div class="chapter preface group" style="border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a; border-style: solid initial initial initial;" role="complementary"
h3 class="title" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; background: transparent; text-align: center;"a style="color: #111111; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 19.4443px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" href=" /works/29439843/chapters/72317730"Chapter 1/a: One group of friends, One stranded Island, One sea adventure. What could go wrong?/h3
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div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1088.62px; float: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: #2a2a2a;" role="article"
h3 id="work" class="landmark heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0.25em; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 500; font-style: inherit; font-size: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0.125em; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; height: 0px; clear: both; color: transparent; border-color: initial initial #333333 initial; border-style: initial initial double initial;"Chapter Text/h3
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Usopp is on his way back! Just hold out a little longer." I heard Mitch yell, panic in his voice. Our captain had been trying to hit the marine admiral in front of him for the last five minutes, to no avail. We all knew better than to try to step in, knowing he wouldn't forgive us for intruding on one of his fights./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Ooh, that is surprising." Kizaru said, his sarcastic tone ringing in my ears, "I guess I have to end this quickly then." Those words struck fear into my heart, knowing the different levels in our strength. Despite my work on weight control, my feet felt heavy on the ground, as if all my weight was sinking me into the dirt. Mitch had a similar expression, though his was more subtle. I could tell he was trying to keep his feelings hidden, to not hurt the morale of those around him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"That is when the first attack was struck. Zoro rushed forward, his blades a deep black. His face held an expression of intense focus, his eyes glowing with murderous intent. Yet, his attack fell on emptiness, as a blinding light filled the air around us. When I finally regained sight, my heart became as heavy as my feet were. Kizaru was standing behind Nami, a bright light behind her back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Na..." were the only words that could escape my lips, as a high ping rang out. Blood splattered forward, as light penetrated Nami's back. The crew went silent, as we all stared forward in shock. A crimson river ran down her mouth, dripping off of her chin, her eyes holding a look of desperation and fear. The only movement that came from the navigator was her muscles twitching as she fell to the ground. Finally, the silence was broken by the scream of hellish rebuke./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""GET AWAY FROM HER!" Sanji yelled, soaring through the air at the admiral, a righteous anger in his eyes, his foot aflame, "DIABLE JAMBE!" He propelled his foot forward, moving faster than he ever had before, sending a shockwave from his kick. It was for naught, however, as Kizaru caught the kick midair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Oh, how scary." He said, pointing his finger at the chef, "I guess you will be next." The tip of his finger lit up, and we knew that the same attack was coming./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""NO!" Luffy cried out, throwing his arm back for a punch. Unfortunately, he was too slow, as the same light ripped through Sanji, causing blood to fly from his mouth. The fire illuminating from his foot died down, as Kizaru dropped his seemingly lifeless body. That was when Luffy's punch ripped at the admiral, only to be dodged again./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Now, now." Kizaru said, shifting behind Zoro, "This is the cost of your weakness. Watch as your crew dies around you." Before the swordsman could turn around, he suffered the same fate as the other two crewmates. One by one, Kizaru took out our fellow crewmates, leaving only us four earthlings left./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Please... hurry..." I begged, praying that Usopp would be here soon. My prayers were interrupted by movement. Another burst of light. Another target. I scanned quickly, seeing the admiral behind one of the most important people too me, Rain./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""No! Not her!" I screamed, my desperation outweighing my fear. I launched forward my fist, allowing it to turn a solid gold, before shifting to black. Big mistake. I don't know why I thought my attack would work. Maybe I wasn't thinking at all. All I know is, Kizaru caught my punch with ease, before slicing through my arm with a sword of pure light./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"My scream of pain was harmonized with another, as tears streamed down from my eyes. The blade that had cut into my arm had also cut deep into Rain's side. Her cries hurt more than my missing limb, as I watched the crimson pool stain her clothes. She dropped like the others, her eyes barely showing any sign of life./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"There was another yell. Mitch was shooting lasers at Kizaru, who was dodging them with ease. Next to him, Nice was firing cannonballs from his arms, his face contorted in anger and grief. The smile never left Kizaru's face, as he shot two more lasers of light through my other two friends. That's when I finally heard it, the pattering of heavy footsteps./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""U...sopp... please..." I said, my words barely escaping through my sobs. Kizaru turned his attention to Usopp, and saw the long-nosed sniper pulling back a shot. Light flew from Kizaru again, right as Ussop released the tension of Kabuto. He was too slow, as the impact sent the glistening object off course. Like the others, blood flew from Usopp's mouth, and he dropped. Finally, the admiral turned to Luffy, who was breathing heavily from his failed attempts to take out Kizaru./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Your weakness got them killed. You failed them as a