall man laughed. It sounded pleasant, not threatening like it probably should have been. "I like your spirit. It's going to be fun breaking it."

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~o~o~o~

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Damn it Rayne! Why didn't you listen to Law?!

I hope Law finds Rayne before anything bad happens. T_T

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I'll Be Gone - Arc Progression

Arc Four - 7/? chapters written

Arc Five - basic plot and character sheet complete

Arc Six - possible Punk Hazzard Arc?

Arc Seven - possible Dressrosa Arc?

Arc Eight - possible Corazon Arc?

Arc Nine to Arc ? - no idea, waiting on Oda-sama