captain. Now, you get to die knowing this information." The admiral said, his sarcastic voice adding an extra punch to the revelation. He launched himself forward as a beam of light, but failed to notice the glinting object that now flew into his path. He hit the object, which I now realized was a prism, spitting into a rainbow that surrounded my fallen crew./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I looked around, my mouth agape. Curses rang out in my mind. The situation had gotten worse, despite me thinking it was impossible. Surrounding me, in an assortment of shapes, stood seven different Kizaru's, each a different color of the light spectrum./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""No..." I groaned, as I heard a thump behind me. Finally, my consciousness left me, as a silhouette shrouded me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Now you may be asking, "Noelle, how in the world did you not only end up in One Piece, but ended up making things so much worse?" Ah, you are asking the right question. Well, the answer to that is a very long story, filled with adventure, romance, political intrigue, and a talk show called "Bottle Episode." Plain and simple, this is the story of four regular earth adults who got sucked into the highest selling manga of all time, and were given one major goal: to ensure that a certain Monkey D. Luffy became the Pirate King./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The last thing that I remember from our original life is a bright light filling my vision. I have since learned that the bright light happened to be the multiverse's greatest known assassin, Truck-kun. It was my own fault, though. I was joking around with one of my best friends, and ex-girlfriend, Rain, when I took my eyes off the road. If I had been paying attention, I could have saved us. At least, that is what I keep telling myself. My friends forgave me, but I haven't been able to forgive myself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"After the crash, I was in a world of darkness. The sensations in this world are hard to express, so I want you to do something for me. Turn off all noise in your room. Now, turn off the lights, and close your eyes. Sit there, and imagine the feeling of wet, soppy carpet licking up and around your feet. Imagine your body is heavy, pulling you down, trying to drown you into the carpet. Now, imagine your brain screaming at you that you are in danger, that you need to escape. Take that feeling, and multiply it by 1000. That is what it was like in that dark world./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"As I walked through the darkness, fighting the screams of panic in my brain, all I could hear was a whisper. I couldn't make out the words, but the voice was high, and urgent. It drew me towards it, summoning me like a siren's call. With every step I took towards the voice, the heavier they became, as if the darkness was holding me itself. My body continued to slow, being pulled down by the darkness surrounding me. Still, I pushed on. Pursuing further into the darkness, I forced myself to work against the darkness, heading towards the voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I could make out more of what the voice was now. It was a harmony of people, all crying out in desperation. They were calling my name, the yearning in their voices tugging at my hear. Though I didn't recognize the voices, something semmed familiar in them, almost comforting. Something in me head told me to run towards the voices. It told me that they were safe, and that they would comfort me. Considering it was either head towards the voices, or be drowned in the soggy darkness, I was far more ok with risking the former./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"As I continued forward, I continued to sink into the darkness. It rose up to my knees now, which made the wadding even harder. I felt my pace slow considerably, the carpet feeling now resembling molases more than anything. Desperation screamed in my mind, refusing to give up. I had to escape here. I had to make sure that my friends were ok. If they weren't... If I had killed them... No. I couldn't let those thoughts bog me down. The darkness was up to my naval now, but still I fought./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle! Come back to us!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Come back? The words mixed confusion into my desperate mind. What do they mean come back? The thought flashed in my brain that they could be my friends, just trying to bring me back, but I shook the thoughts away. It was impossible. I would have recognized their voices. These voices... They were too distorted for it to be them. The darkness was at my nipples now, and I was almost ready to give in. That was when a miracle happened. A light shone through in front of me, and it seemed to be the source of the voices. I felt the darkness start to pull back slowly, as if the closer I got to the light, the weaker my captor became./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The darkness was halfway up my shins now, but clinging desperately. I was stationary, the strength of my captor officially outweighing me. I was so close. So close to freedom. So close to understanding what this place was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle..." A single voice said. I... I recognized this one, but I couldn't put a name to it. "Please... Don't leave me. You promised." I promised? Whho did I promise? The questions buzzed in my head like wasps, stinging into my brain over and over. Regardless of whomever I promised, I still made a promise. Summoning all the strength I had, I ripped my left leg from the darkness holding it, slamming down in front of me. For the first time since I had been in this bizarre dimension, it didn't sink. My foot rest solidly on top of the blackness. Seizing the opportunity, I used my now free leg as leverage, and forced myself out of the darkness holding me. I was free, finally free. Sprinting as fast as I could, which admittedly wasn't very fast, I pressed myself towards the light. I feared that, if I slowed down for a second, the darkness would completely swallow me up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I was never a solid runner. A few seconds after I started my sprint, I felt a piecing pain in my lungs. Needles stabbed them through the bottom, each breath only adding more. I wanted to slow down. To give up hope. To drop to the ground, and let the darkness drag me into depressing bliss, but those words still echoed in my mind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""You promised."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Right. I made a promise. I pushed through the pain, feeling myself speed up once again. Though I knew that it was only an incrimental increase of speed, it felt like I was going faster than light. Nothing could stop me, not until I hit the light. I had a promise to keep, and I was going to be damn well sure I kept it. Only a few more steps, and I would be at the light. I felt the darkness try to grab my feet, to hold me back, but everytime it started to get a grasp, I took another step. Finally, I was at the light. Reaching my arm out, I tried to hold onto the light, only to feel myself sucked into it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The light was blinding. Sunlight burned my corneas, causing me to quickly shield them from the onslaught. Upon my skin, I felt the coarseness of sand scratching away. The sensation filled me with anxiety. It made me think of the cringy Star Wars quote about sand. It was fun to meme on, but I related to that quote completly. Sand was rough. It was coarse. It did get everywhere. And as an autistic woman, it caused me sensory issues beyond belief. Through the anxiety, my mind filled with questions of why I was laying in the sand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""She is waking up!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I recognized that voice. It was the voice that I heard in the dark dimension. The one I supposedly made a promise to. This time, I had the name for the voice. It belonged to my ex, Rain. After our break-up, we hadn't spoken to each other for a while. Fortunately, we had decided to become friends again recently, and had become rather close again. We helped each other a lot with issues we faced in life. We loved each other, though two different kinds of love. I resigned myself, however, to the friendship. She was happier now, and that what was most important./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Is she ok?" I heard a distant voice call. I recognized this voice as well. This voice belonged to my best friend, Mitch. He was hands down the person I was the closest to in life. Ever since we met in middle school, we had been close. We were so similar, yet so different as well. Mitch was a private person, though direct. He didn't reveal a lot of his thoughts and desires, but he was forthcoming on his thoughts and reasons behind things. I was far too open about everything, often times going along with jokes purely for the sake of comedy. However, I had a flaw of beating around the book or hiding my feelings in an attempt to avoid conflict. Anxiety will do that to you. He was ambivilant to most things in life. I was far too passionate about everything. However, we were both still smart, with passions for literature, science, and mathematics. Our sass was even to each other, and we often found ourselves hanging out for hours and hours on end. It was easy to see how we became such great friends to the passive observer./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I think so. It is hard to tell. She has't said anything yet." Rain yelled back over. As my sight slowly returned, I noticed two humanoid shapes leaning over me. As they came into focus, I recognized the concerned look that adorned Rain's face, which should rent for how often it resided there. The other figure, however, was a stranger with a familiar feel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well," I finally said, trying to sit up, "'She' is still processing what the fuck is going on." Right when I reached the apex of my attempt, I felt Rain's arms engulf me in a bear hug. Nearly falling back into the dirt, I saw Mitch start heading back my way, a hopeful look plastered on his face. "By the way," I said, turning the mysterious figure, "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" The stranger responded to my question witha teasing smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I know I haven't been on T that long, Noelle, but I thought you could at least put it together." He said, his voice holding the same, familiar-yet-strange feel to it. I racked my brain for whomever this could be, when it finally hit me like... Well, like a Gum Gum Pistol./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""NICO!?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""That is right." Nico said, grinning. Now that I was taking a closer, I could see familiar features in his face and body. He was the same height as the Nico I knew, and his head was the same shape. In fact, all of him looked the same, except he was more muscular, with a solid lumberjack-style beard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Holy shit, Nico. You... You look great!" I exclaimed, a smile on face. "Like, you fully transitioned!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Not just fully transitioned. My body finally matches my gender, as if I was born in it." He said, his tenor voice like silk. "And I am not the only one." He nodded his head in my direction, scanning me up and down. In my time trying to understand my surroundings, I hadn't noticed the weight on my chest. Looking down, I saw what can only be described as two bowling balls of fat protruding from my chest. Strands of long black hair seemd to fall down over them, which seemed to originate from my scalp./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What the..." I gasped. My voice was even higher pitched, resonating around a soprano tone. Normally, I would have been excited to finally be in the body I desired so bad. However, with the weird dream I had, and the sensory issues sending my brain into panic mode, all I could do was sit in shock. Nothing made sense, at least, not scientifically. How was I finally in a woman's body? How did Nico transition? How did we all get here? Why isn't anyone else freaking out about this?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""isekai." Mitch said, seeming to read my thoughts./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What?" I asked, turning my head to him. I had heard the words, but my brain wasn't fully processing anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Come on Noelle. We talk about this literally every time we hang out. This is a classic issekai situation. We died in the car accident, and woke up in another world. You and Nico ended up in the bodies that best alligned with who you really are. The only question is..." Mitch started to look around again, "is this a completely fabricated world, or one that we have read about or seen before?" He began to look around, trying to find any signs of where we were./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well, that is great." I said, finally starting to process what was happening. Nico and Rain helped me to my feet, allowing me to stretch my body. I noticed that Rain and Nico were shorter than I remembered, which confused me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Holy shit!" Rain exclaimed, scanning my body, "You are taller than before." I realized that she was right, and I was foolish to think that the other two had shrunk. Based on Rain's height, I inferred I was around 6 and a half feet, which made me feel good inside. Was I finally the big tittied, giant, goth GF I had always wanted to be?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Hey guys." Mitch said from a distance, "I don't mean to be rude, but the sun is gonna be setting soon. If we want any hope of survival, we need to start collecting materials."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""You know," Mitch said, looking me over once again, "I have a good idea of which world we are in." I looked at him inquisitvely. Mitch was smart, smarter than most people I knew, but even I was impressed if he already found out which world we now resided./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Which world is that?" I asked, approaching him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle, look at your chest." He said with a chuckle, "Those are some Oda-sized bazoongas. We are in One Piece." I looked down, realizing he was right. I was filled with joy. We were in my favorite world setting, with limitless possibilities. All the times I dreamed about what I would do, all the times people made fun of me for watching the series, would finally be worth it. I yelled out in joy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Yeah, Mitch?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""We are in the world of One Piece." He said, more intensely./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Yeah, I know." I responded, "It is awesome."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle, think about this. Blackbeard? Kaido? Akainu?" Mitch said, stressing each name. That was when I felt my joy fly out of me, as my heart sank. I was a normal woman, with neurodivergent tendencies, in a world of literal monsters. At best, I would maybe meet the straw hats and ride it out with them. At worst, I wouldn't even survive THIS island. Then, there was the fact that my friends were stuck here with me. Would I have to watch them die around me?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Fuck..." I whispered. I hadn't felt this small since... Well, we won't get into my past. I looked at my friends, all who were looking at me with concern. Trying to summon any strength I could, I steeled my resolve, and painted a fake smile on my face. "Well, I guess we will have to play our cards right then." Rain squinted at me. I knew that she was able to see past my facade. I loved her, but damn her for being an empath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Way ahead of you," Mitch said, pulling her attention away from me. "I have already come up with some training ideas for us. But first, we need to focus on surviving, ok?" We all nodded, deferring to Mitch as the leader for the time being. He gave his commands, sending Rain and I out to find lumber, while he and Nico searched for food. The question came up of protecting ourselves, however./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What if we come across some dangerous animal, or pirates?" Rain had asked, ready to do whatever it took to survive. Mitch turned to her, holding three large rocks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Same way our ancestors did. Using stones and ingenuity. All except Noelle. It seems that she has her knives from our world. I looked forward in shock. Sure enough, checking my pockets, I had two of my favorite pockets knives that I kept on me, Bluebird and Yellow Jacket. Yes, I was one of those people. I felt comfort holding them in my hands. At least for the time being, they would help me survive in this world./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Wait a minute," I asked, turning to Mitch, "How did you know I had these in my pocket?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""We had to confirm your identity. Sorry dude." Mitch said, shrugging. I was annoyed slightly, but understood that they did what they had to do. After that debacle was solved, we made our way on our assignments, seeing the sun on the verge of setting. We were lucky that the island we were on seemed to be relatively warm. I figured it was probably somewhere in the East Blue, which brought me peace. If we were lucky, we would meet them, The Straw Hats./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Hey," Rain said, turning her head to me. Her voice was soft, but direct, which was never a good sign. She was about to call me out on something./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Fuck," I said, stopping in my tracks, "Is this about me killing us? Cuz I am sorry about that."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"No, it isn't," she said, her face still holding that pained look of concern. "I thought we had been over this. Why are you hiding your feelings again?" I felt the heat rise to my face. She was right. It was the whole reason we split up, after all, even after all that therapy, I was still doing it, bottling up my emotions, not being completely forward about things./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Sorry. I just don't want to worry you guys. That's all." I said, looking down. It was the truth, at least partially, but I knew there was more to it. I was afraid deep down. I was afraid that if I showed them any fear, they would abandon me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well, you don't have to do that." Rain said, with gentle sternness. "Now come on. Let's collect the lumber before it gets dark, ok?" I nodded, following her lead. Though I pressed on, my heart was still heavy. We spent the next few hours collecting whatever lumber we could, until the sky became a menagerie if reds, oranges, and violets. Finally, once our arms were stacked to the brim, we finally decided to head back to the beach./p
/div
h3 class="title" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; background: transparent; text-align: center;"a style="color: #111111; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 19.4443px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" href=" /works/29439843/chapters/72317730"Chapter 1/a: One group of friends, One stranded Island, One sea adventure. What could go wrong?/h3
/div
div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1088.62px; float: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: #2a2a2a;" role="article"
h3 id="work" class="landmark heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0.25em; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 500; font-style: inherit; font-size: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0.125em; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; height: 0px; clear: both; color: transparent; border-color: initial initial #333333 initial; border-style: initial initial double initial;"Chapter Text/h3
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Usopp is on his way back! Just hold out a little longer." I heard Mitch yell, panic in his voice. Our captain had been trying to hit the marine admiral in front of him for the last five minutes, to no avail. We all knew better than to try to step in, knowing he wouldn't forgive us for intruding on one of his fights./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Ooh, that is surprising." Kizaru said, his sarcastic tone ringing in my ears, "I guess I have to end this quickly then." Those words struck fear into my heart, knowing the different levels in our strength. Despite my work on weight control, my feet felt heavy on the ground, as if all my weight was sinking me into the dirt. Mitch had a similar expression, though his was more subtle. I could tell he was trying to keep his feelings hidden, to not hurt the morale of those around him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"That is when the first attack was struck. Zoro rushed forward, his blades a deep black. His face held an expression of intense focus, his eyes glowing with murderous intent. Yet, his attack fell on emptiness, as a blinding light filled the air around us. When I finally regained sight, my heart became as heavy as my feet were. Kizaru was standing behind Nami, a bright light behind her back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Na..." were the only words that could escape my lips, as a high ping rang out. Blood splattered forward, as light penetrated Nami's back. The crew went silent, as we all stared forward in shock. A crimson river ran down her mouth, dripping off of her chin, her eyes holding a look of desperation and fear. The only movement that came from the navigator was her muscles twitching as she fell to the ground. Finally, the silence was broken by the scream of hellish rebuke./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""GET AWAY FROM HER!" Sanji yelled, soaring through the air at the admiral, a righteous anger in his eyes, his foot aflame, "DIABLE JAMBE!" He propelled his foot forward, moving faster than he ever had before, sending a shockwave from his kick. It was for naught, however, as Kizaru caught the kick midair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Oh, how scary." He said, pointing his finger at the chef, "I guess you will be next." The tip of his finger lit up, and we knew that the same attack was coming./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""NO!" Luffy cried out, throwing his arm back for a punch. Unfortunately, he was too slow, as the same light ripped through Sanji, causing blood to fly from his mouth. The fire illuminating from his foot died down, as Kizaru dropped his seemingly lifeless body. That was when Luffy's punch ripped at the admiral, only to be dodged again./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Now, now." Kizaru said, shifting behind Zoro, "This is the cost of your weakness. Watch as your crew dies around you." Before the swordsman could turn around, he suffered the same fate as the other two crewmates. One by one, Kizaru took out our fellow crewmates, leaving only us four earthlings left./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Please... hurry..." I begged, praying that Usopp would be here soon. My prayers were interrupted by movement. Another burst of light. Another target. I scanned quickly, seeing the admiral behind one of the most important people too me, Rain./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""No! Not her!" I screamed, my desperation outweighing my fear. I launched forward my fist, allowing it to turn a solid gold, before shifting to black. Big mistake. I don't know why I thought my attack would work. Maybe I wasn't thinking at all. All I know is, Kizaru caught my punch with ease, before slicing through my arm with a sword of pure light./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"My scream of pain was harmonized with another, as tears streamed down from my eyes. The blade that had cut into my arm had also cut deep into Rain's side. Her cries hurt more than my missing limb, as I watched the crimson pool stain her clothes. She dropped like the others, her eyes barely showing any sign of life./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"There was another yell. Mitch was shooting lasers at Kizaru, who was dodging them with ease. Next to him, Nice was firing cannonballs from his arms, his face contorted in anger and grief. The smile never left Kizaru's face, as he shot two more lasers of light through my other two friends. That's when I finally heard it, the pattering of heavy footsteps./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""U...sopp... please..." I said, my words barely escaping through my sobs. Kizaru turned his attention to Usopp, and saw the long-nosed sniper pulling back a shot. Light flew from Kizaru again, right as Ussop released the tension of Kabuto. He was too slow, as the impact sent the glistening object off course. Like the others, blood flew from Usopp's mouth, and he dropped. Finally, the admiral turned to Luffy, who was breathing heavily from his failed attempts to take out Kizaru./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Your weakness got them killed. You failed them as a captain. Now, you get to die knowing this information." The admiral said, his sarcastic voice adding an extra punch to the revelation. He launched himself forward as a beam of light, but failed to notice the glinting object that now flew into his path. He hit the object, which I now realized was a prism, spitting into a rainbow that surrounded my fallen crew./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I looked around, my mouth agape. Curses rang out in my mind. The situation had gotten worse, despite me thinking it was impossible. Surrounding me, in an assortment of shapes, stood seven different Kizaru's, each a different color of the light spectrum./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""No..." I groaned, as I heard a thump behind me. Finally, my consciousness left me, as a silhouette shrouded me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Now you may be asking, "Noelle, how in the world did you not only end up in One Piece, but ended up making things so much worse?" Ah, you are asking the right question. Well, the answer to that is a very long story, filled with adventure, romance, political intrigue, and a talk show called "Bottle Episode." Plain and simple, this is the story of four regular earth adults who got sucked into the highest selling manga of all time, and were given one major goal: to ensure that a certain Monkey D. Luffy became the Pirate King./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The last thing that I remember from our original life is a bright light filling my vision. I have since learned that the bright light happened to be the multiverse's greatest known assassin, Truck-kun. It was my own fault, though. I was joking around with one of my best friends, and ex-girlfriend, Rain, when I took my eyes off the road. If I had been paying attention, I could have saved us. At least, that is what I keep telling myself. My friends forgave me, but I haven't been able to forgive myself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"After the crash, I was in a world of darkness. The sensations in this world are hard to express, so I want you to do something for me. Turn off all noise in your room. Now, turn off the lights, and close your eyes. Sit there, and imagine the feeling of wet, soppy carpet licking up and around your feet. Imagine your body is heavy, pulling you down, trying to drown you into the carpet. Now, imagine your brain screaming at you that you are in danger, that you need to escape. Take that feeling, and multiply it by 1000. That is what it was like in that dark world./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"As I walked through the darkness, fighting the screams of panic in my brain, all I could hear was a whisper. I couldn't make out the words, but the voice was high, and urgent. It drew me towards it, summoning me like a siren's call. With every step I took towards the voice, the heavier they became, as if the darkness was holding me itself. My body continued to slow, being pulled down by the darkness surrounding me. Still, I pushed on. Pursuing further into the darkness, I forced myself to work against the darkness, heading towards the voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I could make out more of what the voice was now. It was a harmony of people, all crying out in desperation. They were calling my name, the yearning in their voices tugging at my hear. Though I didn't recognize the voices, something semmed familiar in them, almost comforting. Something in me head told me to run towards the voices. It told me that they were safe, and that they would comfort me. Considering it was either head towards the voices, or be drowned in the soggy darkness, I was far more ok with risking the former./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"As I continued forward, I continued to sink into the darkness. It rose up to my knees now, which made the wadding even harder. I felt my pace slow considerably, the carpet feeling now resembling molases more than anything. Desperation screamed in my mind, refusing to give up. I had to escape here. I had to make sure that my friends were ok. If they weren't... If I had killed them... No. I couldn't let those thoughts bog me down. The darkness was up to my naval now, but still I fought./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle! Come back to us!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Come back? The words mixed confusion into my desperate mind. What do they mean come back? The thought flashed in my brain that they could be my friends, just trying to bring me back, but I shook the thoughts away. It was impossible. I would have recognized their voices. These voices... They were too distorted for it to be them. The darkness was at my nipples now, and I was almost ready to give in. That was when a miracle happened. A light shone through in front of me, and it seemed to be the source of the voices. I felt the darkness start to pull back slowly, as if the closer I got to the light, the weaker my captor became./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The darkness was halfway up my shins now, but clinging desperately. I was stationary, the strength of my captor officially outweighing me. I was so close. So close to freedom. So close to understanding what this place was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle..." A single voice said. I... I recognized this one, but I couldn't put a name to it. "Please... Don't leave me. You promised." I promised? Whho did I promise? The questions buzzed in my head like wasps, stinging into my brain over and over. Regardless of whomever I promised, I still made a promise. Summoning all the strength I had, I ripped my left leg from the darkness holding it, slamming down in front of me. For the first time since I had been in this bizarre dimension, it didn't sink. My foot rest solidly on top of the blackness. Seizing the opportunity, I used my now free leg as leverage, and forced myself out of the darkness holding me. I was free, finally free. Sprinting as fast as I could, which admittedly wasn't very fast, I pressed myself towards the light. I feared that, if I slowed down for a second, the darkness would completely swallow me up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I was never a solid runner. A few seconds after I started my sprint, I felt a piecing pain in my lungs. Needles stabbed them through the bottom, each breath only adding more. I wanted to slow down. To give up hope. To drop to the ground, and let the darkness drag me into depressing bliss, but those words still echoed in my mind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""You promised."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Right. I made a promise. I pushed through the pain, feeling myself speed up once again. Though I knew that it was only an incrimental increase of speed, it felt like I was going faster than light. Nothing could stop me, not until I hit the light. I had a promise to keep, and I was going to be damn well sure I kept it. Only a few more steps, and I would be at the light. I felt the darkness try to grab my feet, to hold me back, but everytime it started to get a grasp, I took another step. Finally, I was at the light. Reaching my arm out, I tried to hold onto the light, only to feel myself sucked into it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The light was blinding. Sunlight burned my corneas, causing me to quickly shield them from the onslaught. Upon my skin, I felt the coarseness of sand scratching away. The sensation filled me with anxiety. It made me think of the cringy Star Wars quote about sand. It was fun to meme on, but I related to that quote completly. Sand was rough. It was coarse. It did get everywhere. And as an autistic woman, it caused me sensory issues beyond belief. Through the anxiety, my mind filled with questions of why I was laying in the sand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""She is waking up!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"I recognized that voice. It was the voice that I heard in the dark dimension. The one I supposedly made a promise to. This time, I had the name for the voice. It belonged to my ex, Rain. After our break-up, we hadn't spoken to each other for a while. Fortunately, we had decided to become friends again recently, and had become rather close again. We helped each other a lot with issues we faced in life. We loved each other, though two different kinds of love. I resigned myself, however, to the friendship. She was happier now, and that what was most important./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Is she ok?" I heard a distant voice call. I recognized this voice as well. This voice belonged to my best friend, Mitch. He was hands down the person I was the closest to in life. Ever since we met in middle school, we had been close. We were so similar, yet so different as well. Mitch was a private person, though direct. He didn't reveal a lot of his thoughts and desires, but he was forthcoming on his thoughts and reasons behind things. I was far too open about everything, often times going along with jokes purely for the sake of comedy. However, I had a flaw of beating around the book or hiding my feelings in an attempt to avoid conflict. Anxiety will do that to you. He was ambivilant to most things in life. I was far too passionate about everything. However, we were both still smart, with passions for literature, science, and mathematics. Our sass was even to each other, and we often found ourselves hanging out for hours and hours on end. It was easy to see how we became such great friends to the passive observer./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I think so. It is hard to tell. She has't said anything yet." Rain yelled back over. As my sight slowly returned, I noticed two humanoid shapes leaning over me. As they came into focus, I recognized the concerned look that adorned Rain's face, which should rent for how often it resided there. The other figure, however, was a stranger with a familiar feel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well," I finally said, trying to sit up, "'She' is still processing what the fuck is going on." Right when I reached the apex of my attempt, I felt Rain's arms engulf me in a bear hug. Nearly falling back into the dirt, I saw Mitch start heading back my way, a hopeful look plastered on his face. "By the way," I said, turning the mysterious figure, "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" The stranger responded to my question witha teasing smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I know I haven't been on T that long, Noelle, but I thought you could at least put it together." He said, his voice holding the same, familiar-yet-strange feel to it. I racked my brain for whomever this could be, when it finally hit me like... Well, like a Gum Gum Pistol./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""NICO!?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""That is right." Nico said, grinning. Now that I was taking a closer, I could see familiar features in his face and body. He was the same height as the Nico I knew, and his head was the same shape. In fact, all of him looked the same, except he was more muscular, with a solid lumberjack-style beard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Holy shit, Nico. You... You look great!" I exclaimed, a smile on face. "Like, you fully transitioned!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Not just fully transitioned. My body finally matches my gender, as if I was born in it." He said, his tenor voice like silk. "And I am not the only one." He nodded his head in my direction, scanning me up and down. In my time trying to understand my surroundings, I hadn't noticed the weight on my chest. Looking down, I saw what can only be described as two bowling balls of fat protruding from my chest. Strands of long black hair seemd to fall down over them, which seemed to originate from my scalp./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What the..." I gasped. My voice was even higher pitched, resonating around a soprano tone. Normally, I would have been excited to finally be in the body I desired so bad. However, with the weird dream I had, and the sensory issues sending my brain into panic mode, all I could do was sit in shock. Nothing made sense, at least, not scientifically. How was I finally in a woman's body? How did Nico transition? How did we all get here? Why isn't anyone else freaking out about this?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""isekai." Mitch said, seeming to read my thoughts./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What?" I asked, turning my head to him. I had heard the words, but my brain wasn't fully processing anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Come on Noelle. We talk about this literally every time we hang out. This is a classic issekai situation. We died in the car accident, and woke up in another world. You and Nico ended up in the bodies that best alligned with who you really are. The only question is..." Mitch started to look around again, "is this a completely fabricated world, or one that we have read about or seen before?" He began to look around, trying to find any signs of where we were./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well, that is great." I said, finally starting to process what was happening. Nico and Rain helped me to my feet, allowing me to stretch my body. I noticed that Rain and Nico were shorter than I remembered, which confused me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Holy shit!" Rain exclaimed, scanning my body, "You are taller than before." I realized that she was right, and I was foolish to think that the other two had shrunk. Based on Rain's height, I inferred I was around 6 and a half feet, which made me feel good inside. Was I finally the big tittied, giant, goth GF I had always wanted to be?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Hey guys." Mitch said from a distance, "I don't mean to be rude, but the sun is gonna be setting soon. If we want any hope of survival, we need to start collecting materials."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""You know," Mitch said, looking me over once again, "I have a good idea of which world we are in." I looked at him inquisitvely. Mitch was smart, smarter than most people I knew, but even I was impressed if he already found out which world we now resided./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Which world is that?" I asked, approaching him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle, look at your chest." He said with a chuckle, "Those are some Oda-sized bazoongas. We are in One Piece." I looked down, realizing he was right. I was filled with joy. We were in my favorite world setting, with limitless possibilities. All the times I dreamed about what I would do, all the times people made fun of me for watching the series, would finally be worth it. I yelled out in joy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Yeah, Mitch?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""We are in the world of One Piece." He said, more intensely./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Yeah, I know." I responded, "It is awesome."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Noelle, think about this. Blackbeard? Kaido? Akainu?" Mitch said, stressing each name. That was when I felt my joy fly out of me, as my heart sank. I was a normal woman, with neurodivergent tendencies, in a world of literal monsters. At best, I would maybe meet the straw hats and ride it out with them. At worst, I wouldn't even survive THIS island. Then, there was the fact that my friends were stuck here with me. Would I have to watch them die around me?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Fuck..." I whispered. I hadn't felt this small since... Well, we won't get into my past. I looked at my friends, all who were looking at me with concern. Trying to summon any strength I could, I steeled my resolve, and painted a fake smile on my face. "Well, I guess we will have to play our cards right then." Rain squinted at me. I knew that she was able to see past my facade. I loved her, but damn her for being an empath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Way ahead of you," Mitch said, pulling her attention away from me. "I have already come up with some training ideas for us. But first, we need to focus on surviving, ok?" We all nodded, deferring to Mitch as the leader for the time being. He gave his commands, sending Rain and I out to find lumber, while he and Nico searched for food. The question came up of protecting ourselves, however./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What if we come across some dangerous animal, or pirates?" Rain had asked, ready to do whatever it took to survive. Mitch turned to her, holding three large rocks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Same way our ancestors did. Using stones and ingenuity. All except Noelle. It seems that she has her knives from our world. I looked forward in shock. Sure enough, checking my pockets, I had two of my favorite pockets knives that I kept on me, Bluebird and Yellow Jacket. Yes, I was one of those people. I felt comfort holding them in my hands. At least for the time being, they would help me survive in this world./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Wait a minute," I asked, turning to Mitch, "How did you know I had these in my pocket?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""We had to confirm your identity. Sorry dude." Mitch said, shrugging. I was annoyed slightly, but understood that they did what they had to do. After that debacle was solved, we made our way on our assignments, seeing the sun on the verge of setting. We were lucky that the island we were on seemed to be relatively warm. I figured it was probably somewhere in the East Blue, which brought me peace. If we were lucky, we would meet them, The Straw Hats./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Hey," Rain said, turning her head to me. Her voice was soft, but direct, which was never a good sign. She was about to call me out on something./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Fuck," I said, stopping in my tracks, "Is this about me killing us? Cuz I am sorry about that."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"No, it isn't," she said, her face still holding that pained look of concern. "I thought we had been over this. Why are you hiding your feelings again?" I felt the heat rise to my face. She was right. It was the whole reason we split up, after all, even after all that therapy, I was still doing it, bottling up my emotions, not being completely forward about things./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Sorry. I just don't want to worry you guys. That's all." I said, looking down. It was the truth, at least partially, but I knew there was more to it. I was afraid deep down. I was afraid that if I showed them any fear, they would abandon me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well, you don't have to do that." Rain said, with gentle sternness. "Now come on. Let's collect the lumber before it gets dark, ok?" I nodded, following her lead. Though I pressed on, my heart was still heavy. We spent the next few hours collecting whatever lumber we could, until the sky became a menagerie if reds, oranges, and violets. Finally, once our arms were stacked to the brim, we finally decided to head back to the beach./p
/div